Emergency Service Frequently asked questions.

Board Up LA charges a flat $300, tax included, for the first opening secured. That covers the trip out, the on-site assessment, the installation labor, one material unit — a 4' x 8' sheet of 7/16" OSB plywood with 2" x 4" bracing and fasteners — and a safety sweep of the work area.

Each additional opening boarded on the same visit is $130, tax included. So one window is $300, two are $430, three are $560, and so on. If you would rather install it yourself, we deliver the materials starting at $150 for one opening.

No. We are a 24-hour emergency company, and charging a premium for the hours we advertise would be charging you for our own sign. $300 is $300 whether you call at noon on a Tuesday or 3 a.m. on Thanksgiving. There is no after-hours rate, no weekend rate, and no holiday rate.

We accept cash, major credit and debit cards, ACH bank transfer, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. Payment is due when the work is complete, and you get an itemized invoice for your records or your insurer.

A person answers the phone 24 hours a day. When you call or text, we ask where the property is and we ask you to send us a photo of the damage.

From that we give you an honest estimate and an arrival window — typically within one hour of your call.

Most of Los Angeles County and Orange County is within reach the same day or the same night.

Our standard service area is a 25-mile radius from our shop in Whittier. Inside that radius travel is already built into the price — no trip charge, no fuel surcharge, no mileage.

Between 25 and 50 miles we still come out, with a flat $100 extra distance charge. We tell you that on the phone before we head out, not after we arrive.

Farther than 50 miles, call and ask. We will tell you straight whether we are the right people for it.

Yes. Orange County is covered at the same flat rates as Los Angeles — Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Fullerton, Buena Park, La Habra, Brea, Orange, Garden Grove, Westminster, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, and the surrounding cities.

Our shop is in Whittier, on the Los Angeles / Orange County line, so neither county is the far side of the trip. Cities in central and south Orange County can fall outside our 25-mile radius — the distance charge above applies there.

All of Los Angeles County. We work most often in Whittier, Downey, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, La Mirada, Montebello, Cerritos, East Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, Compton, Torrance, Inglewood, El Monte, West Covina, Pasadena, Glendale, and Burbank — and we cover the rest of the county too. Cities more than 25 miles from our shop carry the distance charge above.

Houses, apartments and condos, retail storefronts, restaurants, offices, warehouses, and vacant or unoccupied buildings. Residential and commercial, same flat pricing.

When a window, door, or storefront is broken, the building stays open until someone closes it — to weather, to anyone who wants to walk in, and to whatever happens next that your insurer may argue you could have prevented. An emergency board-up is the temporary closure: plywood cut and braced over the opening, anchored so it holds, installed the same visit.

It is not a repair. It buys you the time to arrange one, on your schedule instead of the break-in's.

The flat $300 covers the first opening from start to finish:

• 24/7 emergency first response, travel and on-site assessment
• Board-up installation labor
• One material unit — a 4' x 8' sheet of 7/16" OSB plywood with 2" x 4" x 8' wood planks and screws or bolts
• Safety sweep and debris removal within the work area

There is no cap on the number of sheets we will install and no extended labor charge. Additional openings are $130 each, on the same visit.

Each additional opening secured on the same visit is a flat $130, tax included — materials and installation both. One unit is one 4' x 8' sheet of 7/16" OSB plywood, 2" x 4" x 8' wood planks, and a pack of screws or bolts. An opening larger than 4' x 8' takes more than one unit.

There is no minimum and no maximum. You pay for the openings that need securing, and the mix of boards, studs and hardware is adjusted to suit the opening at equivalent value.

4' x 8' sheets of 7/16" OSB plywood, 2" x 4" x 8' wood planks for bracing, and screws or bolts to anchor. OSB at 7/16" is the thickness that holds up to weather and to being hit; thinner sheeting flexes and pulls off its fasteners.

How the board is anchored depends on the opening — a wood-framed residential window and an aluminum storefront frame do not take the same fastening.

We do a safety sweep. Broken glass and boarding debris in the immediate work area get cleared so the space is safe to walk and work around, and that is included in the $300.

Full cleanup of the property is not included. If the damage runs past the opening we secured — smoke, water, contents — that is restoration work and a separate trade.

As long as you need. A properly installed and braced board-up holds through weather and stays secure, but it is a temporary closure and not a repair — most customers leave it up until the glass is replaced, the claim settles, or the property changes hands.

Some cities and HOAs have their own rules about how long a building may stay boarded, so check locally if it will be months.

• Break-ins and attempted burglaries
• Vandalism and smashed storefront glass
• Fire and smoke damage
• Water damage
• Storm damage and fallen branches
• Vehicle impact
• Evictions and squatter removal
• Vacant and unoccupied property security
• Pre-demolition securing

For a small job, not necessarily — California's minor work exemption lets an unlicensed person take work under $1,000 in combined labor and materials, as long as the job needs no permit and they hire no one to help.

There is a catch worth knowing: anyone working under that exemption is required to state in their advertising that they are not licensed, and may not claim to be licensed or qualified as a contractor. So if a board-up company's website, truck, or ad shows no license number and no disclosure either way, that is worth a question before you let them onto your property.

Board Up LA is a licensed California contractor, CSLB Lic# 1159691, holding a C-17 glazing classification — the license that covers work on glass and the frames that hold it. We are licensed and insured, and you can verify any California contractor at cslb.ca.gov.

Yes. Emergency board-up is normally covered as mitigation — the step your policy expects you to take to prevent further loss. We photograph the damage and the completed board-up and give you an itemized invoice with the date, address, and scope, which is what an adjuster asks for.

We do not file the claim for you or bill your insurer directly; you pay us and submit it.

Yes. If you have the tools and the time but not a truck — or the lumber yard is closed — we deliver board-up materials anywhere in Los Angeles and Orange County.

• One opening$150
• Two openings$200
• Each additional opening+ $50

Each opening includes one 4' x 8' sheet of 7/16" OSB plywood, two 2" x 4" x 8' wood planks, and a pack of screws or bolts. Delivery is included in the price.

No. The DIY tier is materials and delivery only — we do not cut the sheets and we do not install them. You will need your own saw, drill, and fasteners driver.

If you would rather have it done, our emergency board-up service starts at $300 and includes the first opening installed.