Los Angeles County, California
New Roof Installation in Los Angeles
A new roof on an ADU, an addition or a garage conversion goes through plan check, not the express re-roof line. The height cap and the framing under it settle the pitch, and the pitch settles the covering.
Free, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
- Free roof inspection
Someone comes out, gets on the roof, and tells you what they find.
- The price in writing
A written quote before anyone starts, with nothing to sign on the day.
- Licensed roofers
The roofer who turns up holds a current California license.
- Across Los Angeles County
From the Valley and the foothills to the Westside and the South Bay.
An ADU, an addition or a garage conversion puts a new roof next to a house that already has one. The height rule caps how tall it can be. The framing underneath limits what it can carry. And somewhere it has to meet the old covering. All of that gets settled on the drawings, before anyone orders material.
Los Angeles County completed 10,230 ADUs in 2025, more than six times the 1,624 completed in 2018, according to the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate's 2026 State of Los Angeles County Housing and Neighborhoods report.
- Permit routePlan check and a final inspection, not the express re-roof line
- ADU height cap16 feet detached, 18 near major transit, plus 2 feet to match the main house pitch
- Before it is coveredThe wood framing inspection has to pass first
- For referenceA whole-house composition re-roof runs $9,000 to $25,000
A new structure goes through plan check
LADBS puts re-roofing on its Express Permit list, where no plan check is required. A new structure does not qualify, so the plans go to plan check and the job ends in a final inspection and a Certificate of Occupancy. LAMC Section 91.108.1 lets the Department waive inspections on a reroof where the licensed contractor certifies the materials comply. That waiver does not reach a new structure.
Call the inspection before you cover anything
Los Angeles has no separate sheathing inspection. The deck gets caught at the wood framing inspection in LAMC Section 91.108.5, item 2, called once the roof, wall and floor framing, the fire stopping and the bracing are done and none of it is covered. LADBS lists roof nailing among the items inspected, and no portion gets covered until it is approved, so underlayment waits on that call.
What the ADU height limit does to the roof
State law caps a detached ADU at 16 feet, or 18 feet within half a mile walking distance of major transit, plus two more feet so the roof pitch can align with the main house (Gov. Code Section 66321(b)(4)). Shave height to clear that cap and the pitch flattens with it.
Garage conversions carry a load limit
Los Angeles County Public Works Building and Safety publishes standard notes and details for converting a single-story garage to an ADU or JADU, and they apply in unincorporated areas, not inside the City of Los Angeles. They call for a minimum 1/4:12 slope for drainage, hold added roof gravity load to 5 percent of existing conditions, and cover only roofing material under 6 pounds per square foot, which leaves tile out. Inside the city, ask LADBS what the limit is at your address.
They also require a pre-construction check of the roof framing, the ridge and the existing sheathing, which settles whether it can carry the covering you want. The framing side of tile weight is on the tile roofing page.
Where the new roof meets the old one
Slope decides the covering. Asphalt shingles are listed for 2:12 and steeper, with double underlayment from 2:12 up to 4:12 (CRC R905.2.2). Clay and concrete tile need 2 1/2:12 or greater (R905.3.2), and LAMC 91.1507.3.1 allows tile only over solid sheathing.
Tie-ins are where addition roofs leak. Base flashing against a vertical sidewall is continuous or step flashing, not less than 4 inches high and 4 inches wide (R905.2.8.3), and metal-lined open valleys run not less than 24 inches wide (R905.2.8.2). On a Los Angeles addition that wall is usually stucco on an older house, so the flashing goes in behind the paper and the stucco gets cut back to let it.
The tile on the house is probably out of production
The Tile Roofing Industry Alliance names Monier, Lifetile, Boral, Marley, Westile, Hanson and Cal Tile among makers that stopped North American production, and warns that discontinued tile often will not match the dimensions or the fastening of tile made today. TRI points to harvesting tile from a less visible area, using it on the new work, and filling that area with new tile.
A new ADU roof does not need a cool roof
Title 24's prescriptive cool roof requirement for new single-family construction applies to steep-slope roofs only in Climate Zones 10 through 15. City of Los Angeles ZIP codes fall in Climate Zone 6, 8 or 9 on the California Energy Commission's ZIP code to climate zone list, so look your own ZIP up on that list. The energy code's 50 percent rule for re-roofs is a different rule from the fire one on the Class A page.
What to ask before the roof goes on
- Which permit covers this roof.If someone tells you it can ride on the express re-roof line, that is the wrong permit.
- What the finished slope is.Then check the covering you want is listed for it.
- Who calls the framing inspection.That is your general contractor's call, not the roofer's. Nothing goes over the deck until it passes.
- The license number.The roofer who shows up holds a current California license. Take the CSLB number and check it.
Your designer draws the framing and the general contractor builds it. Roofing work starts at the deck and covers underlayment, flashing, valleys and the covering. Nobody can price a roof properly without standing on it, so the visit is free. If it ties into an older roof, read roof replacement next.
The offer
$500 off a new roof, 10% off any repair
Start online and it is attached to your request, with nothing to remember.
- We get on the roof, and into the attic if that is where the answer is
- You get photographs of whatever we find
- The price in writing, with nothing to sign on the day
Where we work
Across Los Angeles County
Tell us what is going on
A description is enough to start. We will come out, look at the roof properly, and give you the price in writing.