Two architectures, two completely different kitchen problems
Silver Lake kitchens come in two main varieties and they are not solved the same way. The 1920s Spanish Colonial houses on the flatter streets have a small kitchen at the back, plaster walls, an arched doorway and a service porch behind it. The mid-century post and beam houses on the slopes have a kitchen that opens to the living space already, with an exposed beam ceiling, sliding glass to a deck and a view nobody wants to block. The first problem is space. The second is that there is no attic to hide anything in.
Fix Brothers is a two-brother remodeling company, licensed and insured, based in Chatsworth since 2015. These houses need planning before demolition rather than improvisation during it, and that is how we quote them.
Exposed ceilings mean every duct and wire has to be designed
This is the thing that catches people out in a post and beam house. In a normal house a range hood duct, recessed cans and new circuits all disappear into the attic or the ceiling cavity. Here there is no cavity. The decking is the ceiling, the beams are the structure, and anything you add is either visible or has to go somewhere else.
So we plan the mechanical layout before the cabinet layout. A hood can go out through an exterior wall with a short horizontal run, or a downdraft can serve an island where routing up is impossible. Lighting goes into surface-mounted fixtures, track along a beam, under-cabinet runs and sometimes a dropped soffit built deliberately as part of the design rather than as a patch. New circuits route through walls and under the floor. Done in that order, the kitchen looks intentional. Done the other way round, you end up with a boxed duct across a ceiling you paid for.
What we find in the 1920s houses
- Knob and tube wiring, often spliced into newer cable somewhere out of sight.
- Galvanized supply lines narrowed by scale, which is why a new faucet still feels weak.
- Lath and plaster walls, which demolish differently from drywall and need real containment.
- A service porch behind the kitchen that is the best square footage on the floor plan.
- Arched openings and plaster details worth keeping, and worth protecting during the work.
- Three layers of floor: original fir, linoleum, then vinyl over hardboard.
Hillside lots: foundation, access and what the floor is sitting on
Many Silver Lake houses step down the slope, with living space over a garage at street level and a crawlspace or pier foundation on the downhill side. That matters to a kitchen in two ways. Moving a sink or adding an island means running waste under a floor that may be hard to reach, so we get into the crawlspace before promising an island drain. And the structure below, including posts, caissons and retaining walls, is worth a look while the floor is open, because this is the cheapest moment in twenty years to deal with it.
Access is the other hillside factor. Narrow streets, long stairs from the curb, driveways too steep for a dolly and often nowhere legal to put a dumpster. That decides how cabinets and stone reach the kitchen and how debris leaves. We walk the route, count the steps and put it in the estimate instead of absorbing it into a vague line item.
Opening a wall in a post and beam house
In a post and beam house the load path is in the posts and beams, not spread through the walls, so some interior partitions carry nothing and removing them is simple. Others sit directly under a beam and hold it up. The difference is not visible from the room. We look at the framing, follow the beams to their bearing points and then price the wall. In the 1920s houses the wall between kitchen and dining room usually does carry ceiling joists, which means an engineered beam and a plan check at LADBS.
Permits
Silver Lake is in the City of Los Angeles, so permits come from LADBS. Replacing cabinets and counters in place can be exempt. Adding circuits, moving the sink, changing the gas line or altering a wall is not. Non-structural kitchen work is usually issued without a full plan check. Bearing work needs an engineered detail and review, and we put that period in the schedule honestly. We pull the permit in our own name and meet the inspector.
How a Silver Lake kitchen runs, and how long
- Site visit with exploratory openings, the crawlspace checked, the panel open and the access route measured.
- Mechanical and lighting plan agreed before the cabinet layout is finalized.
- Line-item written scope with finish allowances and a stated repair allowance.
- Engineering and LADBS permit.
- Containment, demolition, framing and beam work, inspected before closing.
- Rewiring, repiping, hood duct and venting, then cabinets, stone, backsplash, floors, appliances, final inspection, punch list.
Count on six to ten weeks of construction after the permit. Exposed-ceiling work and hillside access both add time, and both are better in the schedule than in a change order.
Work you can look at
Our Sherman Oaks kitchen with open shelving and a pro range shows a properly ducted hood and a soffit removed. For the kind of ceiling and plaster work these houses need, see ceiling and wall paneling and ceiling restoration. A whole-house interior repaint in Studio City shows finish work at scale.
Worth reading before you call
Start with kitchen remodeling, or kitchen refresh if the layout is right and the surfaces are not. If the wall is the question, see load-bearing wall removal and what it does to the timeline. For planning read the kitchen remodel timeline and what drives the cost of a kitchen remodel.
The same company handles the small jobs afterward, which is covered on the Silver Lake service area page. Request your free written estimate and we will arrange the walkthrough.
What is included in this service
- Walkthrough with exploratory openings and crawlspace check
- Mechanical, hood routing and lighting plan agreed up front
- Access and staging review, with street-use permits arranged
- Line-item scope with finish and repair allowances
- LADBS permits, inspections and Title 24 forms
- Containment and protection for plaster and beam ceilings
- New grounded circuits, panel or sub-panel work
- Repiped kitchen supply lines and corrected waste venting
- Cabinets, stone counters, backsplash tile, flooring and trim
- Final inspection and punch-list walkthrough
Frequently asked questions
My house has an exposed beam ceiling. Where does the range hood duct go?
Out through the nearest exterior wall with the shortest horizontal run we can design, which is why the hood position gets decided before the cabinet layout. For an island where routing up or out is not possible, a downdraft is the honest alternative. What we avoid is a boxed duct running across a ceiling that is one of the best features of the house.
Can I have recessed lighting if there is no attic above the kitchen?
Not in the exposed ceiling itself, and anyone who promises otherwise is planning to box it in. What works instead is surface-mounted fixtures, track run along a beam, strong under-cabinet lighting and sometimes a deliberately designed soffit over the perimeter cabinets. We draw the lighting plan with you early, because it changes where cabinets and appliances land.
Can you add an island with a sink in a hillside house?
Usually, but we check the crawlspace first. The island drain and vent have to run under the floor to a connection point with proper fall, and on a downhill lot that space can be tight or hard to reach. We get under the house before promising it. If the fall does not work, we will tell you and look at a prep island without plumbing.
Will removing a wall in a post and beam house need a beam?
It depends which wall. In a post and beam house the load runs through the posts and beams, so some interior partitions carry nothing at all, while others sit directly under a beam and hold it. You cannot tell from inside the room. We trace the beams to their bearing points before pricing, and in the 1920s Spanish houses the kitchen to dining wall usually is structural.
How much does the hillside access add to the job?
Enough that it belongs in the estimate rather than being absorbed quietly. Narrow streets, long stairs from the curb and nowhere legal for a dumpster decide how cabinets and stone get in and how debris gets out, and that is labor hours. We walk the route and count the steps at the first visit, and we arrange street-use permits where they are needed.
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