Historic West Adams

West Adams is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Though much of its history is forgotten, it was once an area of grand homes and bustling development. The great land boom that turned Los Angeles from a Pueblo to a metropolis came during the period of 1887 through 1915. Contractors were opening up choice lots between Figueroa and West Boulevard, moving south from Pico Blvd to Jefferson. This was the district that came to be known as "West Adams." The new Adams Boulevard Corridor became the magnet for new wealth in the city. Architects filled the area with classic examples of the elaborate styles of the times: Victorian, Queen Anne, Stick/Eastlake, Shingle, Mission, Transitional Arts and Crafts, Beaux Arts and the Revival Styles, and Craftsman. City leaders such as Lawrence Doheny, Isadore Dockweiller, William Andrew Clark, George Ira Cochran, and Frederick Rindge built homes here. Hollywood stars of the silent era, too, such as Fatty Arbuckle, Theda Bara, and later, Busby Berkeley, lived here. By the early 1980s new residents began to discover West Adams. A new generation of homeowners settled in West Adams, where they have worked with long-time residents to restore many of the homes and work toward rebuilding the commercial streets.

Some of the beautiful homes is in this area:

Read more about West Adams at the West Adams Heritage Association.

Finished Deck in Historic West Adams

We decided to go with a torch down roof for the deck. Torch down roofing or modified bitumen is widely used for roofing on flat roofs. Its name is derived from the method of torching the bitumen sheets onto a fiberglass base sheet in the roofing overlap areas during torch down roofing installation. The material used in the roofing torch down process is also sometimes known as rubberized asphalt. Melting of the bitumen by torching creates highly resistant and durable roofing. Because of this, torch-down roofs are long-lasting, with an average life span of up to 20 years.

Our roofer torching down the roof. This hole is the drain that was 

causing leakage problems.

The improved drain.

One of the big advantages of torchdown roofing is its ability to protect the roofing from rainwater. This means it is particularly beneficial for flat roofing, where rainwater could otherwise collect on the surface and cause damage. Although it is slightly more expensive, the roofing torch down method is generally regarded as preferable to the alternative method of roofing used for flat roofs involving the use of tar and gravel. There are no noxious fumes associated with torch down roofing installation, and torch-down roofs are regarded as more durable and resistant. The high quality resins that are combined with the modified bitumen in torch down roofing installation also help to provide protection from UV rays that could otherwise prove damaging. Torch down roofing usually requires few repairs during its lifetime.

 Finished deck after torch down.

Read more about Torchdown Roofing here.