James David Custom Homes

For more from James David Custom Homes visit: https://jamesdavidcustomhomes.com/ Because of the scarcity of available land in Southern California a majority of the new home building opportunities are on sloped land. Sometimes with a very steep grade. New home owners are often nervous about building on a hillside with the risk of erosion, slope creep and earthquakes to their home. At James David Custom Homes, we’ve been digging in to what it takes to build a home safely on a ...hillside in our Building on a Hillside Series, and today we’re talking specifically about the difference between importing and exporting soil, two different types of grading solutions when it comes to building on a steep grade. We have two new custom home projects in the same neighborhood, one that’s an import job and one an export job. It’s the perfect opportunity to illustrate the differences. Enjoy! Check out our Building on a Hillside Series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist Follow James David Custom Homes on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesdavidcustomhomes/ and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesdavidcustomhomes Check us out on on Houzz: https://www.houzz.com/pro/jamesdavidcustomhomes/

Because of the lack of available land in Southern California, most new custom home projects start with the demolition of an existing home. Today Project Manager, Trevor will walk us through our processes of safely and effectively demolishing a home and how we keep our environment impact to a minimum to keep our client’s future neighbors as happy as possible.

It can take years to build a home and only a day to demo one! Tomorrow we’re posting a demo day video where we’re clearing the path for a new build we’re doing in Santa Monica. You’ll learn how we keep our team, property and neighbors safe during the process as well as see some heavy duty excavator demolition happeningwho doesn’t love that!? If you can’t wait until tomorrow? Check it out here: https://youtu.be/23UpNB5BnF0

Start at the bottom and work your way up! Seeing the magnatude of this build is mind-blowingand then to think that the majority of this home's foundation is underground with 80 caissons going 40 to 60 feet deep! Check out our video diving into the foundation of this home here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nkh2Iw5KiI

Here's our framers building the walls of this custom home. They build the walls on the floor then lift them into place! Check out our video to see how it's done here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtJwR7c3mik&t=11s

The calm before the storm of framers descend to build this third floor.

Taking it all in. Second floor framed, check back for a timelapse of the third floor!

The Backbone. So much of construction is behind the scenes. This 33 foot tall moment frame is sitting on top of caissons. We drilled 60 feet down anchoring into bedrock. Come move-in day a normal walk through of this hillside home would never reveal the work that goes into keeping it safe from erosion, landslides and earthquakes. Tap the link in our bio to see our 3-part series where we talk about grading, building a foundation, and framing on a steep graded hillside.

Reaching for it! This 33 foot tall moment frame is a favorite and imposing feature of this construction. Check out our last post to see how we frame to it.

Here’s where we really start to see the transformation of this 12,000 square foot custom home. Kevin Voytovich, of James David Custom Homes takes us through our unique process to framing this new home construction on a 45% grade in Los Angeles. Follow along as we give away some our time/money-saving trade secrets, as well as talk safety, accessibility and take you step-by-step through our process from layout to plumbing and electrical. Home Specs: 12,000 square feet... 5 acres 45% grade 5 sets of retaining walls 770 linear feet 6 feet high 80 caissons 550 feet of grade beams 90 feet of retaining foundation walls 25 feet high See more

our third episode in the Building on a Hillside Series drops tomorrow! We’ll take you through the steps we take to ensure our team, clients, and this 12,000 square foot, custom home stay safe on this 45%-grade canyon side. We’ll also divulge some of our secrets on how we save our clients time and money with James' unique work process.

Starting the third floor of the 12,000 square foot home we're building in Los Angeles. The most important part of every home is a solid foundation and when you're building on a 45% grade it's even more important! Check out our last post to see our process for building a foundation on a steep grade.

In part two of our series on how to build a home on a hillsidewe tackle the most important step of any new home build: the foundation. In this episode Orange County-based custom home builderJames David Lepak shares the steps that can be taken to protect a new home built on a cliff, slope or in this case a canyon side from erosion, landslides and earthquakes. Be sure to check out our previous episode where we talked about erosion control and grading, and our next installment...: Framing on a Hillside. Home Specs: 1200 square feet 5 acres 45% grade 5 sets of retaining walls 770 linear feet 6 feet high 80 caissons 550 feet of grade beams 90 feet of retaining foundation walls 25 feet high

Morning mist overlooking the canyon whose 45% grade flanks we’re building a custom home into. Would you ever build a home on a cliff or steep hillside? How do you deal with erosion control? Let us know your thoughts and check out our video series on building a home on a hillside! Episode two on foundations drops tomorrow. #hillsidehome #buildingonahillside #canyonside #foundations #grading #losangeles #jamesdavidcustomhomes #JDCH #newhome #gradebeam #caisson #tubesteel #foundation #hillsidefoundation #erosioncontrol #erosion #landslide #earthquakes #builder #customhomebuilder #customhomedesign #luxurylifestyle #homesweethome #howeedwell #houzz