Recent Projects — Top Cali Construction

01

Outdoor Living

Covered patio & folding glass wall

We opened up the rear wall for a full-width folding glass door system, framed and clad a new patio cover, and finished the ceiling in tongue-and-groove timber. The indoor room now runs straight out to the dining terrace.

New patio cover structure framed and decked — Patio cover framed

Rear wall opened up and headed off for a new door system — Wall opened & headed off

Folding glass door track being set in the opening — Door system going in

Folding glass doors installed and protected — Doors set & protected

Tongue and groove timber patio ceiling — T&G ceiling

Finished covered patio with dining table — Finished

Finished patio looking toward the folding doors — Doors open to the room

Wide view of the completed outdoor dining area — Completed terrace

02

Tables & Furniture

Built, restored, refinished

Furniture built, restored and refinished in the shop. A Sligh-Lowry pedestal desk brought back from tired orange oak — stripped to bare wood, refinished in black with a hand-laid gold Greek-key border. And a cracked slab stabilised the traditional way, with butterfly keys cut and fitted by hand across the split. The crack isn't hidden; it's held.

Original oak executive desk before restoration — Before

Sligh-Lowry maker stamp inside the desk — Maker's stamp

Desk top masked off during finishing — Top masked & finishing

Close-up of the gold Greek key border detail — Greek-key detail

Finished restored desk in black and gold — After

Finished desk from above showing the inlaid top — Finished top

Raw slab with the split laid out for butterfly keys — Slab & layout

Butterfly key being clamped and fitted into the slab — Fitting a key

Hand-cut butterfly key ready to inlay — Hand-cut key

Finished live-edge table with butterfly key inlays — Finished table

Worn cane armchair on sawhorses before restoration — Cane Chair — Before

Chair frame masked off during restoration — Stripped Back

The restored cane armchair with a new leather seat — Restored

Small square table being sanded on the deck — Table Build

Live-edge serving board being shaped on the bench — Shaping a Board

Round live-edge slice with a dark natural inclusion — Live-Edge Round

Finished live-edge serving board laid on a table — Finished Board

03

Repurposed

Old coffee tables to media center

Two carved coffee tables, collected in the rain, became a single media console. The carved ends and aprons were cut down and built into a new carcass, painted, and finished with a dark marbled top.

Two carved coffee tables loaded in a truck bed in the rain — The same carved timber — two tables in, one console out.

The finished white media console with glass-fronted cabinets beneath a wall-mounted TV — The same carved timber — two tables in, one console out.

How it came together

Carved table end cut down ready to be reused — Carved end salvaged

New carcass built in the garage with the carved ends fitted — Carcass built

Painted panels and frames laid out on the ground — Panels painted

The console assembled and primed, shelving and openings visible — Assembled & primed

Close-up of the dark marbled top — The top

The finished console in the living room — In the room

04

Restoration

Door restoration

Solid timber doors are worth saving. Sun and weather kill the coating long before the door itself goes — so we strip back to bare wood, make good, and rebuild the finish. Three of them, before and after.

Solid timber entry door with sun-bleached, blotchy failed finish — The same entry door — stripped back and refinished, with a new stainless kick plate fitted at the base.

The same entry door refinished, grain restored to a deep amber — The same entry door — stripped back and refinished, with a new stainless kick plate fitted at the base.

Entry doors with a patchy, sun-bleached finish and worn lower panels — A pair of entry doors with a failed, sun-bleached finish — taken back to bare timber and rebuilt.

The same entry doors refinished to an even, deep tone — A pair of entry doors with a failed, sun-bleached finish — taken back to bare timber and rebuilt.

Carved double door with old black coating peeling away, one leaf stripped to bare wood — A carved double door — the old black coating stripped off and the carving brought back.

The same carved double door refinished in an even dark tone — A carved double door — the old black coating stripped off and the carving brought back.

Garage doors — what we found, and how they finished

Before quoting a repair we open it up and check what is actually there. On this garage door the rail had rotted through and delaminated behind the paint — the kind of damage you cannot see until you press on it.

Knowing that up front is the difference between a quote that holds and one that changes halfway through the job. Below, the same run of doors once the work was done.

Finished green garage doors along the colonnade

The run of finished garage doors seen down the walkway

Rail rebuilt, doors refinished and rehung — the full run back in service.

05

Finish Carpentry

Hardwood gates

Hinged gates built in oak, redwood, ipe and other hardwoods — closing off pool equipment, utilities and side yards. Slatted for airflow, hung on stainless hardware, and finished to weather with the deck rather than against it. The gates shown here are white oak.

Hinged white oak gate open beside the deck — Hinged white oak gate

Pair of white oak gate leaves standing open — Twin panels

White oak gate closed against the wall — Closed up

06

Outdoor Lighting

Landscape & architectural lighting

A full exterior lighting scheme across a hillside estate — architectural uplighting to the elevations, roofline detail, tree and planting lights, illuminated steps, and lit approach through the gates and driveway. Designed to read at dusk, when a house like this is actually seen.

Estate elevation lit at dusk with roofline and uplighting — Elevation at Dusk

Front elevation and fountain court lit at night — Front Court

Elevation above the lit pool at night — Pool Elevation

Fountain and statue lit at dusk with path lighting — Fountain & Terrace

Illuminated steps with LED strip and uplit planting — Illuminated Steps

Gated entry and driveway with uplit trees — Gate & Approach

Side elevation with uplighting to walls and trees — Side Elevation

Lit terrace wall and planting above the hillside view — Hillside Terrace

Wide view of the estate lit at night — The Whole House

How it goes in

Specified fixtures, concealed runs and drivers sized to the load — the parts nobody sees once it's dark.

Adjustable uplight fixture set at the base of a column — Uplight at a Column

Amarant linear outdoor light fixture mounted along a wall coping — Amarant Linear Fixture

Cable runs laid out at the steps during installation — Runs Going In

07

Flooring

Hardwood flooring

Old flooring out, new hardwood in — planks acclimatised on site, laid out for run and colour, then fitted through the living space and hallways. Furniture and appliances worked around, so the house stayed usable while the floor went down.

Flooring material and underlayment staged in the room before installation — Material Staged

New hardwood planks being laid alongside the old dark floor being replaced — Going Down

Saw set up on site, boards being cut to fit at a doorway — Cut to Fit

Finished hardwood floor running through the open living space — Finished Floor

Finished floor running the length of the open room toward the door — Through the Room

Finished floor with daylight raking across the boards — In the Light

Walk the finished floor

A walk through the house once the boards were down — hallway, living space and kitchen, all on one continuous run.

Photographs show a floor. Walking it shows how the boards carry from room to room without a break, which is the part you actually notice living there.

Your Project

Let's talk about yours

Patios, restorations, custom carpentry, saunas — tell us what you're planning and we'll come look at it.

Request a Free Quote → Call (323) 828-2379

Recent ProjectsStart to Finish