Belated update: I hired Ed again for a detached deck plan. I like the fact that he came out again just to look at the proposed site of the job even though the house didn’t really change. He went over the structural details with my husband who is much more engineer-inclined than I’ll ever be. Along the way Ed would ask James and I about our preference for the deck appearance. It didn’t take him too long to whip up plans and our plans were approved by the City of LA on the first application. He’s not cheap but he knows his stuff – I recommend him.