Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Wellborn Home Additions & ADU: The Woodland Hills Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a home addition or ADU in Woodland Hills with Wellborn cabinetry and millwork, the installed project typically runs $45,000 – $130,000 for the addition itself, with ADU construction landing between $90,000 – $220,000 depending on site conditions and finish level. We handle the full build from foundation to final trim, and we install Wellborn cabinetry, trim, and built-ins as part of that scope. Most homeowners discover their existing addition or ADU plan has a problem when the numbers stop making sense: the cabinetry spec doesn’t match the room dimensions, the existing foundation won’t carry the added square footage, or the original Wellborn order arrives with the wrong door profiles and somebody has to eat the reorder.
We see it regularly in Woodland Hills, from the flat lots south of Ventura Boulevard to the hillside parcels where a simple addition turns into a retaining wall and a structural engineer’s afternoon. The fix isn’t a mystery part; it’s a clear scope, a written price, and a crew that shows up.
Which Wellborn Models This Applies To
Wellborn’s line splits broadly into the Estate, Premier, and Cabinet Collections, and the differences matter more than the brochure admits. Estate and Premier lines carry full-height end panels, deeper drawer boxes, and door profiles that can be ordered in paint or stain grades. The Cabinet Collection is the entry line; it still takes Wellborn’s standard finishes but with fewer modification options. If you’re matching an existing Wellborn install in a Woodland Hills ADU, pull a drawer and look for the laser-etched part number on the drawer box side or the hinge plate. That number tells us the series, the door profile code, and the finish lot, which is the only reliable way to match a door or panel five years later.
One compatibility gotcha: Wellborn changed their drawer glide length on full-extension boxes in 2019. Pre-2019 Estate line drawer boxes are 21 inches deep on a 24-inch cabinet; post-2019 they went to 22. That’s a one-inch difference that makes a replacement drawer box not close flush if you order by cabinet width alone. We verify the box depth and glide part number before ordering anything.
For most additions and ADUs in Woodland Hills, we spec new Wellborn rather than trying to reuse cabinetry from the original structure. The cost of refacing or retrofitting old boxes against new walls rarely beats fresh cabinets that are built to the new room dimensions.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Wellborn Home Additions & ADU Project Is Failing
- Cabinet doors that won’t stay aligned after the first summer. In Woodland Hills the humidity swing between the marine layer mornings and the 100-degree August afternoons works solid wood doors hard. If doors are racking, the hinge plates weren’t mortised deep enough or the boxes weren’t shimmed level before hanging.
- Cracks at the junction where the addition ties into the original roofline. This is the classic sign of a foundation or framing issue, not a cabinet problem. We see it most on hillside additions where the new foundation wasn’t pinned to the existing one correctly.
- Drawers that bind or stick only in the afternoon. That’s thermal expansion. Solid wood faces and MDF boxes expand at different rates, and the afternoon sun through a west-facing Woodland Hills window is enough to make a tight drawer refuse to open.
- Trim or crown that separates at the seams. If the addition settles differently than the original slab, the millwork tells you first. The seams open before any drywall cracks show.
- Doors that swing open or closed on their own. That’s the floor or the cabinet out of level. It’s almost always the floor, which means the framing or foundation wasn’t dead flat before the cabinets went in.
See the difference
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After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
In Woodland Hills, a full home addition runs $45,000 – $130,000 installed. An ADU ranges $90,000 – $220,000. The gap comes down to three things: whether your parcel is flat or hillside, whether the existing foundation carries the added load or needs new footings, and what finish level you choose inside. Wellborn cabinetry, countertops, plumbing fixtures, and millwork are part of the interior scope; we don’t hand you a bare box and walk away.
Every quote includes the written price before any work starts, the permit drawings and structural calcs for the City of Los Angeles, demolition and haul-off of any existing conditions, the framing, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, drywall, paint, trim, and the Wellborn cabinetry and built-ins installed. If the number changes, we tell you before the change happens, not after.
Here’s how the numbers break down in Woodland Hills:
- Home addition (200 – 400 sq ft): $45,000 – $130,000
- ADU construction (400 – 800 sq ft): $90,000 – $220,000
- Garage conversion to living space: $30,000 – $80,000
- Wellborn cabinetry package within any of the above: $8,000 – $35,000 depending on line and configuration
DIY or Call Us?
You can measure your existing rooms, take photos of the Wellborn labels inside your drawer boxes, and pull your lot’s setback requirements from the city. That part is free and it helps you talk to any contractor intelligently. What you shouldn’t do is touch the structure. Cutting into a load-bearing wall, extending a foundation, or tying a new roof plane into an existing one are precisely the places where a homeowner with a saw and confidence creates a six-figure repair. We’ve pulled permits on jobs where someone started without them. It costs more to fix than it would have to do it right the first time.
If you’re planning an addition or ADU in Woodland Hills, call (341) 217-2776 and we’ll walk the property with you. The estimate is free, and the price we give you is the price on the contract.
FAQs
Most home additions in Woodland Hills take 4 – 7 months from permit submittal to final inspection; ADUs run 6 – 10 months depending on site excavation and utility work. The longest variable is city plan check, which has been running 2 – 4 months on typical additions. We give you a written schedule and update it as the job moves, with photo updates before and after every major phase.
Sometimes, but only if the original Wellborn order is recent enough that the finish lot is still available. If your existing cabinets are more than five years old, the finish has faded under the California sun and a brand-new door or panel will not match even if the color code is identical. In those cases we recommend full replacement in the new addition, which gives you a clean transition.
Only if the scope changes, and only with your written approval. Our contract prices are fixed for the work described in the scope of work. If we open a wall and find rot or a foundation issue, we stop, we show you photos, and we give you a priced change order before we do anything else. You approve or you don’t, and the price you approved is the price you pay.
We order direct from Wellborn’s distribution network with lead times that have been running 4 – 8 weeks for standard lines and 8 – 12 weeks for Estate and paint-grade custom configurations. We confirm the lead time in writing when you sign. We don’t warehouse inventory, but we can often expedite drawer boxes, door replacements, and hardware when an existing Wellborn install needs a repair.
A home addition in Woodland Hills typically runs $45,000 – $130,000 with an ADU at $90,000 – $220,000. Hillside lots above Ventura Boulevard run higher than flat lots south of the boulevard because of retaining work and foundation requirements. Call (341) 217-2776 and we’ll give you a written range for your actual property after a site visit.
If you’re weighing an addition or ADU in Woodland Hills and want a written price before you commit to anything, call (341) 217-2776. We’ll come out, look at the lot, talk through what the numbers will look like, and leave you with a written estimate. That part’s free.
Written by Luca Romano, Owner, Sawyer Remodel Woodland Hills at Sawyer Remodel Woodland Hills, serving Woodland Hills and nearby areas.
