Editorial
Guides
Guides answer one question at a time — the question a homeowner types into a search box the week before the truck arrives. They explain a pattern that recurs across U.S. cities, name the measurement that decides it, and say plainly where the pattern stops and your city's rule begins.
They differ from the project field guides on purpose. A field guide follows the whole project from locating it on the lot to comparing bids; a guide goes deep on a single decision, such as deck height or shed setbacks, and links back to the calculator and the permit brief that use it. Every guide lists its primary sources with the date each was checked, and its review date moves only when the page itself is reviewed.
Permits
Do You Need a Permit for a Fence?
When a fence needs a permit and how tall it may stand in Austin, Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix and San Diego, and who pays for a shared fence.
Decks
Deck Railing Height, Stair Rules and Baluster Spacing
When a deck needs a railing, how high (36 inches, 42 in California), baluster gaps under 4 inches, and the 7¾-inch riser and 10-inch tread limits.
Sheds
Shed Setbacks: The Rule People Skip Because ‘It’s Just a Shed’
Permit-exempt and setback-exempt are not the same. How to think about rear-yard placement before the kit truck arrives.
Rules
What a Property Setback Actually Is
A setback is the open space zoning keeps between a lot line and a building. How front, side and rear setbacks work, with Austin and Los Angeles figures.
Trust
How YardPermit Estimates Cost
Quantities first, your local price second, and the one installed price YardPermit gives, for a deck. Which cost figures have a source, in plain English.
Data
What Backyard Trades Earn, State by State
Median hourly wages of fence erectors, carpenters, cement masons and construction laborers in all 50 states and DC, from BLS data for May 2025.
Prep
Before You Dig: The 811 Call and When the Law Requires It
When Texas and California law require a call to 811 before digging, how much notice each wants, what the paint colors mean and which lines 811 won't mark.
Trees
Tree Removal Permits in Austin and Los Angeles
When a tree on your lot needs a city permit to come down: Austin's 19-inch protected and 24-inch heritage trees, and Los Angeles's protected natives.
Fire
Fire Pit Rules: Distance From the House, Permits and Open Burning
How far a fire pit must be from the house, when a backyard fire or open burning needs a permit, and what Austin and Los Angeles add to the fire code.
Pools
Pool Fence Requirements: Height, Gates and Latches
How tall a pool fence must be, how its gates and latches work, and what Austin, California and Los Angeles add to the model pool code's barrier rules.
Property
Easements on Your Property: What You Can Build in One
Can you build on a utility or drainage easement? What Austin Energy allows in its easements, and how Los Angeles clears work in a sewer easement.
Permits
How a Building Permit Works: Final Inspection, Expiry and Owner-Builders
The inspections through the final, when a permit expires in Austin and Los Angeles, being an owner-builder, and the risks of building without a permit.
Permits
Right-of-Way Permits: Curb Cuts, Sidewalk Repair and Encroachments
Who issues a curb cut, sidewalk repair or encroachment permit in Austin and Los Angeles, and what Los Angeles requires of owners with a damaged sidewalk.
Zoning
Zoning Variances: How Austin and Los Angeles Decide Them
What a zoning or setback variance is, who decides one in Austin and Los Angeles, the findings it needs, and when an adjustment or special exception fits.
Permits
Grading Permits: Cut and Fill in Austin and Los Angeles
When moving soil in a yard needs a grading permit in Los Angeles, Austin's 4-foot limit on cut and fill, and the exceptions for foundations and pools.
Decks
Deck Joist and Beam Span Tables, by Lumber Size
The residential code's deck joist and beam span tables at 40 psf, with joist cantilevers and spacing. Los Angeles designs decks for 60 psf instead.
Decks
Deck Footing Size and Post Height Tables
Use IRC Table R507.3.1 to check deck footing size by soil and supported area, then compare post height, depth and spacing with worked examples.
Pools
Hot Tub Pad, Electrical and GFCI Requirements
What a hot tub pad must carry, whether gravel will do, the code's GFCI and distance rules, and the permits Austin and Los Angeles ask for.
Foundations
Frost Line Depth: Who Sets It and What It Covers
Who sets the frost line depth in the building code, how to find yours, Austin's and Los Angeles's 12 inches, and which footings must be frost-protected.
Permits
Do You Need a Permit for a Greenhouse?
No permit list names a greenhouse: the small-building lines one would have to fit, 200 sq ft in the model code and Austin, 120 in LA, and who decides.
Property
Good Neighbor Fence Law: Who Pays for a Shared Fence
California's good neighbor fence law: equal shares, 30 days' written notice, when the split changes, spite fences; and Texas, with no specific statute.
Property
A Neighbor's Tree Over the Line: Who Owns It, Who May Trim It
Who owns a tree near the line in California and Texas, the Texas right to trim branches to the line, and California's damages for tree injury.
Rules
Backyard Chickens in Austin and Los Angeles: Coops and Limits
What Austin's and Los Angeles's animal codes say about backyard chickens: whether they cap hens, LA's one-rooster rule and Austin's coop rules.
Permits
Building Permit Cost and Time: Fees in Austin and Los Angeles
What a building permit costs: Austin's fiscal 2026-27 residential fees, Los Angeles's fee from the value of the work, and how long a city may take.
Permits
Site Plan for a Building Permit: What It Must Show
What a site plan or plot plan for a residential permit must show in Austin, Phoenix and San Diego, item by item, and when a surveyor has to seal it.
25 guides currently meet the source and intent standard; a draft is published only after its evidence review is complete.