ADU Construction in West Covina
West Covina ADUs placed with the main house's vents and windows in mind, so neither building exposes the other, with tempered glass and rated vents.
The main house gets measured before the new unit on a West Covina lot. We note where its attic vents, crawlspace vents and largest windows face the yard the unit will occupy, because a second building set close to those openings adds a building that could throw heat and embers at them. Then we tape the distance from each opening to the planned footprint and shift the spot before drawing.
Spacing the two buildings
Fire spreads between buildings through radiant heat and embers, so distance and what faces what both matter. Where the lot allows, the unit sits far enough from the house that a fire in one is less likely to ignite the other, and its blank wall faces the house's vents. Where the two have to stand close, the facing walls get a rated assembly and fewer openings, and any windows in them take tempered glass. We also check the eaves, since an eave on each side can close the gap between roofs more than the walls suggest.
Upgrading the house's openings
Sometimes the simplest protection for both buildings is an upgrade to the house's own openings. Old screened attic vents can be swapped for listed ember-resistant vents, and crawlspace vents get fine metal mesh or listed covers. Single-pane windows on the wall that faces the unit can be replaced with tempered dual-pane units. We list these as separate items on the written quote, so you can see which ones the code calls for and which ones we recommend for the pair of buildings.
ADU Construction in West Covina: common questions
West Covina parcels need the wildfire chapter only inside a mapped hazard zone, and the city can confirm where your address falls. We check it during the first walk. Spacing the unit from the house, tempered glass and listed vents go into every design from us, since embers can travel between two buildings on any lot.
Distances from each opening on the house to the new unit go on the West Covina site plan, and the wall drawings show any rated wall that faces it. Units of one level fall within the package, and a larger design is quoted separately.
Rebuilding the house while the unit goes up lets us place openings on both so they do not face each other across a tight gap. The lot has to hold both, and the city reviews the order of work, which we confirm before design. Both buildings then get the same hardened details.
More work we do in West Covina
Plan your project in West Covina
Tell us about the house and the adu construction work. We reply about a walk-through and a written scope.