New clear redwood pergola with infrared heaters over a backyard patio in Rancho Palos Verdes

Residential

Rancho Palos Verdes backyard remodel.

Pools, pergolas, outdoor kitchens, landscape, and lighting in Rancho Palos Verdes, designed around the city's view, height, and landslide rules and built by one licensed team.

Why rancho palos verdes backyard remodel

A backyard remodel built for Rancho Palos Verdes

Rancho Palos Verdes lots are some of the best backyard sites in the South Bay: big, often sloped, and facing the ocean or the city lights. They also come with rules found nowhere else in the region. A backyard remodel in Rancho Palos Verdes has to work with protected views, a 16-foot height line, and in some neighborhoods active land movement. DECOMA designs and builds the whole yard (pool, spa, kitchen, pergola, hardscape, landscape, and lighting) under one license, with those rules built into the design.

We're working in RPV right now. On one property, we built a clear redwood pergola with infrared heaters over the rear patio. On another, we installed a full front yard from a combined hardscape and softscape plan, with custom irrigation and low-voltage lighting. The photos on this page are from those jobs.

Check the lot first: landslide zones and soils

RPV sits on active landslide geology, so a yard here starts with soils, not sketches. Under the city's landslide regulations, adopted August 19, 2025, new residential construction, including additions, is prohibited in Portuguese Bend, Zone 2 Monks Lots, and Zone 2 Non-Monks Lots. The boundaries were extended to more properties in Seaview and the Portuguese Bend Beach Club. Owners in those zones can still repair and restore within the existing footprint, and there's an exclusion process with strict criteria.

Outside those zones, most RPV lots can take a pool or a new structure with a soils report and the right engineering. Whether your parcel is in one of those zones is the first thing we check.

Views, height, and where a pergola can go

RPV protects views under Proposition M, and single-family height is 16 feet by right. Anything taller needs a Height Variation Permit. Structures below 16 feet don't block a protected view, so we design pergolas, patio covers, and pool houses to stay under that line wherever we can. That keeps your project out of a variance hearing and keeps your neighbors' views intact.

Coastal exposure on the seaward slopes

On RPV's ocean-facing slopes, salt air corrodes the wrong hardware within a few seasons. We use stainless or galvanized fasteners on pergolas and railings, marine-grade fixtures for lighting, and outdoor-rated stone and finishes for kitchens.

Permits in Rancho Palos Verdes

Building & Safety is at 30940 Hawthorne Blvd. Plans are submitted through the city's online plan check portal and reviewed by Transtech. The first submittal takes up to 10 business days once accepted, and resubmittals up to 5. Pools, structures, gas, and new circuits all go through that process, and we handle it.

What we build in Rancho Palos Verdes

Pools and spas engineered for hillside soils. We've built more than 1,000 pools.
Pergolas and patio covers with heaters, fans, and lighting.
Outdoor kitchens, fire features, and dining terraces.
Retaining walls, drainage, and terraced hardscape.
Landscape plans, custom irrigation, and low-voltage lighting.
Saunas, cold plunges, and hot tubs.

See everything a South Bay yard can hold on our outdoor living page, or explore pools, pergolas, and landscape. We also serve the rest of Rancho Palos Verdes and the Peninsula, including Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills Estates.

From the field

Our current work in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Recent photos from current DECOMA jobs — in progress and finished, not stock.

Clear redwood pergola spanning the rear patio.
Infrared heaters mounted to the beams for evenings outside.
Front-yard landscape drawn as one hardscape and softscape plan.
Custom irrigation and low-voltage lighting in the new beds.
Heater wiring routed inside the frame.
The finished front yard.

How we run it

Scope to sign-off.

01
Lot check
Before design, we confirm whether your parcel is inside one of the landslide regulation zones, what the soils are, and where neighbors' protected views run.
02
Design in 3D
The whole yard is modeled with the house. Structures stay under the 16-foot by-right height unless a Height Variation Permit is worth pursuing.
03
Plan check
We submit through the city's online plan check portal. First reviews take up to 10 business days once accepted, and resubmittals up to 5.
04
Build
One crew from footings to finish: pool, hardscape, structures, irrigation, lighting, and planting.

Why DECOMA

One license, three disciplines, forty years.

Family-run South Bay general contractor since 1978. We design, build, and manage — under one license — so the team you start with is the team that hands you keys and the team that answers the phone when something needs fixing in year ten.

Years building: 48+
Projects delivered: 3,000+
Repeat clients: 300+
CSLB Class: A/B

FAQ

Common questions.

Can I build a pool in Rancho Palos Verdes?

On most lots, yes, with a soils report and engineering. Parcels inside the city's landslide regulation zones are different. Under the ordinance adopted August 19, 2025, new residential construction, including additions, is prohibited in Portuguese Bend, Zone 2 Monks Lots, and Zone 2 Non-Monks Lots, and the boundaries were extended to more properties in Seaview and the Portuguese Bend Beach Club. If you're in or near those areas, we check what's allowed before anything is designed.

Does a pergola or pool house in RPV need to stay under 16 feet?

Single-family height in Rancho Palos Verdes is 16 feet by right, and anything taller needs a Height Variation Permit. Under Proposition M's view-preservation rules, structures below 16 feet don't block a protected view. That's why we design most pergolas, covers, and pool houses to stay under that line.

How long does plan check take in Rancho Palos Verdes?

RPV routes plan check through its online portal, where it's reviewed by Transtech, a third-party firm. The first submittal takes up to 10 business days once accepted, and resubmittals up to 5. Design, engineering, and any planning approvals come before that.

What backyard work have you done in Rancho Palos Verdes?

Two current jobs. One is a clear redwood pergola with built-in infrared heaters over a rear patio. The other is a full front-yard landscape with a hardscape and softscape plan, custom irrigation, and low-voltage lighting. Photos of both are on this page.

How much does a backyard remodel cost in Rancho Palos Verdes?

It depends on what you build and on the lot. Hillside access, soils, and engineering move RPV budgets more than size does. For scale, a new pool starts at roughly $100,000 for the pool alone, before decking or other features. We give you a real range once the design is drawn.

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