Roofing and Roof Repair in Altadena, CA

Roofing in Altadena is permitted by Los Angeles County, not a city, and Global Green Roofing serves Altadena with roof repairs, re-roofs and inspections. Three rules shape roofing here: every fire hazard zone requires Class A and bans wood shingles and shakes, replacing over half a roof brings county cool-roof values, and Eaton Fire rebuilds follow the county's like-for-like program.

Because Altadena is unincorporated, the permit counter, the fire map and the code amendments all belong to the County. The questions below run from the permit through the fire zones, the Eaton Fire, the cool-roof numbers and the Historic Highlands district, and end with how we handle a roof here.

• Permit officeLA County Public Works, Altadena Building and Safety Office, 464 W. Woodbury Rd, Suite 210; applications on EPIC-LA
• Fire hazard zonesAbout 32% of land Very High, 7% High and 6.5% Moderate, on the county's 2025 local map and CAL FIRE's state map (our calculation)
• Wood roofsBanned in every fire hazard zone, Moderate included; Class A required in all zones
• Cool roof on a re-roofCounty rule when more than 50% is replaced: aged reflectance 0.25 (pitched) or 0.65 (low-slope); Title 24 zone 9 in every ZIP
• Housing ageMedian year built 1946; 88% built before 1980 (Census survey of 2020 to 2024, before the fire)

Who issues a roof permit in Altadena?

With no city government, Altadena gets its roof permits from Los Angeles County Public Works. The county's Altadena Building and Safety Office is at 464 West Woodbury Road, Suite 210, the same suite as its One-Stop Permit Center. What the county sets out:

• Applications go through EPIC-LA, the county's online permit system, and the county's Service Locator confirms which office handles a given address.
• A re-roof is not among the online Express permits the county issues without plan review, so it follows the regular building permit path. The county pages we read publish no review time or fee for a re-roof permit.
• Asked about roof repairs, the county answers that "a building permit is required to alter or repair your dwelling", and its list of work exempt from a permit has no roofing item.
• An owner who lives in the house can pull an owner-builder permit; a rental, or a home to be sold within 90 days, cannot.
• Solar panels removed for a re-roof need their own reinstallation permit on top of the reroof permit.

The county's 2026 codes, built on the 2025 California codes, have applied since January 1, 2026. Its reroofing manual (April 2025) adds two points: a change from the existing material to a metal roof needs Department of Regional Planning approval, and clay or concrete tile comes off completely before any re-roof. For the statewide side of the permit, see our guide to reroof permits.

The Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, taken before the fire, put the median Altadena home at 1946, with 88% built before 1980 and 77% lived in by their owners. On an older roof, the county's manual lets the existing covering stay under a new one only when, among the manual's conditions, there is no more than one layer of wood or asphalt shingles, metal, rolled or built-up roofing, the framing can carry the added weight, the old covering is securely attached to a sound deck, and it is not water soaked.

How much of Altadena is in a fire zone, and what does a zone require?

Los Angeles County's amendments to the 2025 Wildland-Urban Interface Code reach further than the state version. In any Fire Hazard Severity Zone, Moderate included, roof coverings must be Class A, and "wood shingles and wood shakes are prohibited in any Fire Hazard Severity Zone regardless of classification." For permits applied for since January 1, 2026, repairs and alterations to an existing home in any zone must also meet that code, Class A roof covering included; confirm with the county how that applies to a small repair. Our guide explains how a Class A roof assembly is built.

Altadena falls under both kinds of fire map. The County took the State Fire Marshal's 2025 local map to the Board of Supervisors in 2025 and lists Altadena among the areas zoned wholly or in part, and part of Altadena is State Responsibility Area, zoned on CAL FIRE's map in force since April 1, 2024. By our calculation from both layers and the Census outline of Altadena, about 32% of its land is Very High (21% on the local map, 11% on the state map), 7% High and 6.5% Moderate; 47% is unzoned and 7% is federal land. That is land, not homes, so look up the parcel on the State Fire Marshal's hazard map.

What changes for a roof after the Eaton Fire?

According to CAL FIRE, the Eaton Fire began on January 7, 2025 near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive, burned 14,021 acres and destroyed 9,419 structures. By our count from CAL FIRE's damage inspection data, 9,185 of those destroyed structures stood inside Altadena's Census boundary, 5,858 of them single-family houses, while 5,100 were inspected with no damage and 913 were recorded as damaged.

Rebuilding a destroyed home

The County runs rebuild help from the Altadena One-Stop Permit Center on Woodbury Road, with free consultations on plans, permits and inspections. A like-for-like rebuild in the Eaton Fire area may grow by up to 10% or 200 square feet, whichever is greater; it is excused from current zoning rules but not from the current Building and Fire Codes. The Governor's Executive Order N-29-25 of July 7, 2025, which the county wrote into its building code, lets a rebuild follow the 2022 codes while keeping the 2025 fire and public safety requirements, so the 2025 Wildland-Urban Interface Code roof rules still apply.

Some rules relax for like-for-like single-family and duplex rebuilds here: the county lists its cool roof requirement as suspended, and rooftop solar and batteries are no longer required, though the house must still be solar-ready. Owners who owned and lived in the home before January 7, 2025 qualify for the county's waiver and refund of building, plan review and Fire Department fees. Licensed architects and engineers can also self-certify rebuild plans under a county pilot, with at least 20% audited and hillside sites excluded.

Homes that survived: smoke, ash and repairs

For homes near the burn area, County Public Health advises walking the outside of the house, noting soot and ash on siding, doors and windows, and photographing it for the insurance carrier before any cleanup starts, and keeping roofs and gutters clear of dry leaves and debris. We found no county guidance on when a smoke-damaged roof covering has to be replaced. A roof repair needs a county permit, and in a fire zone the repair must meet the Wildland-Urban Interface Code. A roof inspection with photos gives you a record before choosing between repair and re-roof.

Which cool-roof values apply to an Altadena re-roof?

Every ZIP code that touches Altadena (91001, 91003, 91104 and 91107) is Title 24 climate zone 9 on the Energy Commission's list, and the county names 91001 and 91003 as zone 9 for rebuilding. The county's Green Building Standards Code adds its own residential cool-roof section: once more than 50 percent of the roof is replaced, a pitched roof (steeper than 2:12) needs a 3-year aged solar reflectance of at least 0.25 and thermal emittance of 0.85, or an SRI of 20, and a low-slope roof needs 0.65 and 0.85, or an SRI of 78.

Those values sit above Title 24's zone 9 figure of 0.20 for a pitched roof, and the county section's exceptions list no insulation or radiant-barrier alternative. The exceptions do cover roof repairs, replacement of half the roof or less, and roof construction with thermal mass over the membrane, such as a vegetated roof, weighing at least 25 pounds per square foot. Our cool roofing page covers the options, and the Title 24 cool-roof guide covers the state rule.

Does a re-roof in the Historic Highlands need county design approval?

In June 2026 the Board of Supervisors created the Historic Highlands Historic District, the county's first, covering 77 parcels of mostly early-20th-century houses in Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor and other period styles in the northern part of the neighborhood; the designation took effect July 9, 2026. Supervisor Barger's office noted that the district itself was not impacted by the Eaton Fire.

County code requires a certificate of appropriateness before work that affects the exterior of a property in a historic district, but not for work the Planning Director finds to be maintenance and repair. Whether a given re-roof counts as repair is the Director's call, so ask Regional Planning before the building permit is filed.

How Global Green Roofing handles a roof in Altadena

We come out to the property first, then put the scope in writing. On an Altadena rebuild, or a re-roof inside a fire zone, that written scope specifies a Class A roof assembly, and where the county cool-roof rule applies it lists a covering rated at or above the county's 0.25 (pitched) or 0.65 (low-slope) reflectance. The materials we offer: tile, standing-seam metal and stone-coated steel, and TPO and other flat-roof membranes, for homes and commercial buildings. For a change to metal, the county's Regional Planning approval comes before the order is placed.

For a house still standing after the Eaton Fire, our inspection includes drone images of the roof, and we go through those images with you before suggesting a repair or a re-roof. Rooftop solar that must be lifted for the work is taken down and put back through arrangements we make, under the separate county reinstall permit. Nails are picked up with a magnet at the end of each day, and the finished roof gets a walkthrough with you.

Services and guides for roofs in Altadena

• Roof Replacement: Class A re-roofs and rebuild roofs under the county's fire-zone rules.
• Roof Inspection & Maintenance: Drone photos of a roof that came through the Eaton Fire, before repair or replacement.
• Cool Roofing: Products that meet the county's 0.25 and 0.65 reflectance values.
• Metal Roofing: Metal panels and stone-coated steel, once Regional Planning approves the change of material.
• What Is a Class A Fire Rated Roof, and When Does California Require One?: Why Class A is the rule in every Altadena fire zone, Moderate included.
• Cool Roof Requirements in California: What Title 24 Asks of a Re-Roof: The Title 24 zone 9 rule that sits under the county's stricter one.

Roofing in Altadena: common questions

Other cities we cover are listed on our service areas page.