FAQ
Outdoor Living in Lake View Terrace, answered
The questions we hear most from Lake View Terrace homeowners.
Placement comes first on a property that keeps animals. We look for a spot close to the house and clear of stalls, feed storage, and turnout, so the living area does not sit downwind of the working side of the parcel. The route a trailer takes from the street to the barn gets mapped before anything is drawn, and the patio stays off it. On open ground you also gain the freedom to orient the room toward the hills rather than toward a fence line, which is something a small back yard rarely allows.
Yes. Soil in this part of the northeast Valley is alluvial and full of rock carried down from the canyons, so digging is slower and hand work is often needed once a machine reaches cobble. A fireplace, a masonry island, or a heavy cover post cannot bear on loose fill, so we excavate until we reach dependable material and pour a footing sized for the load above it. Budgeting for that excavation honestly at the start is far better than discovering it partway through and reworking the plan.
Everything that runs under the surface goes in first. Gas for a grill, burner, or fire feature, water for a sink or a water feature, and electrical for outlets, appliances, and fixtures all get trenched, sleeved where they cross future paving, and inspected before base rock is placed. Cutting a finished patio later to chase a line is expensive and never looks the same afterward. We also sleeve for things you are only considering, because an empty conduit costs very little now and saves a demolition later.
Permits depend on what is being built. A solid patio cover, a louvered roof, an attached structure, gas piping, and new electrical circuits are permitted work, and because Lake View Terrace is part of the City of Los Angeles, those applications go through Los Angeles Building and Safety. A ground level paver patio with no roof generally does not require the same review. We tell you at the estimate which parts of your project are permitted, and we handle the drawings and the inspections rather than leaving that with you.
Access stays open the whole time. Before mobilizing we agree on where material is stockpiled, where the dumpster sits, and which route stays clear so a trailer, a feed delivery, or a farrier can still reach the working side of the property. On larger parcels there is usually room to keep the construction zone entirely separate from the animal side, which is one real advantage of building out here. If a stage does temporarily block a route, you hear about it the day before, not the morning of.
Phasing by area is normal on parcels this size. Rather than opening the whole property at once, we complete one outdoor room, patio, kitchen, and cover, then move to a second area such as a fire pit terrace or a shade structure near the arena in a later stage. Underground runs for the later phases still go in during the first dig, because trenching once is cheaper than trenching twice. Each phase ends looking finished rather than abandoned, which matters when you live on the property throughout.
It does. Building at the wildland interface means paying attention to what sits next to a structure and what burns. We keep planting immediately around a cover, a pergola, or a house wall low, irrigated, and well spaced, avoid piling combustible mulch tight against posts and walls, and favor masonry, stone, and concrete for the surfaces closest to buildings. Fire features are set away from overhanging plant material and screened from wind. The result reads as a defensible zone rather than as fuel stacked against the house.
Pavers and natural stone both do well here, and the choice usually comes down to how the property reads. A larger format stone or a broad paver in a muted tone suits an open rural parcel better than a small busy pattern, which starts to look suburban on acreage. Whatever the surface, the base determines whether it stays flat, so we excavate, place and compact aggregate in lifts, and restrain the edges. Decomposed granite works well for the informal paths connecting a patio to the working areas.
Size follows use rather than catalog layouts. We start with the appliances you actually want, grill, side burner, refrigeration, storage, then add landing space on both sides of the grill, because counter space is what people miss most. A bar overhang wants enough depth for knees and stools without crowding the walking lane behind it. On open properties there is room to run a longer island or an L, and the added length usually costs less than people expect once utilities are already trenched to that spot.
Both work, and the difference is how people sit. A fire pit is social and open, everyone faces in, and it suits a wide patio with a view toward the hills. A fireplace has mass and a back, so it anchors a corner, blocks wind, and gives an outdoor room a wall. A fireplace also carries far more weight, which means a real footing dug into the rocky ground below. Gas is clean and instant, while wood burning has its own appeal but needs more clearance from overhanging plants.
Because the setting is rural, not suburban. A rectangle of lawn with a paver rectangle centered in it reads as a tract back yard, and on a parcel with horses, open ground, and hills behind it, that looks imported from somewhere else. What works better is concentrating attention in a few defined areas, a patio near the house, a fire terrace, a shaded spot, and letting the rest of the ground stay open and natural. Deciding where attention and water are concentrated is the real design decision on acreage.
Water coming off the hills gets designed for before the surface is even chosen. Paving is pitched to move water away from the house and the outdoor room, and grades are set so runoff has somewhere to go rather than collecting against a footing or a cover post. Where flow crosses the site, we route it around the built areas with swales or buried drain lines instead of fighting it at the patio edge. Rocky alluvial ground drains unevenly, so we never assume water will simply soak in.
A louvered roof gives you control. The blades open for sun and airflow in cooler months, tilt to cut afternoon glare, and close to shed rain, so one structure covers conditions a fixed roof cannot. A solid cover is simpler, costs less, and gives full shade and full rain protection, but it also makes the space beneath it permanently darker, which matters if a room window looks onto it. Either way, posts need footings sized for wind load and set into competent material below the rocky topsoil.
Yes, and on open ground the sound matters more than the size. A spillway basin or a low stone trough near seating gives you moving water without the maintenance of a large pond, and the water line and pump electrical get trenched with everything else before paving. We set the basin on a compacted, stable base so it does not settle and lose its level. Placement close to where people actually sit is what makes it worth building, since a feature at the far end of a big parcel is rarely heard.
Lighting gets planned with the room, not added afterward. Conduit and low voltage runs go in during the same trenching as gas and water, so fixtures can be placed at steps, seat walls, cover posts, and cooking areas without cutting anything later. On dark rural parcels a little light goes a long way, and the goal is to light surfaces and edges rather than aim fixtures at people. Steps and grade changes get lit first, because that is a safety matter on uneven ground.
Daniels Landscaping builds your project with one licensed contractor. One licensed contractor stays accountable for the work. The same people who dig the footings pour the concrete, set the block and stone, frame the cover, run the utilities, and lay the paving, and they answer to the same foreman from the first day to the last. That is why detailing stays consistent across a patio, a kitchen, and a cover, and why you never get told that a delay belongs to somebody else's schedule.
The order rarely changes. Layout and staking come first so you can see the footprint on the ground and adjust it. Then demolition and excavation, then footings for anything heavy, then trenching for gas, water, and electrical, then base rock compacted in lifts. Paving follows, then the masonry structures built on their footings, then the cover, then finish work, sealing, and any planting at the edges. Planting goes last so nothing is crushed by wheelbarrows, and inspections drop in where the city requires them.
Call us at (818) 443-9300 and we will come walk the property. On site we look at where the living areas should sit relative to the working areas, check access, and talk through covers, kitchens, fire features, and how you would phase the build. You receive a free written estimate that spells out scope, materials, and what is included, so you can read it against other bids line by line. Daniels Landscaping is licensed in California under number 1138709, and one licensed contractor does the work.