Encino, CA
Home Additions in Encino
Primary suites, bedrooms and second stories, designed around Encino slope, grading and floor area rules.
★★★★★ 4.9 from 60 Google reviews
Most guides to a home addition in Encino skip the part that matters most here: the hillside rules. LA City Planning reports that hillsides cover over half of the Encino-Tarzana Community Plan area.
If your lot is one of them, slope and grading limits shape the addition before style does. Here is how those rules work, plus costs and timelines for Encino projects.
Who Builds Home Additions in Encino?
Master in Design builds home additions in Encino from our Tarzana office, right next door. We design, permit and build primary suites, bedrooms, family rooms and second stories, including on hillside lots. Projects run $40,000 to $150,000 or more, and single-story additions take about 8 to 14 weeks of construction once LADBS issues the permit.
At a glance
Encino Sits on Two Kinds of Ground
Encino lies on the north slope of the Santa Monica Mountains in the southern San Fernando Valley. The Sepulveda Basin, Lake Balboa and Reseda border it to the north, Sherman Oaks to the east and Tarzana to the west.
The flat streets toward the Sepulveda Basin follow the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance, which caps floor area at 45 percent of the lot on standard R1 lots. The slopes to the south follow the Baseline Hillside Ordinance. Because over half the Encino-Tarzana plan area is hillside, many Encino lots follow the hillside ordinance, so check yours first.
Just west, our Tarzana room addition page covers the same mix of flat and hillside lots.
How the Hillside Ordinance Shapes an Encino Addition
The Baseline Hillside Ordinance applies to new construction, additions and major remodels on single-family hillside lots in the City of Los Angeles. Its LADBS plan check sheet sets out these limits:
| What it limits | How it works |
|---|---|
| Floor area | A percentage of lot size, reduced on steeper slopes through a slope band analysis |
| Height near the street | No more than 24 feet within 20 feet of the front lot line |
| Height elsewhere | An envelope measured from hillside grade, with an encroachment plane in R1 zones |
| Grading | A cap on total cut and fill, based on lot size |
| Hauling | Import and export of soil only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday |
| Lot coverage | 40 percent on a standard lot |
On very steep ground, the city also requires a geotechnical report for grading on slopes of 100 percent or more.
The 500 square foot exemption
One rule helps many Encino owners. Additions made since August 1, 2010 can be exempt from the hillside floor area limit if they total no more than 500 square feet combined and the plans meet the setback, height and grading rules. That is enough for a primary suite with a bath and closet.
Out or Up on an Encino Lot?
On a flat lot near the basin, building out is usually the better value. On a slope, the math can flip. Building out means new foundations, retaining walls and grading, all counted against the grading cap. Building up reuses the existing footprint, but the height envelope and the 24 foot limit near the street still apply.
We run both options against the lot before design, so you see which one the rules allow and what each one costs.
Our main room addition page covers design and structure for both options in more detail.
Encino, CA
Free estimate
Planning an addition in Encino? Get a free estimate from our team.
What Homeowners Say About Our Additions
Rated 4.9 out of 5 across 60 Google reviews, with 42 more on Yelp.
★★★★★“Master in Design has been my go-to company for all my home projects. From the kitchen remodel, room addition, garage conversion and repairing my roof due to a fallen tree through the years.”
Vanessa Garcia
verified Google review
★★★★★“The project which was fairly priced was finished ahead of its initial time schedule and on budget. The work and oversite was high quality.”
Bob Besser
verified Google review
★★★★★“Barak arrived well prepared with copies of the company’s license and permits and all required paperwork.”
Michal R.
verified Yelp review
Who runs your project
Avi “Danny” Vaknin, owner
Avi Vaknin owns Master in Design, the Tarzana design-build firm serving the San Fernando Valley since 2012. Most clients know him as Danny.
Reviews describe him on site during the build and back at the house when something needs attention, sometimes years after the job is done.
What Does a Home Addition Cost in Encino?
Our additions run $40,000 to $150,000 or more. A bedroom on a flat lot sits near the low end. A hillside primary suite with engineered foundations, or a full second story, sits at the top or beyond.
A 2026 Los Angeles cost guide puts ground-level additions at about $200 to $400 per square foot and second stories at about $400 to $600. For a full primary suite, the 2025 Cost vs Value Report puts a midrange project in Los Angeles at about $182,500. On Encino hillside lots, add these to the budget:
- Geotechnical and structural engineering
- Retaining walls and caissons where the slope requires them
- Soil hauling limited to weekday hours, which stretches the schedule
We give a written line-item estimate after design, so the price is set before construction.
Permits and Timeline in Encino
Encino is part of the City of Los Angeles, so every addition needs an LADBS building permit. A simple one-story addition can qualify for counter plan check. Hillside and second-story projects usually go through regular plan check. Avi “Danny” Vaknin, who owns Master in Design, keeps the permit file in-house.
Once the permit issues, a single-story addition takes about 8 to 14 weeks of construction. Hillside grading and second stories take longer.
We already work in Encino. Our before and after gallery shows kitchen and bathroom remodels here.
Areas We Serve in Encino
We build additions across ZIP codes 91316 and 91436. That covers the flat streets near Lake Balboa and the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, homes around Los Encinos State Historic Park, and hillside streets climbing south into the Santa Monica Mountains.
For kitchens and baths, see our Encino remodeling page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Encino homeowners ask before adding on.
How much is a 10x12 room addition?
What is the average cost of a 12x24 addition?
Is it cheaper to add an addition or build up?
What is the most expensive part of an addition to a house?
Do I need a permit for a home addition in Encino?
Built. Finished. Loved.
Ready to start your project?
Tell us about it. No obligation, no pressure. We respond within one business day.
★★★★★
4.9 out of 5 from 60 Google reviews, plus 42 reviews on Yelp.
Licensed General Building contractor, CSLB #979219. Serving Tarzana and the San Fernando Valley.