New Construction in San Gabriel
New houses in San Gabriel with foundations redrawn around what demolition exposes, termite-resistant sills and slabs, and an ADU poured to the same details.
If mud tubes turn up on an old sill plate when a San Gabriel house comes down, subterranean termites have been feeding there, and the soil may still hold a colony. That finding reshapes the foundation package. Wood scraps and old roots are dug out of the pad, the ground gets a pretreatment before the slab is poured, new sills are borate treated, and each pipe passing through the slab is sealed. A second unit on the lot receives identical care.
What else a teardown can uncover
Pulling an older structure off the lot can expose more than insects. A basement filled with rubble, a second slab hiding under the first, or footings from a forgotten addition each alter how the new foundation is drawn. Rubble and old concrete are hauled off, and the soils engineer may call for overexcavation and recompacted fill under the footprint. Final foundation sheets wait until the ground is open and that engineer has walked it, so the structural set matches what is really down there and a late revision is avoided.
Drawings, plan check and the second unit
With the soil questions answered, the architect and the structural and energy consultants complete the drawings. City plan check in San Gabriel covers zoning, framing, energy compliance and CALGreen items, and grading sheets join the set wherever soil is moved. Corrections are answered on the drawings, then the permit issues. An ADU sharing the lot is designed on the same foundation assumptions, so its slab, sill treatment and penetrations match the house. The first inspection happens at the open trenches before concrete arrives, and later visits cover framing, rough systems and final.
New Construction in San Gabriel: common questions
Drawn at the start, a San Gabriel unit can share the soils work, the termite and moisture details and one utility trench with the house. Zoning has to permit a second dwelling on the parcel. Placing it early also lets its doors and windows face a different part of the yard from the main house.
A boundary survey fixes the lot lines, and borings drilled for a geotechnical engineer show what the soil can carry. Any standing structure is looked over for what its removal might reveal. Utility providers end service to the old house, which is then wrecked under a separate permit. Footing trenches are dug only after the city approves the drawings and the cleared pad is inspected.
Framing, termite protection and moisture control follow the California Residential Code. The Energy Code sets insulation, glazing and solar requirements, and CALGreen adds water and waste items. San Gabriel zoning controls height, setbacks and floor area. A second unit is judged against state ADU law and whatever ADU provisions San Gabriel has adopted within it.
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