West Hollywood ADU Construction, Starting Under the Surface
West Hollywood ADU construction on a cleared lot: ground probed for loose fill and old footings, a foundation sized to match, then city permits and review.
On a West Hollywood lot cleared after a fire, a steel probe rod goes into the ground before we stretch a tape. Pushed down along the lines where the ADU's footings would run, it finds soft pockets, loose backfill and buried chunks of the old foundation. Those readings mark where a footing can bear on firm soil and where the ground has to be dug out and rebuilt before anything is poured.
What the probe turns up
Removing a burned house's foundation leaves a hole, and if that hole was refilled without compaction, the soft fill can settle under a new footing. Where the rod sinks easily, we dig a test hole by hand to see how deep the loose material goes. Shallow fill can be dug out and replaced in compacted lifts. Deeper fill, or broken concrete that cannot be pulled out, brings in a soils engineer, whose report may call for deeper footings or a thickened slab. Each finding goes onto the site sketch before the unit is placed on it.
Review and the footing inspection in West Hollywood
Building and safety staff at West Hollywood City Hall review the ADU plans, including the foundation design and any soils report it relies on. When fill was replaced, the compaction test results travel with the permit file, and a field inspector can ask for those numbers on site. The footing inspection happens with the trenches open and the steel tied, before any concrete arrives, so the bearing soil is in plain view. Framing, rough trades, insulation and the final follow in turn, each signed off before the next stage starts.
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That order puts the unit's footings into ground beside a future excavation, so we probe the whole lot once and place the ADU where the main house dig will not undercut it. If the city clears you to live in the unit early, you stay on the property while the house goes up.
The unit has to be a single story holding its area to 500 square feet or less, and the ground has to pass the probe test. In West Hollywood the structural sheet is where the probing ends up: it carries the footing size and depth the soil calls for, and plan check reads it with the soils letter where one exists.
Tapping its slab with a hammer comes first, since a hollow ring can mean voids or washed-out soil under the concrete. We probe along the footing edge outside, check the framing and roof for heat or water damage, and measure the ceiling height. If the shell holds up, converting it is priced next to a new unit on fresh footings.
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