New Construction on Your Santa Monica Lot
New house construction in Santa Monica with hot-dip galvanized or stainless connectors, matched fasteners and siding chosen to stand up to salt air.
For the structural hardware on a new Santa Monica house, we specify hot-dip galvanized or stainless steel connectors. Salt carried on damp coastal air settles on metal and eats through thin plating, and the straps, hangers and hold-downs that tie a frame together are hard to reach once walls close. Heavier zinc or stainless steel gives those parts a long working life, and matching fasteners keep the two metals from corroding each other.
Choosing the hardware
Connector makers sell the same strap in several coatings. Standard thin galvanizing suits interior framing well away from the weather. Near the coast, any connector in an exterior wall, a deck, a balcony or the crawlspace moves up to a heavy zinc coating or stainless steel. Nails and screws must match the connector: a stainless strap held with plain steel nails will rust at the nail heads. Treated lumber adds its own chemistry, which is one more reason to step up the coating. The structural engineer notes the required finish on the plans so the order arrives right.
Siding, flashing and the review
The same thinking carries to the outer skin. Fiber cement siding and three-coat stucco both stand up to salt air, and the trim, flashing and vents beside them come in aluminum with a factory finish or in stainless steel. Copper and galvanized flashing are kept apart so they do not react. Santa Monica's building and safety staff review the structural sheets, and if your parcel turns out to sit inside the coastal zone, a separate approval joins the schedule, so we settle that question before design. The inspector sees the hardware at the frame inspection.
About our New Construction serviceEverything we build in Santa Monica
New Construction in Santa Monica: questions
Boundaries and topography from a licensed surveyor, soil data from a geotechnical engineer, the zoning rules, and an answer on whether the parcel falls within the coastal zone. That last question can add a review step, so it belongs early. Utility locations and any easements complete the picture before your designer starts placing rooms.
There are two agreements. The first covers design coordination, engineering and getting the permit set through Santa Monica. The second prices construction in the sequence it is built, from foundation and framing to the roof, the systems and the finishes, with every line describing what it holds. Coastal-grade hardware is called out so you can see its cost.
Our team does. We bring the surveyor in first, then the soils engineer, then the structural engineer who specifies the connectors and their coatings. Reports are checked against each other before they reach your designer, and we field every plan check question so each consultant answers only what belongs to them.
New Construction in other cities
More we build in Santa Monica
Plan your project in Santa Monica
Tell us about the property and what you have in mind. We reply with a written next step.