Forge & Cove builds fire hardened homes in Malibu, and every structure around them to the same specification: the gates, fences, garage doors, windows, and outdoor spaces. One envelope, one standard, one builder.
Malibu has burned in 1993, 2007, 2018, and 2025. A hardened house with a wood fence tied to the wall is not hardened, and most rebuilds end up that way: one builder for the house, a separate shop for the perimeter, drawings that never meet. We design the home and everything around it to one fire hardening specification, from one set of drawings.
The fire hardened home and everything around it, built to one specification.
Running your own rebuild? Your policy and scope of loss read as a builder, the permit path, code, subs, bids, and what to harden first. From two founders who have each done it on their own homes, whether or not we end up building. Flat fee site walk and written assessment, then a monthly retainer if you want us through the project.
Upload a photo from the street, pick a profile and a finish, or let it read the house and choose for you. You get a photoreal render with the old fence gone and the new gate in place.
California's Zone Zero rules cover the first five feet around a structure. Anything in that band has to be non-combustible: no wood fence tied to the house, no wood gate, no mulch, no wood pergola against the wall.
Most gate companies sell you aluminum because it does not rust. We build in aluminum and steel because it does not burn, and we design the house and the perimeter as one system so the rule is met everywhere, not just at the gate.
| Element | Common install | Forge & Cove |
|---|---|---|
| Fence at the house | Wood, tied into siding | Aluminum or steel, non-combustible return |
| Gate | Wood or wood-clad | Aluminum or steel, wood-look finish if desired |
| Pergola | Wood against the wall | Aluminum, louvered or solid |
| Garage door | Wood panel | Steel or aluminum, wood-look |
Third party price ranges for automatic driveway gates in Los Angeles, and the six things that push a Malibu gate to the top or bottom of the range: grade, wind, span, material, automation, and the house connection.
What Executive Order N-4-25 and Malibu Ordinance 524 actually let you do, where the 110 percent line is, what Coastal review still touches, and the fee waiver dates to confirm with the Rebuild Center.
Zone 0 is adopted but not yet law. What the Board of Forestry passed, why it was pulled back from legal review, what it asks of fences and gates, and what Malibu owners should do now.
Yes, because to us they are one thing. The house, the gates, the fences, the garage door, the windows, and the outdoor structures are one envelope, built to one fire hardening specification, from one set of drawings. A second contractor bolting a gate on after is how the standard gets broken.
Malibu, Topanga, Pacific Palisades, and the Conejo side of the hills: Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village. Ask about anything else.
Yes. Jaron comes from a family of contractors and worked for his father, his brother, his brother-in-law, and other general contractors, putting himself through college building custom homes in Malibu. He then ran his family's rebuild after the 2018 Woolsey fire as owner-builder. Arno lost his home in the 2025 Palisades fire and is rebuilding it now.
Yes. Licensed, insured, and bonded. CSLB #1164270. Bond and insurance certificates available on request.
A site walk with Arno or Jaron. Both have stood where you are standing.
