Home Additions & ADU in Burbank - One Fixed Price, Permits Handled

Fast, Reliable Home Additions & ADU Across Burbank

Planning a home addition or ADU in Burbank means dealing with two realities most contractors never mention: FAA height ceilings that can kill a two-story design at plan check, and a climate that punishes inland-spec materials. We’re Barrett & Sons Construction, and we frame around both every week. A Home Additions & ADU project in Burbank typically runs $45,000-$130,000 for an addition and $90,000-$220,000 for a detached ADU. The spread comes down to lot conditions, seismic requirements, and whether you’re inside the airport flight corridor. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll walk the property with you before you spend a dime on drawings.

Call (877) 610-1318

Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Burbank’s Preferred Home Additions & ADU Company

Tom Barrett founded this company in 1998 and put his name on the truck. His sons run the crews. When a Burbank homeowner calls about a second-story addition off North Hollywood Way, the person who answers is the same person who’ll be on-site when the concrete pours. We don’t dispatch strangers. We don’t quote one price on the phone and hand you another at the door. Every allowance, every scope change, every material substitution arrives as a written change order before work moves. If it’s not done right, our 90-Day Done Right Promise puts Tom back on your property, one phone call later.

Burbank homeowners deal with something neighbors in Glendale don’t: the flight corridor. We’ve pulled permits on additions and ADUs across the 91505 corridor where the FAA ceiling sits at 35-40 feet. That knowledge is the difference between a plan that clears and one that stalls. We also carry brands you can verify: Simonton and CGI windows, Ply Gem trim packages, PGT impact frames where the fire zone requires them. Ask anyone on your street, or look up the license number yourself. It’s published.

Our Home Additions & ADU Services in Burbank

ADU Design & Permitting

Burbank’s plan-check process is tighter than most of Los Angeles County, and for good reason. The city enforces FAA Part 77 airspace surfaces, seismic retrofit triggers on older foundations, and fire-hardening requirements on Verdugo-adjacent parcels. We handle the whole design-and-permit package: site survey, architectural drawings, structural engineering, Title 24 energy compliance, and the height-impact study when your ADU sits under the flight path. You get permits pulled and inspections signed on every eligible job. A detached ADU in Burbank with full design and permitting runs $90,000-$220,000, and the permit phase alone typically spans 4-7 months depending on which review queue your project lands in.

Garage Conversion ADU

Half the ranch houses in Burbank’s 91521 and 91522 ZIPs have detached garages built in the 1950s, sitting on slabs that pre-date modern seismic code. Converting one into a livable ADU means upgrading the foundation, reinsulating the walls, and usually replacing the original 100-amp electrical panel with a 200-amp service. We see this weekly. A garage conversion in Burbank runs $30,000-$80,000 depending on whether we’re lifting the slab or drilling piers to satisfy the city’s retrofit requirements. The good news: most Burbank garages have the setback room to add a full bath without triggering a variance.

New Detached ADU

Burbank’s post-WWII lot dimensions, often 50×135 or 60×150, leave enough rear yard for a 600-1,000 square foot detached unit. The constraint isn’t usually square footage; it’s height and fire exposure. Along the Hollywood Burbank Airport flight corridor in 91505, a standard 14-foot wall plate puts your roofline over the 35-foot FAA limit. We design flat or shed-style roofs that clear. On parcels backing up to the Verdugo Mountains, we spec fire-resistant exterior assemblies and ember-resistant vents. A new detached ADU in Burbank runs $90,000-$220,000 complete.

Junior ADU & Interior Conversion

A Junior ADU converts underused interior space-a formal dining room, a finished basement, attached garage bays-into a compact unit with its own entrance, kitchenette, and bath. These run faster through Burbank plan check because they don’t trigger the same height or setback reviews. The tradeoff is square footage; most JADUs cap at 500 square feet. The plumbing reroute is usually the biggest line item, especially in ranch houses where the original galvanized supply lines are still in the slab. We repipe with PEX and add a dedicated water heater. Cost depends on access, but most Burbank interior conversions land in the $45,000-$130,000 range alongside the primary addition.

Trusted Brands We Service in Burbank

We install Simonton window systems on most Burbank additions because the frames are engineered for high-UV, heat-trapping Valley summers. For ADU windows facing south toward the airport, we often specify PGT or CGI impact-rated glass, which handles both the noise from flight operations and the heat gain without warping. Every material we quote is a brand you can research before you sign. We don’t pull mystery products off a van. On a recent Burbank ADU we installed Ply Gem trim and Simonton windows throughout, and the homeowner’s only complaint was how many neighbors now ask what windows those are.

Common Home Additions & ADU Problems We See in Burbank Homes

• FAA height flags on standard two-story designs. The instrument approach path for Hollywood Burbank Airport creates height ceilings as low as 35-40 feet in the 91505 corridor. A roofline that clears plan check in North Hollywood gets stopped here, and you’re looking at a height-impact study before you can revise.
• 100-amp electrical panels on 1940s and 1950s ranch houses. Add an ADU, a mini-split system, and an induction range to a house still running the original panel, and you’re over capacity. Burbank’s older neighborhoods in 91521 and 91522 are full of these. We upgrade to 200-amp service as part of the ADU scope.
• Slab and raised-wood foundations that pre-date seismic code. The post-WWII stock in Burbank wasn’t bolted to modern standards. When we add square footage or a second story, the city often triggers a foundation retrofit on the existing portion. That’s a cost that doesn’t appear in a generic online quote.
• Studio-adjacent acoustic issues. Warner Bros. and Disney sit inside Burbank city limits. If your ADU is near a studio backlot or production facility, the insulation spec matters. We routinely install double-5/8 drywall with acoustic caulk and solid-core doors on ADUs near production zones. It’s not optional if the tenant works from home.

Pricing for Home Additions & ADU in Burbank, CA

Why Specs Here Cost More Than Inland-and Why Cheap Costs Twice

Burbank sits in a heat-trapping pocket of the eastern San Fernando Valley where summer temperatures hit 100°F-108°F, routinely hotter than coastal Los Angeles. Combine that with the marine layer that pushes through the Verdugo gap, and you get a specific failure pattern: standard galvanized framing straps corrode faster, aluminum window frames pit on south-facing walls, and unsealed paver joints stay damp enough for weeds to blow through a new ADU patio within two seasons. We spec stainless steel fasteners and hot-dip hardware on every Burbank addition. We use Simonton or PGT frames rated for UV and coastal haze. The price difference between coastal-spec and inland-spec on a 1,000-square-foot ADU runs about $8,000-$15,000. The inland-spec version costs more within a decade, once you’re replacing corroded straps and failed window seals. We’d rather spend it correctly the first time and explain why than ghost you in year eight.

We Also Serve Cities Near Burbank

Our crews frame additions and ADUs across Burbank and the neighboring communities of Universal City, North Hollywood, Glendale, and Studio City. If you’re close to the Burbank line, call anyway. We’ll tell you straight whether your lot is in our service area and whether the same FAA rules apply to your parcel. Reach the full Home Additions & ADU service team at (877) 610-1318.

FAQs - Home Additions & ADU in Burbank