A fire rebuild kitchen in Altadena and Pacific Palisades is one room inside a much larger effort, and we try to work with that in mind. The Eaton and Palisades fires both began on January 7, 2025, and together destroyed more than 16,000 structures. If your family is rebuilding, or living in a house that survived while its kitchen did not, Best Top Kitchen can take the kitchen off your list.
We are a kitchen-only contractor with more than 20 years of experience. On a rebuild, we can join your architect and general contractor as the kitchen and cabinetry partner, or contract with you directly for the kitchen. Either way, the kitchen is built as one complete project under one contract.
What We Handle in a Rebuilt Kitchen
- Design from your architect's plans. We refine the layout and render cabinetry, counters, lighting and appliances in 3D.
- Custom cabinetry built to the new room's real dimensions, including island, pantry and appliance panels. See custom kitchen cabinets.
- Countertops and backsplash, from slab selection through templating and installation.
- Trade coordination. When your GC handles rough-in, we supply appliance specs, cutout sizes and outlet and plumbing locations so everything lands where the cabinets expect it.
- Smoke-damaged kitchen replacement in homes that are standing but whose kitchens need to come out.
Our work is the complete kitchen. We do not take on partial repairs like a single cabinet run or a countertop swap, which is rarely what a rebuild needs anyway.
When a Smoke-Damaged Kitchen Needs Replacing
Not every kitchen near the burn areas has to come out. LA County Public Health's smoke and soot guidance notes that residue may not be readily visible and that thorough cleaning and odor neutralizing come before any redecorating. Replacement starts to make sense when:
- Smoke odor keeps returning from cabinet boxes, drawers or appliance cavities after professional cleaning.
- Heat has blistered, warped or discolored cabinet finishes or edges.
- Water from firefighting or a failed line has swollen cabinet boxes or subfloor.
- Your restoration professional or adjuster has recommended replacement.
We do not test for contaminants or make claim decisions; our role is building the new kitchen.
How We Plan a Fire Rebuild Kitchen in Altadena and Pacific Palisades
- A first conversation. We learn where your rebuild stands: lot cleared, plans in progress, permits pending or framing underway. Any stage is fine; earlier simply leaves more room to shape the kitchen.
- Plans and measurements. We work from the architect's drawings, then field-measure once framing is up.
- Design and 3D renderings. Layout, cabinetry, counters and lighting, revised until the kitchen fits your household. More on our kitchen design approach.
- Coordination. Drawings and specs go to your GC, or we manage the kitchen trades directly as your kitchen contractor.
- Fabrication and installation of cabinetry, countertops, backsplash, lighting and appliances.
- Walkthrough. We review the finished kitchen with you and stand behind our work for one year from project delivery.
Rebuild Decisions Worth Settling Early
Gas or induction cooking
Los Angeles Emergency Executive Order No. 1, issued January 13, 2025, exempted eligible Palisades rebuilds from the City's all-electric requirement, so gas cooking remained an option. A March 2025 order then asked the Department of Building and Safety to recommend a streamlined permit path for owners who choose all-electric. Altadena rebuilds follow Los Angeles County rules. The choice affects electrical capacity, gas piping and hood sizing, so we confirm current requirements before appliances are specified.
Like-for-like footprint or a new one
The City's like-for-like path covers rebuilds up to 110 percent of the original floor area, height and bulk. Your architect will guide that choice; we design the kitchen around whichever path you take.
Custom cabinet construction
Framed or frameless, inset or full overlay, painted or stained wood, each shown in your new room in 3D first. Boxes are built to field measurements taken once framing is up, so panels, fillers and appliance openings fit the house as built rather than the plans as drawn.
What Shapes the Cost of a Rebuilt Kitchen
- Room size and layout, including islands and pantries.
- Cabinet construction and finish, from framed overlay to custom inset or frameless.
- Countertop material, such as quartz, quartzite or marble.
- Appliances. Panel-ready and professional-style units change cabinet design and utility needs.
- Our role. Kitchen partner under your GC, or full kitchen contract.
- Tear-out of a smoke-damaged kitchen in a standing home.
Most of our full kitchens fall in a range we confirm at the consultation after reviewing your plans. We provide an itemized kitchen proposal you can share with your builder, architect or adjuster. We do not predict what a policy will pay.
Altadena and Pacific Palisades Permits Work Differently
The two burn areas answer to different agencies. Altadena is unincorporated, so rebuild permits run through Los Angeles County, which hosts a One-Stop Permit Center in Altadena connecting owners with Public Works Building and Safety, Regional Planning, Public Health and the Fire Department.
Pacific Palisades is part of the City of Los Angeles, where building permits come from the Department of Building and Safety and owners can use the like-for-like path under Emergency Executive Order No. 1. We plan each fire rebuild kitchen in Altadena and Pacific Palisades around the agency and permit path your project is on.
