Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
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AfterFast, Reliable Home Additions & ADU Across Hollywood
A home addition or ADU in Hollywood, FL typically runs $45,000-$130,000 for a room addition, $90,000-$220,000 for a detached ADU, and $30,000-$80,000 for a garage conversion. The biggest variable isn’t square footage. It’s what’s hiding inside the walls when you open them up. We’ve been opening Hollywood walls long enough to expect knob-and-tube wiring, undersized framing, and failed waterproofing, and we write allowances into every contract so those discoveries don’t turn into surprise invoices. Call (877) 610-1318 to schedule your free estimate. Tom Barrett and his sons run the crews themselves, not a dispatch office.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Hollywood’s Preferred Home Additions & ADU Company
Homeowners in Hollywood call us because we’re the alternative to the national outfit that quotes one price on the phone and shows up with another. Tom Barrett publishes his name, his address, and his license number. Look it up before you sign anything. Every scope, every allowance, every price change arrives as a written change order before work starts. That’s not a policy. That’s how we’ve operated since 1998.
We work across the Hollywood flatland and up into the hills. Our crews know the difference between a 1920s Spanish Colonial courtyard bungalow under Hollywood Grove HPOZ protection and a 1960s wood-frame apartment building with tuck-under parking that falls under the City of LA’s soft-story retrofit ordinance. Those two buildings require completely different approaches, and a contractor who treats them the same will stall at permit review or trigger mandatory structural upgrades mid-project. We plan for both before the first wall opens.
When you call our office, a live person answers. Not a voicemail box, not an out-of-state call center. Crew members are background-checked and carry the Barrett & Sons name. Tom is on-site most days. If something isn’t done right, the 90-Day Done Right Promise means one call brings him back. That’s written on every contract.
Our Home Additions & ADU Services in Hollywood
Our Home Additions & ADU team handles the full range of work Hollywood properties need, from single-room additions to full detached units.
ADU Design & Permitting
Hollywood’s permitting process is not the same as Miramar or West Park. An ADU in the flatland near Santa Monica Blvd may need sign-off from the LA Office of Historic Resources if it falls inside an HPOZ district. An ADU in the Hollywood Hills involves steep-slope grading permits and expansive soils review. We handle the design and permitting end to end so your project doesn’t stall at the counter. Every eligible job includes permits pulled and inspections signed.
Garage Conversion ADU
Converting a detached garage into an ADU in Hollywood runs $30,000-$80,000. The thing that moves that number is not the finish level. It’s the condition of the existing slab, the state of the roof framing, and whether the electrical panel has capacity for a new kitchen and laundry. In older Hollywood garages, we regularly find undersized footings and flat roofs that never drained properly. We price those repairs into the initial scope, not as a change order after demo.
New Detached ADU
A new detached ADU in Hollywood runs $90,000-$220,000. The range is wide because site conditions vary enormously. A flat lot in the central flatland with clear access and a stable pad is simple. A hillside lot in the Hollywood Hills with steep-slope grading requirements and drainage remediation is a different project. We quote both honestly, with line items.
Junior ADU & Interior Conversion
Opening up a 1920s bungalow for an interior ADU conversion is where Hollywood’s building stock gets interesting. Wood-lath plaster, knob-and-tube wiring, and rotted sill plates hide behind walls that look fine from the outside. We write an allowance for electrical rough-in and structural repair into the scope of work from day one. When the inspector signs off on what we found, we file a written change order before touching anything else. You approve the number before we spend it.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Home Additions & ADU in Hollywood: What a Permit Opens Up
Hollywood’s construction market is uniquely squeezed between two competing mandates. The City of Los Angeles mandatory soft-story seismic retrofit ordinance (Ordinance 183893) targets the dense concentration of 1960s-70s wood-frame apartments with tuck-under parking that fill the flatland residential corridors. At the same time, the Hollywood Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) imposes design review under Secretary of Interior Standards on exterior alterations in designated historic districts. A single project in Hollywood can require structural steel moment-frame compliance and historic preservation design review before a single wall is opened. That combination rarely coexists this intensely in neighboring areas like West Hollywood or West Park.
On a courtyard bungalow complex in the Hollywood Grove HPOZ district, our crew opened a 1920s unit for an ADU conversion and found knob-and-tube wiring and failed wood-lath plaster over rotted framing. We wrote an allowance for electrical rough-in and structural repair into the scope of work. After inspection sign-off, we filed a change order for the rotten sill plates. Then we coordinated with the LA Office of Historic Resources for exterior stucco repair approval before closing the walls. That’s how a predictable Hollywood ADU conversion actually works.
This page tells you exactly what a Hollywood Home Addition or ADU permit opens up: soft-story retrofit triggers, HPOZ review requirements, knob-and-tube, and failed waterproofing. And it explains how our contract language (allowances, change orders, inspection sign-off) keeps the final price predictable. That’s the information most contractors won’t share until you’re already committed.
Trusted Brands We Service in Hollywood
When we open a Hollywood wall, we prefer to close it with materials you can look up. For windows and doors on ADU and addition projects, we install Simonton, PGT, and CGI products. Those are named brands with published specs, not mystery materials off a van. We stock and order parts for these brands locally, which keeps turnaround tight when a Hollywood project hits the inspection phase and needs a specific product on site that week.
Common Home Additions & ADU Problems We See in Hollywood Homes
- Opening a load-bearing wall in a 1960s tuck-under-parking apartment without checking soft-story retrofit status. The permit triggers mandatory structural upgrade, and the existing framing is usually undersized for added second-story weight. This can add $20,000-$50,000 to a project that wasn’t scoped for it. We check retrofit status before we quote.
- Starting an ADU garage conversion in an HPOZ district without pre-approval from the LA Office of Historic Resources. The exterior alteration stalls at permit review, adding weeks and often requiring redesign to match Secretary of Interior Standards. We submit the historic review package with the permit application, not after.
- Failing waterproofing on a flatland addition where expansive hillside soils from the Santa Monica Mountains shift. Without proper drainage and subfloor slope, stucco cracks and water intrusion appear within the first rainy season. This shows up most often when a contractor from outside Hollywood treats the soil like standard LA flat lot dirt.
- Knob-and-tube wiring discovered inside a 1920s bungalow wall after the drywall is open. The electrical system was never designed for modern load. The permit triggers a full rough-in replacement. If there’s no allowance for it in the contract, the number changes. That’s why we write electrical allowances into every pre-1940 Hollywood interior conversion.
Pricing for Home Additions & ADU in Hollywood, FL
Here are the ranges we quote for Hollywood work, based on current market conditions and the building stock we see here specifically:
| Project Type | Hollywood Price Range |
|---|---|
| Home Addition | $45,000-$130,000 |
| ADU Construction | $90,000-$220,000 |
| Garage Conversion | $30,000-$80,000 |
The biggest cost driver in Hollywood is not square footage. It’s the condition of the existing structure and the permit path. A second-story addition on a 1960s soft-story building with tuck-under parking will cost more than the same addition on a modern single-family home because the structural retrofit is mandatory. A garage conversion in an HPOZ district will cost more than one in a non-historic zone because of design review and materials matching. We give you line items, not lump sums. That means you can see exactly where the money goes before you sign. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate with written allowances.
We Also Serve Cities Near Hollywood
Our crews work throughout Hollywood and the surrounding communities. We regularly take on Home Additions & ADU projects in Andover, Miramar, West Park, and West Hollywood. The permitting landscape changes from one city to the next, and we handle each one according to its own rules. If you’re nearby and not sure whether we cover your street, call and ask. A live person will pick up.
Serving Hollywood, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Hollywood area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Home Additions & ADU in Hollywood
No. An exterior alteration to a building inside a Hollywood Historic Preservation Overlay Zone requires design review by the LA Office of Historic Resources under Secretary of Interior Standards. That review applies to second-story additions, even if the new floor is not visible from the street. The review adds time to the permit process, usually two to eight weeks depending on the district workload. We submit the historic review package at the start, so the design review runs parallel to the building permit instead of after it. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll tell you whether your specific parcel sits inside an HPOZ boundary.
Yes, in most cases. Ordinance 183893 applies to wood-frame apartment buildings with tuck-under parking built before 1978. If you’re adding square footage or opening load-bearing walls, the permit will trigger the retrofit evaluation. The existing soft-story framing is typically undersized for the added load, which means structural steel moment-frame work must be included in the scope. We check retrofit compliance status before we quote so the number you see up front is the number you actually pay. Call (877) 610-1318 for an exact figure on your building.
Expect three things: knob-and-tube wiring replacement, rotted sill plate or framing repair, and possibly HPOZ exterior review if the garage is in a historic district. Knob-and-tube replacement in a garage conversion typically adds $3,000-$8,000. Rotted framing repair depends on what’s found. HPOZ review adds time, not necessarily money, but it can require materials that match the original character. We write allowances for all three into the initial contract. Nothing becomes a surprise because the allowance isn’t on paper is a surprise waiting for a date. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate that accounts for these.
Yes, if your lot sits on a slope that meets the city’s grading permit threshold. The Hollywood Hills portion of the city requires steep-slope grading permits, expansive soils review, and often post-wildfire erosion and drainage remediation. Flatland contractors without hillside experience routinely miss these requirements and stall at permit review. We handle hillside ADUs as a standard part of our service area. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll tell you whether your specific lot triggers grading review.
Draws are tied to permit milestones. The first draw releases when the historic design review package is accepted and the building permit is issued. The second releases after the structural retrofit inspection passes. The remaining draws release at framing, rough-in, and final inspection sign-off. You never pay ahead of work that hasn’t been inspected. We lay the draw schedule out in writing before the contract is signed, so there’s no ambiguity about when money moves. Call (877) 610-1318 to walk through a sample draw schedule for your specific project.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Hollywood since founding in 1998.