Home maintenance for Tustin homeowners
Tustin is three build eras sharing one name: 1960s and 1970s tracts such as Tustin Meadows, the Tustin Ranch planned community approved in 1986, and Tustin Legacy, still going up on the former Marine Corps air station. Which era you live in also decides who sends your water bill, because the city's own utility serves part of Tustin and Irvine Ranch Water District serves the rest.
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Home maintenance help in Tustin
OakTend gives Tustin homeowners free home maintenance help during our preview: add your house once and get a reminder when each check is due. The checklist below needs no account.
Homes in Tustin, at a glance
- Population
- About 78,864 peopleACS 2024 one-year estimate, table B01003. Source: U.S. Census Bureau
- Median year built
- 1983Source: Census Reporter, ACS 2020-2024 five-year table B25035
Tustin is inland, so it gets hotter summer afternoons and more Santa Ana wind than the coastal cities, and less salt air than the beach towns, though salt can still carry several miles inland.
When homes were built
- Homes counted
- About 28,482
- Built before 1960
- 6.2%
- Built in the 1960s
- 21.1%
- Built in the 1970s
- 19.9%
- Built in the 1980s
- 11.3%
- Built in the 1990s
- 20.4%
- Built 2000 to 2009
- 9.3%
- Built 2010 or later
- 11.8%
The 1983 median, give or take about three years, describes almost no actual street, and only about 6 percent of homes are older than 1960.
Source: Census Reporter, ACS 2020-2024 five-year tables B25034 and B25035
History
Tustin incorporated in 1927 with just over 900 people, grew 220 percent in area through 1950s annexations, and then grew 1,012 percent in population in the 1960s, from 2,006 to 22,313. The Tustin Area Historical Society records Tustin Meadows as 900 Robert H. Grant Company homes around an eight-acre park, opening in 1968.
Source: City of Tustin, Tustin history
Tustin Legacy
Tustin Legacy is being built on the former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin, a base of nearly 1,600 acres that was commissioned in 1942, partly selected for closure in 1991 and officially closed on July 3, 1999, so its homes are among the newest in the county.
Source: City of Tustin, MCAS Tustin
Real neighborhoods in Tustin
- Old Town Tustin
- Tustin Meadows
- Tustin Ranch
- Tustin Legacy
- Columbus Square
- Columbus Grove
Old Town is the original townsite: Columbus Tustin and a partner bought 1,300 acres of former rancho land and tried to sell homesites there as Tustin City. Tustin Ranch came later on annexed Irvine Ranch land, and Tustin Legacy is going up on the former Marine Corps air station.
Source: City of Tustin, Tustin history
Water, permits, and local rules in Tustin
Water
Depending on the address, water comes from Tustin Water Services or Irvine Ranch Water District; the city's water page links a map of the two areas. The city system runs mainly on its own groundwater, blended with imported Metropolitan water and some East Orange County Water District supply. Its 2025 report lists average hardness of 377 ppm, about 22 grains per gallon, for city groundwater, 333 ppm for the East Orange County supply and 236 ppm, about 14 grains, for imported water, with detections from 133 to 609 ppm. Irvine Ranch customers should check that district's own report for their figures.
City of Tustin Water Services · Source: Water quality report
Permits
Plans, applications and payments go through the Citizen Self Service portal. The city's guide says a water heater, furnace or air conditioner swap needs a permit, usually issued over the counter; call the Building Division to confirm current details. Reroof permits are also usually over the counter, with a pre-roof inspection. Class B is the minimum roof covering, and Class A is required in the Hillside District of the East Tustin Specific Plan. Plan check runs about 10 working days for a first review and five for resubmittals.
City of Tustin Building Division permit portal · Source: City building division
Wildfire zones
The city's fire hazard page says the Cal Fire map designates portions of Tustin within Very High, High and Moderate Fire Hazard Severity Zones, without naming neighborhoods, and sends residents to the state's zone viewer.
2023 hangar fire
A Navy hangar at the former air station burned in November 2023. The city announced the last hotspot out on December 1, 2023, after 24 days, and told residents worried about debris inside their homes to contact a Certified Asbestos Contractor and their insurer. Buyers near Tustin Legacy can ask what clearance a property received.
Lead and galvanized pipes
The city's lead service line inventory found every line in its distribution system lead-free, but 120 customer-side lines, the owner's pipe, are galvanized and need replacement.
Source: City of Tustin water quality report, reporting year 2025
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Guides for Tustin homeowners
Water heater replacement cost
Tustin city groundwater averages about 22 grains per gallon.
Roof replacement cost
In Tustin the required roof class depends on which district the house is in.
HVAC replacement cost
Tustin Ranch homes are on their second system and Legacy homes near their first.
Orange County home maintenance checklist
Roof checks before the November to April rains that bring nearly all of Tustin's 13.87 inches.
Adding an EV charger, heat pump or solar? See electrical panel upgrade cost.
Maintenance that matters in Tustin
Nearby cities
Questions from Tustin homeowners
Do I need special approval to work on a house in Old Town Tustin?
Yes, for a house in the Cultural Resources Overlay District. The city's reroofing guide says it needs a Certificate of Appropriateness before the building permit is issued, so talk to the city before ordering windows, roofing or siding.
Is North Tustin part of the City of Tustin?
No. North Tustin is unincorporated Orange County, even though the city's water utility serves portions of it, so permits for a North Tustin address go to the county, not Tustin's Building Division.
Local facts on this page last checked .