Few streets ask more of a roofing contractor in Granada Hills than those in Balboa Highlands, where 108 Eichler homes built from 1962 to 1964 make up the only Eichler tract in Los Angeles County. Their flat and A-frame roofs fall under a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ), while most of the surrounding community is single-story Ranch housing from the 1950s.
North of Rinaldi Street the land rises into hillside lots the Community Plan calls susceptible to fire, and the 2019 Saddleridge Fire put the entire community under evacuation orders. Best Top Roofing comes from Camarillo to inspect at no charge and explain what the HPOZ or the fire code means for your roof.
Sunshine Ranch Roots, Valley Heat and February Rain
Granada Hills grew out of Sunshine Ranch, a spread of citrus, apricots, walnuts and dairy that was subdivided after 1925. After the war the population grew roughly tenfold in a decade, to 50,000, and tracts went up from the 1950s through the 1970s. Most homes date to the 1950s, and many yards still hold citrus trees from the farm years.
Weather data cited by Wikipedia puts the August mean high at 93 degrees and the January mean low at 43. Rain averages about 18.31 inches a year, with February the wettest month at 4.39 inches.
Both the 1971 San Fernando and 1994 Northridge earthquakes caused significant damage here. In 1971 a landslide brought the Lower Van Norman Dam close to breaching, and about 80,000 people were evacuated for four days. In 1994, ground failure on Balboa Boulevard broke gas and water mains, and the fire that followed destroyed several homes.
Balboa Highlands, Knollwood and the Ranch Grid South of Rinaldi
Rinaldi Street divides two kinds of neighborhood. To the north, curvilinear hillside streets hold lots from 11,000 square feet to more than 100 acres, many with horse-keeping and equestrian trails, while to the south a grid of 5,000 to 9,000 square foot lots holds most of the Ranch housing. Around Old Granada Hills, some lots reach 20,000 square feet.
SurveyLA singled out two southern tracts: Marlborough Palms, 149 one-story Ranch homes from 1957 and 1958, some designed by Palmer and Krisel, and Granada Orange Estates, about 404 parcels built mostly from 1954 to 1963. Up the slope, Knollwood Estates grew as a 250-home neighborhood around the Knollwood Country Club, which opened in 1956.
Our Work as a Roofing Contractor in Granada Hills
The right roof depends on which side of Rinaldi Street you live on and whether the house is an Eichler. Each service below fits one of those cases.
Eichler Flat and A-Frame Roofs in Balboa Highlands
Balboa Highlands Eichlers were built with flat roofs, flat roofs with a central A-frame, or a gently sloped front-facing gable, all over exposed beams. The preservation plan asks owners to keep eaves, fascia, beams and rafters, so our flat roofing work renews the membrane and drainage while protecting those exposed edges. We photograph beam ends and fascia before and after the work.
In-Kind Asphalt Shingle Replacement Under HPOZ Review
Where a Balboa Highlands Eichler already carries asphalt shingles, in-kind replacement goes to staff-level review by the Director of Planning rather than the full HPOZ board. The plan calls clay tile, slate and similar materials inappropriate and asks that new roofing match the original in scale, texture and color. Our shingle roofing proposals name the product and color for the reviewer.
Hillside Class A Upgrades North of Rinaldi Street
The Sayre Fire threatened Knollwood in 2008, and in 2019 the Saddleridge Fire destroyed a home on Jolette Avenue. For hillside homes near open space, fire-resistant roofing pairs a Class A covering with ember-resistant vents and closed eave ends. We check your parcel's mapped zone first, since a mapped lot falls under Part 7.
Re-Roofs for 1950s Ranch Tracts South of Rinaldi
Marlborough Palms, Granada Orange Estates and the surrounding grid are mostly one-story Ranch houses with large front setbacks. A roof replacement on one of these homes means a full tear-off, new boards wherever the original decking has softened, fresh underlayment and flashing, and an LADBS permit we file and close out. We cover citrus trees, plantings and walkways before the old roof comes off.
February Leak Repair Before the Wettest Month
February brings more rain here than any other month, and that is usually when a worn pipe boot or cracked flashing shows itself. Our roof leak repair visits trace water to where it enters, which on a flat Eichler roof or a Ranch valley can be far from the ceiling stain. We repair the entry point and photograph the result.
Balboa Highlands HPOZ Review and Other Granada Hills Rules
The Balboa Highlands HPOZ, adopted by the City Council in 2010 and bounded generally by Lisette, Nanette and Jimeno streets and Darla Avenue, was the first postwar Valley neighborhood to become a historic district. Its preservation plan exempts interior work that leaves the exterior unchanged and sends ordinary in-kind repair to staff review.
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) issues building permits from its Valley office at 6262 Van Nuys Boulevard, and the 2015 Granada Hills-Knollwood Community Plan guides land use. The Equinekeeping K District protects horse-keeping lots north of Rinaldi Street, and the Baseline Hillside Ordinance applies to single-family lots in the designated Hillside Area.
Wildfire construction rules moved on January 1, 2026, when California's Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Title 24, Part 7) replaced CBC Chapter 7A for High and Very High zones in local responsibility areas. Zone lines on these hillsides are not something we guess at, so every parcel gets looked up.
