The January 2025 Palisades Fire destroyed 6,845 structures (CAL FIRE). By October 2026 the City of Los Angeles had issued about 1,300 permits to rebuild single-family homes in ZIP 90272, and around 50 of those houses were finished (LA City open data). Most of them will need interior woodwork: wall panels, built-ins, media walls, wood ceilings and room dividers. This guide is for homeowners, architects and builders who want that work to go in cleanly, on schedule, and looking like one house rather than a collection of rooms.
Where millwork sits in a rebuild schedule
Millwork is installed late, after drywall and paint, which is why it is often planned late too. That is the mistake. The decisions that make it fit belong in design and framing.
- Design. Your architect or designer draws the interior elevations. We turn them into shop drawings your team can mark up.
- Framing and rough-in. Fixings, in-wall power for media walls and lighting channels are set out on the shop drawings, so the framer and the electrician know what is coming.
- Drywall. We template each room on site, from the real walls rather than the design set.
- Production. 4 to 6 weeks after the shop drawings are approved. Work is dry fitted in our shop and labelled by room.
- Installation. Our own crew installs room by room, in the order your schedule needs.
How long that takes on real Palisades houses: in the City's inspection records, rebuilds that have reached drywall got there a median of about 231 days after the permit was issued, and framing was passed at around 120 days (LADBS inspections, our count through October 10, 2026). So the millwork decisions fall roughly four to seven months after the permit, and installation comes about eight to ten months in.
Decide these before framing closes
- Media walls. Where the TV, the power and the low-voltage cables land, and how the component bays are ventilated.
- Lighting in the woodwork. LED channels in panels, shelves and slat ceilings need their drivers and feeds planned, with access kept for maintenance.
- Fixings. Heavy built-ins, tall panels and ceiling beams need something solid behind them. That is simple to add before drywall and disruptive to add after.
- Ceiling beams. We build clad beams: a light hollow structure faced in real wood veneer or solid stock, which keeps the weight off the ceiling.
Sprinklers and fire rules for interior wood
Almost every rebuild permit in 90272 calls for residential fire sprinklers (NFPA 13D). Slat ceilings and clad beams have to be laid out around the sprinkler heads, so put the sprinkler layout on the table when the ceiling is drawn, and have your sprinkler designer confirm it.
The wildfire rules in California's Wildland-Urban Interface code are about the outside of the house. Inside, the California Residential Code (section R302.9) limits wall and ceiling finishes to a flame-spread index of 200 or less and a smoke-developed index of 450 or less; trim, doors and windows are exempt (CRC R302.9). Most wood products fall within that limit: walnut lumber at a flame-spread index of 75, oak and MDF in Class C (American Wood Council DCA 1). If your architect specifies a higher class, fire-retardant treated products are made for that and carry a label.
One material decision for the whole house
Veneer varies between production runs. When panels in different rooms come from different batches, you see it in the same daylight, usually after everything is installed. On a whole house we choose veneer, core and finish once and buy them from one batch, and samples are approved in the actual rooms before anything is cut. We did this on a whole home package in Bel Air, completed in February 2026.
What to send for a quote
- Interior elevations or the architect's drawing set, or a finish schedule.
- If drawings are not ready yet: photos of the space and rough dimensions.
- Your timeline: where the build is now and when drywall is expected.
- Material direction: white oak, walnut, blackened oak, Fineline, Shinoki, or a veneer you supply.
You get back shop drawings or a layout, a price and a 3D preview of the room before anything is made.
Typical costs and lead time in Los Angeles
Every job is quoted from its own drawings. As a guide, simple paneled walls run $4,000 to $10,000, more complex walls with inlay, curves or several planes $15,000 to $20,000, and room dividers $4,000 to $8,000. Lighting, hidden doors and other options are priced separately. Production takes 4 to 6 weeks after shop drawings are approved.
Working with your builder and architect
We work as one trade: the shop that draws the millwork also builds it, dry fits it and installs it, so the site has one contact from shop drawings to close out. Cut outs, fixings, lighting and services are set out on the shop drawings, and deliveries can be phased to suit the rest of the build. Designers, architects, general contractors and developers can open a trade account for standing trade pricing.
See our Pacific Palisades page for the project we built there and how we work on rebuilds, or send your drawings through the quote form.
