Surveying the estate

I need a full topographic survey of the Trees House. We've got a stake at the NE corner, but we need to know where the house is relative to the property lines and exactly where the top of slope into Carkeek Park is.

817 NW 118th St, Seattle, WA 98177 is parcel 761120-0125

Peggy called True North, Eileen Forrester, president. They said $900 for boundary, $2000 for recorded. Eileen emailed:

Because your property is within an Environmentally Critical Area (ECA), the requirements are a full topographic survey of the property plus 25 feet into adjacent properties and full right-of-way of the adjacent street. The cost would be $3680 plus the cost to locate the underground utilities which should be approximately $200.

Peggy also called Tim Griffin at 10007 Greenwood Ave N and Tyee Surveyors. Mia Natale, Project Manager, got back to us:

The cost for the topographic survey on NW 118th Street would be $1725.00.

The next day, she added this:

This is the scope of work for the topographic survey of the property on NW 118th Street.

TASK 03 TOPOGRAPHY SURVEY
This task includes:
Perform 2 foot contour topography survey.
Prepare drawing showing contours, spot elevations and improvements.
Includes trees 6” diameter and larger not in the steep slope area.
Includes existing utilities located by surface evidence.
Tied to City horizontal and vertical datum.
Includes elevations and location of house
Fee: $1725.00

I think a crew will be out on Monday, Dec 1, but I will verify it. I told Mia by email that I won't be back from SoCal until Dec 2, but she has not replied.

Update: Mia replied Sunday 11/16 that a full contract and invoice would be coming this week.

Further Update: Ken Green of GeoDimensions called Monday 11/17, following up on their proposal of 11/13. It was an impressive proposal, and I might have been tempted, but it got a little lost in the shuffle. They bid $3,008 including the King County recording fee. This explicitly included an ECA survey (not sure if that's different than the topo) and staking all property corners (which sounds like they didn't do a prelim look--the corners in the park are a ways down the slope). But Ken seemed like a good guy and he was following up--I'll consider him if I have any more work. 425-458-4488, www.geodimensions.net.

Radical Update: I sent Mia an email on Wednesday 11/19. When I had heard nothing by Thursday morning, I called their main number. No answer, no voice mail. I drove by the place last night--it's a house on Greenwood. I sent Mia and Tim Griffin a "forget it" email and got back to Ken Green of GeoDimensions. Within 10 minutes, I heard from Ken's assistant, Lizzy, that I had been assigned a project number #141544 and a project manager, Karen Swift. They say they need just 15 business days--that would be Friday, December 12. Their office looks more professional on Google StreetView, too.