Kitchen Remodeler in Del Aire, CA

Del Aire to the Valley: running a kitchen project

Measure the kitchen and photograph every wall, then check what is under the carpet in the living room; many houses of this age have oak flooring hidden there. The trip is straightforward: get on the 405 near El Segundo Boulevard and stay on it all the way into the Valley, leaving at the Sherman Way exit.

At the showroom, compare cabinet doors, countertop samples, backsplash tile and flooring together, including wood-look porcelain if you want something tougher than wood. Take a sample or two home, confirm final measurements, and then place the order. Delivery back to Del Aire is scheduled, and installation of the cabinets, counters, tile or floors you bought can be added when you ask for it.

Kitchen remodel work typical of Del Aire’s 1950s houses

Single-story tract homes near the 405 and LAX

Del Aire filled in during the 1950s, when the aircraft and aerospace plants around the airport were hiring. The houses are mostly modest single-story tract homes with two or three bedrooms, an attached or detached garage and a kitchen at the back facing the yard. Original kitchens were compact U or L shapes with painted cabinets and tiled counters; the ones that have been updated often got an 1980s or 1990s refresh that is now worn.

Living close to the beach keeps the climate milder than inland suburbs, but morning humidity still argues for moisture-resistant cabinet boxes and floors. Aircraft and freeway noise is a factor too, and an underlayment beneath vinyl or laminate keeps a hard-floored house from feeling echoey.

Foundations vary from tract to tract, between raised wood floors over a crawl space and concrete slabs, so look under the house before choosing a floor. Over a crawl space, a squeaky or soft subfloor should be stiffened before tile goes down; on a slab, moving a sink means cutting concrete, which is a permit job for a plumber. Many garages here were converted or extended over the decades, and a room added later can sit at a different height from the original floor, so check thresholds before ordering one continuous floor.

Aviation Boulevard, Wiseburn schools and the 105 corridor

Del Aire is boxed in by freeways: the 105 runs along its northern side with the Metro C Line in the median, and the 405 forms its eastern edge, reached by the ramps at Imperial Highway and El Segundo Boulevard. Across Aviation Boulevard to the west is El Segundo, home to Los Angeles Air Force Base, and Hawthorne Municipal Airport is a short drive east. Del Aire Park is the community’s county park, and local children attend schools in the Wiseburn Unified School District.

Electric service comes from Southern California Edison and gas from SoCalGas. Because the parcels here are county land, a contractor pulls any permit at LA County Building & Safety, not at the El Segundo or Hawthorne city counters, even when the mailing address says Hawthorne.

LA County permits and the honest picture for Del Aire

Del Aire is neither part of El Segundo nor Hawthorne. It is unincorporated, which puts LA County Building & Safety in charge of any permit the job needs. A like-for-like swap of cabinets, tops and floors usually counts as cosmetic. Relocating the range, adding an island sink or taking out a wall is permitted work, and those trades should hold active licenses you have looked up through CSLB.

No Del Aire projects appear on this page yet. Google reviewers do describe a flooring purchase that was installed afterward and a 4-plex finished in wood-look plank tile. Neighbors in El Segundo and Lawndale use the same showroom.