Who this is for
- Owners who plan to run their own rebuild as owner-builder and want a licensed builder in their corner.
- Owners who lost a home in the Palisades fire and have not chosen a path yet.
- Owners who already have an architect or a builder and want an independent read on the plan, the budget, or the bids.
- Owners keeping a standing home who want to know exactly what to harden, in what order, for what money.
- Owners whose insurance estimate does not seem to cover a code-compliant rebuild and who want a builder to explain why, in plain language.
What we look at
- Your policy and scope of loss. We read them as a builder, against what the wildland urban interface code requires on your lot, and show you where the gaps are and what your policy may cover that you have not used. We help you advocate for yourself. We do not write reports for your insurer or deal with them on your behalf.
- Permit path. Like for like under Executive Order N-4-25 and Malibu Ordinance 524, or full review. Coastal conditions on your parcel. Rebuild Center deadlines.
- Code and hardening. What the current code asks of the roof, vents, eaves, glazing, cladding, and the five foot zone, and which items are worth doing beyond code.
- Bids and contracts. Whether the bids you have cover the same scope, what is missing, and which allowances will blow up in month eight.
- The perimeter. Fences, gates, garage door, and outdoor structures in the Zone 0 footprint, so the yard does not undo the house.
How it runs
- Site walk. Two to three hours on the property with your documents: policy, scope of loss, survey, any plans or bids.
- Written assessment. What you have, what the code requires, where the money gap is, what to do first. Plain language, sourced, yours to share.
- Monthly retainer. If you want us through the project: bid reviews, plan check questions, inspections, sub coordination questions, and a builder to call before you sign anything. A flat monthly retainer for as long as you need it. No hourly billing, no percentage.
Why two builders
Jaron Denson was the owner-builder, and a builder long before that. He comes from a family of contractors: his father, his brother, and his brother-in-law were all contractors, and he worked for each of them and for other general contractors, putting himself through college building custom homes in Malibu. After the 2018 Woolsey fire took the fourth generation family home his grandfather built on Wandermere in 1956, he pulled an owner-builder permit and rebuilt it in kind himself. The Malibu Times profiled him that spring as one of the faces of the Malibu rebuild. His line from that article still holds: "Life is five percent circumstance, 95 percent approach." Arno Koch lost his home in the January 2025 Palisades fire and is rebuilding it now. We know what a scope of loss leaves out because we have read our own. And because we are a licensed contractor, the advice is grounded in what a build actually costs and what an inspector actually checks, not in a template. To be clear about the line: we are builders advising an owner. We help you advocate for yourself with your insurance company. We do not write reports for them, negotiate for you, or get between you and them. We are not public adjusters. See fire rebuilds and fire retrofits for the work itself.
Questions we get about owner-builder consulting
Do I have to hire you to build if I hire you to consult?
No. Consulting stands on its own. Plenty of owners are running the job themselves as owner-builder, or already have a builder or an architect, or are months away from deciding. We give you an independent read and you use it however you want. If you later want us to build, that is a separate conversation.
Will you look at my insurance scope?
Yes, as a builder. We read your policy and the scope of loss against what a code-compliant rebuild or retrofit actually requires on your lot, and we show you where the gaps are and what coverage you may not have noticed. We help you understand it well enough to advocate for yourself. We do not write reports for your insurer, negotiate with them on your behalf, or get between you and your adjuster.
What does it cost?
A flat fee for the site walk and written assessment, quoted before we come out. If you want us through the project, a monthly retainer for as long as you need it. We do not bill hourly and we do not take a percentage of your build.