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Coastal exterior remodeling in Santa Monica
Close to the ocean, a Santa Monica, CA exterior has to stand up to salt air and morning fog. Los Angeles Home Remodelers, a design-build exterior remodeling contractor in Santa Monica, replaces windows and sliding glass doors, repairs stucco and siding, repaints and re-roofs with corrosion-resistant fasteners and flashing.
Your project manager checks your address for Coastal Zone and historic district review, files the building permits the work needs with the city and sends in each trade in the right order. Most single-trade jobs take days to a few weeks. A free in-home visit gets you a written, itemized estimate.
Bonded & Insured | Written Workmanship Warranty
Tell us what’s rusting, sticking or peeling. We’ll check your address and price each trade, free.
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Santa Monica exterior remodeling
Serving Ocean Park, Sunset Park, Wilshire-Montana and homes across Santa Monica, CA.
Exterior remodeling in Santa Monica comes down to materials and details that last near the ocean. Damp, salty air rusts ordinary fasteners, swells wood trim and wears paint faster than it does inland, so we choose and install everything with that exposure in mind.
The houses vary block to block. Ocean Park mixes early Craftsman and Victorian homes with mid-century apartments, Sunset Park has small one-story houses from the 1940s, and North of Montana holds larger family homes on bigger lots.
Whether you own a bungalow, a duplex or a family house, you get one contract and one project manager. Family or tenants can usually stay home while we work outside.
Coastal exterior services
Each service below is planned for damp, salty air. Pick one, or combine several on a single schedule.
Window replacement in Santa Monica starts with frames that won’t pit or swell: fiberglass, vinyl or clad wood, with corrosion-resistant hardware. Dual-pane Low-E glass keeps a fog-cooled room warmer and quieter.
Our window page compares frames and installs.
Salt and sand grind down slider rollers and tracks, and plain steel parts rust. We install new patio doors on stainless rollers over a sloped sill pan, sized to the opening or widened under an engineered header.
Our sliding door page covers multi-panel options.
Near the ocean, paint gives out first on trim and on the walls facing the sea breeze. We rinse off the salt, scrape and prime bare wood, then use coatings rated for coastal exposure.
On pre-1978 homes, prep follows EPA lead-safe practices.
Craftsman and Victorian homes in Ocean Park and Wilshire-Montana carry wood siding that cups and rots where fog keeps it damp. We replace failed boards at the original reveal, or switch walls to fiber-cement lap with a drainage gap behind.
Stucco on a 1940s Sunset Park house often cracks around the windows, and near the coast the lath behind it may have rusted. We cut back to sound material, replace lath and paper, then float a matching finish.
Our stucco page explains patch versus re-stucco.
Rafter tails, fascia and gutters take the brunt of damp marine air. We replace soft wood, prime every cut end and hang gutters with downspouts that drain away from the walls.
Ask about eave repair when we come out.
How it works
Two address checks come first near the coast. After that, you’ll know every step and price up front.
We check whether your home sits in the Coastal Zone or a historic district before the visit.
We probe trim and sills, look for rust stains under fastener heads and test windows and sliders for drag.
Your estimate names the frame material, fastener grade and coating for each trade, with permit fees listed.
We file the permits the work needs, order units and build from the roof edge down to the final coat.
Santa Monica doesn’t have a fully certified Local Coastal Program, so projects in the Coastal Zone need City approval plus a separate Coastal Commission permit. The zone includes much of Downtown, and we confirm whether your address and exterior scope trigger coastal review.
The city issues building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits separately, and it’s replacing its permit software, so we file through whichever portal is current. If you’re in a historic district such as the Bay Street Craftsman Cluster, we check what review applies to visible changes.
Coastal exposure
Salt and moisture attack metal and wood first, and they get in wherever a detail traps water. The fix lies in the materials and small parts, not a thicker coat of paint.
Near the coast, we specify:
None of this is a city rule. It’s how we build, so an exterior near the ocean doesn’t need the same repairs again in a few years.
Rust streaks under nail heads and swollen window sills are early warnings. We point them out at the visit, even if you called about something else.
Exterior remodeling cost
Near the ocean, material grade sets more of your price, since corrosion-resistant frames, hardware and fasteners cost more than standard ones.
Your written estimate names each material and lists every trade apart, so you can see where the coastal upgrades sit.
Fiberglass or clad frames and stainless hardware cost more up front and outlast standard parts in salt air.
Coastal Zone or historic district review adds paperwork and time before visible work starts.
Fog-damp sills, fascia and siding often hide rot that has to come out first.
Narrow side yards and two-story walls on small lots may need scaffolding.
Work on a duplex or small apartment building gets scheduled around the people living there.
We’ll point out corrosion, rot and failing paint, check your coastal and historic status and rank the fixes. Free, with no obligation.
Questions
Coastal review, historic districts, permits and salt-air materials, answered.
Your total depends on the trades you combine, the material grade and any approvals your address needs. Coastal-grade frames and hardware cost more but outlast standard ones here. You’ll get a written, itemized estimate after a free visit.
Sometimes. Without a fully certified Local Coastal Program, projects in the Coastal Zone need City approval and a separate Coastal Commission permit. Whether your scope counts depends on the work, so we confirm it with the city before ordering.
Fiberglass, vinyl and clad-wood frames resist salt better than bare aluminum or unprotected steel. Pair them with stainless hardware and you’ll avoid pitted locks and stiff hinges. We compare samples at your visit.
It could be. The city’s districts include the Third Street Neighborhood, the Bay Street Craftsman Cluster and the 11th Street Bungalow district. We look up your address and check what review applies before you choose windows or colors.
We cut back to solid material, replace any rusted lath and lap new paper behind the patch. Then we match the texture and seal the wall with a coating suited to coastal air.
Often. The city issues building permits separately from electrical and plumbing ones, and window or door work may need one depending on the scope. We confirm with Building & Safety and file for you.
Usually, yes. The work happens outside the units, and we open only the windows we can close the same day. You get dates in writing to share with your tenants.
Keep reading
House styles, the envelope and the order every exterior trade follows.
Frame materials, glass and the permit and Title 24 basics for new windows.
Hairline cracks, patches, re-coats and full re-stucco, compared.
From the blog
Now booking free in-home visits
Corrosion-resistant windows, sound wood and the right coatings keep a Santa Monica home dry and cared for. We plan, permit and build it all on one contract. Book your free in-home visit.
Mon–Sat, 8am–6pm
We check corrosion, rot and approvals, then send an itemized estimate. No charge.
Thanks — we got your request. We'll call you to set up your free in-home visit.
