Sunland-Tujunga ADU Construction With Fire-Rated Wall Sheathing
Sunland-Tujunga ADU construction after a fire: Type X gypsum behind the siding where a lot is mapped for fire hazard, LADBS review and inspected stages.
Type X gypsum sheathing, fastened over the studs beneath the siding, gives the walls of a Sunland-Tujunga backyard unit a layer that will not burn and holds heat back from the framing. Where a Sunland-Tujunga parcel lands within a mapped fire hazard severity zone, and parts of the area do, an outside wall built with that sheathing is among the assemblies the wildfire chapter of the code accepts. On a cleared lot it goes up with the framing, before any window is set.
Building the sheathed wall
The gypsum panels are 5/8 inch thick with a fire-resistant core, fastened to the studs on the pattern the tested assembly calls for, with every joint landing on framing. A water-resistive barrier goes over them, lapped so water runs outward, then flashing at each window and door, then the siding. Gypsum cannot hold a siding nail, so the cladding is fastened through it into the studs with longer fasteners. Bracing still comes from structural panels, and on walls that resist wind and earthquake loads, the engineer decides how plywood and gypsum are layered together.
LADBS review for a mapped parcel
Plan check and inspections for a Sunland-Tujunga ADU run through LADBS. For a mapped parcel, the wall section on the drawings spells out the sheathing, its thickness and its fastening, and the roof and vent details follow the same wildfire chapter. The inspector looks at the gypsum layer before the water-resistive barrier covers it, because after that it is hidden for good. Windows set into those walls carry a tempered pane. Outside the mapped areas, the wall can be built without the extra layer, and we tell you which case applies once your parcel is checked.
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The whole lot generally has to be cleared of fire debris, with that work signed off, before LADBS will issue a building permit, so the unit cannot start ahead of cleanup. After that it can lead. Once LADBS agrees to occupancy ahead of the house, you live in the finished unit while the house framing goes up beside it.
We walk a Sunland-Tujunga parcel before any agreement to see whether a single-level unit within 500 square feet fits on it. On a mapped lot, the wall drawings then show the gypsum layer, its fasteners and the siding over it, so the plan checker can match the assembly to the wildfire chapter.
If its frame came through the fire sound, it may. Where the parcel is mapped, bringing the old walls up to the wildfire rules can mean stripping the existing siding, adding the gypsum layer and a new barrier, then recladding, which can approach the cost of new walls. We check the studs, rafters and slab first, then compare that path with a new unit.
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