They're baaack...the Oil Tank investigation

Filco (Seattle Tank) removed the oil tank on September 3rd and immediately reported that they had found evidence of a leak. A small leak, but one that needed to be investigated further. Because I'm insured against oil leaks by the state's PLIA agency, this is a mere inconvenience to me.

18 man-hours of work drilling for oil on October 28

One could conclude: a) Filco, knowing how the game works, always "finds" leaks when they remove a tank and then gets money from the state for the "fix." Or, b) the 67-year-old tank really did have a few pinholes that contaminated the soil under the tank. They pulled the tank out and filled in the hole without calling me out to see the holes or the oil-stained dirt so I would bet it's the former explanation, but the latter is plausible, I suppose.

I filed the forms with PLIA and Filco came out "immediately" 8 weeks later, on October 28. Three men spent six hours, starting at 8 a.m., drilling test holes at the tank site, closer to the street, and around in the backyard. We discovered that the rectangle with the string in the backyard is actually 2" of red cement--there's probably a patio slab out there.

They asked permission before punching through the 2" concrete slab they found

Today, November 3, they just showed up at 12:15 and knocked on the door. A geologist-type named Richard Simpson came with two of the guys insisting that they needed to drill deeper at the oil tank site than they did last week. He mentioned a stratum of bentonite clay when he thought I wasn't listening. I suggested that he should see the Zipper Geo soils report if he wants to understand my strata. Zipper used an auger drill, Filco has a rented hammer-type drill.

The guys re-drill on November 3. Mr. Simpson is in his car, presumably perusing the Zipper report.

Nate Montgomery, Gen. Mgr., Filco Company (nate@filcoenviro.com) (206) 547-8347

Richard Simpson, , LG, LHg, Filco Company. (Richard@filcoenviro.com)

Refrigerator Replacement Therapy

The Hotpoint CTX21DA refrigerator that came with the house began making very loud my-compressor-is-failing noises. I pulled it away from the wall, vacuumed the coils and tried to make the compressor as comfortable as possible, but it was moribund.

Ready to go--food in the cooler

Dirt in places that can't be cleaned

I had two choices: Buy the new fancy refrigerator and protect it during construction, or--thanks to Tanya for the suggestion--buy a modest refrigerator that can serve in the garage once the remodeling is done. I took her suggestion and bought a nice white General Electric model from Albert Lee on October 16. This matches brand and color with the range and microwave.

With tax and delivery, the new refrigerator was $603. They delivered it October 20.

Out with the old

The new unit is a GE GTS16DTHWW, serial number SF834982. The door swing can be reversed. The Hotpoint was 20.6 cu. ft., 6.3 of which was freezer. The new one is 15.5 cu. ft., 4.01 in the freezer.

Heating the House Electrically

Removing the diesel oil tank in the front yard was satisfying, but living in a 60-degree house not so much. Tanya and Kevin loaned an excellent quartz rod room heater, but its fan makes noise when it turns on. Also, I was using it in the bedroom and the kitchen was seriously cold, pre-chilling coffee mugs, for one thing.

A quick trip to Lowes to buy a $40 oil-filled heater and the problem is just about solved. Also, I turned on the electric heater in the entry that I turned off long ago. Went to Home Depot and found zero space heaters--they'll get them later in the year, I was told. Lowes had a broad selection.

Climate control system--fan and heater. The new "Utilitech" oil-filled heater is silent.

The quartz rod model on loan

Say Goodbye to the Oil Tank

Seattle Tank sent two men out today, and they worked more than 14 man-hours to remove the oil tank. It was harder than they expected, because it held on to the soil (after 68 years!) and because their A-frame rig wouldn't fit under the garage soffit.

After trying a number of solutions, they ended up cutting the tank into pieces with a Sawz-all.

They found what might be leaked oil in the soil, so it has to be tested. If the test is positive, then it's a big deal process with soil remediation and state inspectors. But I'm insured for it by PLIA, so it's no big deal. If you ask me (no one did), they found drips from the filling process.

The conduit against the house does not go to the tombstone light. Instead, it goes to an outlet and light fixture that were completely buried in the star jasmine. I helped them figure out that it wasn't energized and they moved it away and put it back. But the line absolutely does not continue across the front planting.

The weather was perfect--no direct sun, no rain, about 65 degrees. Speaking of 65 degrees...My house has no heat!! The first of many "perfectly good" assemblies I'll be destroying. Gack!

The "Before" picture. There's an outlet and light hidden to the right.

Lead guy was Patrick. Didn't get this guy's name. He's standing on the top of the tank.

They cut the top off first, then had to cut it into pieces.

Coffin-like hole once the old tank was removed.

And the "After" shot. They didn't do a great job cleaning up--no broom or hose down--but they knew they may have to dig all this up again if there is evidence of oil contamination. They didn't replace the roof drain line, either.

Hydronic or Something Else

As they work to remove and decommission the heating oil tank, I am considering how to heat the place.

Currently, the forced air furnace distributes heated air to the main part of the house and there are two electric wall heaters for the breezeway and BR3. We can replace the oil-fired furnace with a 96% efficient Lennox EL296V gas furnace and make minor adjustments on the ducts and vents for $7,346.37 (Greenwood Heating bid, 9/1/15). We still have to (or should) insulate the 1296 SF floor.

If we go that route, we might leave the two electric wall heaters in place (or move them slightly) and install a Mitsubishi mini-split in the Trees Room (on the wall between the entry ceiling and the Trees Room ceiling) that could provide heat for the 5,600 CF high-ceiling area, and the cool air would cover the whole house on peak cooling days. Those are about $5,000.

Back on April 23, I got a bid from Northwest Mechnical of $32,470, and a better price from Radiantec for a hydronic system on May 15. They bid $4,202.50 for the tubing under the floor, $5,646.90 for a Noritz NRC1111 boiler and custom heat exchanger and three-zone manifold system, and $1,200 for (30) Sunboard Sunfoam panels for the BR3 concrete floor. The total bid was $11,049.40 not including shipping (from Vermont) or any installation.

But, wait. Real oak floors aren't great with under-floor hydronic. The spot heat might dry out individual boards, leading to joint separation and/or "cupping." We could install the hydronic and deal with floor problems as they occur, or we could proactively remove the oak flooring and put in 1300 SF of, say, ceramic tile. That's about $9,750 not including the demo and disposal of the old floor. $7.50/SF is tile or hydronic-compatible engineered wood.

So, the hydronic approach is: $11,050 materials, $250 shipping, $10,000 installation, $2000 floor demo, $9750 new floor. That's $33,050.

Noritz NRC1111--18" x 24" x 9"

To compare apples to apples, let's assume we get the Noritz boiler ($1600) for tankless water heating, refinish the oak floors ($3570), and insulate the floor and ducts ($5000).

Hydronic and new tile/engr wood floors with 3 zones: $33,050
Forced air with some a/c but only 1 zone: $22,520

The trouble with these numbers is that I have bids for the forced air, but the hydronic installation could cost even more.

Three zones is useful for apartment/Airbnb solutions, but it's not worth $10,530. The other advantage of the hydronic is the elimination of the ugly baseboard vents--hydronic heats without moving dusty air around, which is very appealing. But we could make some pretty vents for $500.

Refinishing the oak floor is based on a 3/2/15 bid from Lane Hardwood. New oak is $11.25, but refinishing is $4.75/SF. However, we're only talking about refinishing the two bedrooms, living room and hall--about 750 SF.

The forced air solution means a separate control for the Trees Room and just the electric heater for BR3. We might want a mini-split for BR3, or a second electric heater for BA3. The three baths might want electrically-heated floors with the $10,000 that we're "saving."

We Have a Structural Engineer

I met with Chris Bernards of SideSway Engineering this morning at Walnut St. Coffee in Edmonds. He worked at C-G Engineering for I think he said 12 years. We went over the drawings and he's going to design the Trees Room to handle it's own lateral, and we'll leave the existing house alone. Trying to bring the existing house up to current standards would be a can of worms. We discussed whether the "crickets" on the roof might trigger that--they represent 2-3 PSF surcharge on the existing framing, and there's a 5% rule.

He said the city is just asking for some straps around the brick chimney, tying the roof framing to the bricks so that they don't shake. The bricks falling through the roof is still a problem, but the city doesn't require a fix for that.

He said that if we run a concrete wall up on either side of the garage door, we can use a plywood shear wall instead of a StrongWall. This is cool. Oh, and he can start working on it this weekend and we're talking ten days or two weeks, not forever.

We've got gas!

The pros dropped in Thursday afternoon and Friday morning and--BAM!--we've got a gas meter. Progress! Also, it turned out that the gas line is not under the asphalt, but rather just on our side of the road, so it was easy for them to dig down to it. They use a yellow "PEX" tubing and switch to galvanized iron just before the meter.

The gas main runs next to, not under, the blacktop

The gas main is the black pipe at the left--they installed the yellow tubing.

The bricks underneath are to keep it level as the plumber connects to the meter. They can go away when there's a second pipe holding the meter up.

Designing the Bath In Detail

Wow, there are a lot of details to consider in a bathroom. The plan calls for a curbless shower in a fully tiled room in both Bath 1 and Bath 3. I'll describe what I want including specific details.

Vanity
There are many things that need to be by the sink. I want a place to tuck them all away except for soap and a towel. I need storage for: toothbrush*, toothpaste, razor, shaving cream, skin lotion, cologne, nail clippers, tweezers, beard trimmer*.

For most of these things, a drawer makes the most sense. A silverware-style divider for toothpaste, razor, and so on.

I like the designs that hang off the wall, for easy cleaning underneath (or, alternatively, for lack of a wet and eventually rotting baseboard). But I saw a table with feet and a slatted shelf for extra towels that looked nice, as well.

The Gas Man Cometh

The only progress in weeks is that Puget Sound Energy is installing a gas meter, hopefully this week. I spoke to a guy on Thursday, August 6. He spray-painted the street in white. We talked about the location and I put on the yellow sticker. Next day, August 7, I notice more paint in the street--purple this time. Then, sometime the week of August 10, yellow paint appeared, along with No Parking signs. The signs say August 17-21, but no one has parked since they went up (I don't think they read the little words).

Update 8/20: The three-man crew arrived and they want the meter 24" from the hose bibb. They don't mind putting it under the existing window, because the top of the meter is still 36" from the operable part of the window. They got here at 2pm, dug holes near the meter location by hand until they left at 3:20 or so. They left their backhoe and said they would return tomorrow morning.

I hope the sticker comes off without damaging the paint (just kidding!)

Rahm, the 6-year-old across the street, will enjoy the trucks

Can you say: overkill?

The way it works is that they install the meter, a plumber installs gas lines in the house and connects them to the meter, then we call PSE again to test and approve, and then they turn the gas on.

Going Minimalist

What if we try to spend as little money as possible? The plans at the building department are pretty ambitious--hydronic heat, all new windows, the 13' 7" Trees Room ceiling, maybe a steel frame for windows at the south. Imagining a minimal scheme would bracket the spending and highlight the cost of the less-than-minimal plan.

The main problem with A.14 is that the entry hall is awkward, unusable space. The dinette actually works better than I thought, as does the kitchen. There is also no good place for the television in the former living room. (Over the fireplace, I guess, now that I think about it.) Trying to imagine how I would be comfortable here, I can't find a place for my music equipment, or the treadmill.

If this was built now, I could rent the former living room as a studio apartment and make, maybe $800 a month. It has no laundry, but we have an arrangement in which I unlock the connecting door--the tenant doing laundry wouldn't impact me too much. Bedroom 3 would make a nice Airbnb--no kitchen, but easy outside access. That might earn $300/month on average. That's $13,200/year income in exchange for living with strangers.

No more greenhouse

It's been slow waiting for the building department corrections, worrying that they'll ask for a structural engineer to prepare and stamp calcs. If we had the permit, we still would need to find someone to build it. The finish line seems far away, and before we get there, the house will be half-wrecked. Sigh.

So, for an inspirational project, I asked Kevin and Johnathan to help me dismantle the lean-to greenhouse. I know the tacked on glass house won't be part of the finished house, and I knew it would transform the look of the place from the backyard to have it gone now. Thanks to Kevin and Johnathan--we were done in about three hours.

The main pieces are three aluminum-framed plates of glass.

There were open shelves and a window repurposed as a door.

The walls were just EPS or foam board.

Kevin and Johnathan did all the sledgehammer work.

Pacific Topsoil charged me $32 to take the broken concrete block. We used Johnathan's old van for the hauling.

Rendering(s)

To help the neighbors visualize, I'm working on photo mashups like this:

Kitchen Items

This post will inventory the items available to be packed and shipped.

1. Kelley plastic plates from Jan. 94 (x2)
2. Handmade brown dish
3. Peter Rabbit plate (Royal Doulton)
4. Various Petroglyph plates (x6)
5. Various Petroglyph bowls (x3)
6. Black "Couroc" bowl
7. Tigger's cat bowl
8. Leopard-print mug
9. Green plastic bowl and lid
10. Rainbow plastic "daisy" plates (x11)
11. Crystal candle holders (x4)
12. Pewter snuffers (x2)
13. Colorful rooster salt and pepper shakers
14. Slim glass candle holder
15. Various silver-color bowls (x5)
16. Cut-glass bowl
17. Pyrex pie plates, different sizes (x3)
18. Pyrex bowl and glass lid
19. Heavy glass tumblers (x2)
20. Crystal bottle stopper
21. Larger crystal bowl
22. Cherub napkin rings (x4)
23. Smaller crystal bowl
24. Teardrop-shaped crystal bowl
25. Flower petal design crystal bowl
26. Glass non-Pyrex bowl [the large one broke]
27. Glass coasters (x5)
28. Medium Pyrex bowl (no lid)

Item #2

(l to r): Snuffers #12; napkin rings #22; salt and pepper #13; bottle stopper #20; petal-shape bowl #25; wrapped glass coasters.

The Plans Are In!

City Of Seattle, DPD <DoNotReply@seattle.gov>	3:36 PM (0 minutes ago)
to me

Thank you for using the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development's Online Permit Fee Payment system. This is a receipt confirming payment of fees for Permit #6461743.

Please do not reply to this email. If you have questions about your permit fees, please contact the DPD Applicant Services Center at (206) 684-8850.

Transaction Date	06/30/2015 3:36 PM
Payment Transaction	# 719803
Project Info	# 6461743 817 NW 118TH ST Construct addition and alterations to existing single family residence per plan
Project Contact	Alastair Dallas 817 NW 118 St Seattle, WA 98177 (408) 596-6757
Cardholder Name	Alastair Dallas
Credit Card	Visa ****-****-****-1047 exp 08/2017
Total Amount Paid	$1,304.25
Fee Detail	Amt Description $869.50   VALUE BASED - PLAN REVIEW (INTAKE) $434.75   VALUE BASED - PERMIT (INTAKE)

This is a receipt of payment. This is NOT a permit, nor is it proof of having a permit.

Please retain this receipt for your financial records.

Department of Planning and Development (DPD)
700 Fifth Ave., Suite 2000
P.O. Box 34019
Seattle, WA 98124-4019
(206) 684-8600

Impacted Building Department

Here's how the Seattle Dept. of Planning and Development (DPD) system works. You throw together a basic set of plans and submit them online. In a couple of days, you are approved for intake. At this point, you can make an intake appointment and you have up until that appointment date to upload the final documents. After your intake, the normal review period is 2-3 weeks. Then you have to submit corrected plans, possibly in two or more rounds, but the process leads to a permit.

This system should have been explained to me when I visited the Applicant Services Center in late February. Instead, I was assigned a Junior Idiot who was no help at all. He directed me to waste $200 and 2 weeks requesting an ECA exemption that was promptly denied.

I submitted plans on June 12, and I expected an intake appointment this week. Instead, they are scheduling intake 10 weeks from now. That means the earliest building permit is September.

But I called Applicant Services this morning (684-8850). No automated wait. Katie answered immediately and explained that people cancel their intake appointments and she told me how to reschedule my appointment sooner by pouncing on a canceled date. (It's the Start Your Full Permit Application section, tab 3 (Intake), click "Cancel or Reschedule.") She looked at my file and said she would keep an eye out for cancelled appointments and try to help me get an earlier date (no promises, of course).

My intake appointment is currently August 21. It would be great if I could move it up to July, but I can't hope for too much. So, I need to improve the plans...perhaps with a structural engineer's help. When they are complete, Katie told me to click "Submit for Intake." That's irrevocable, so you don't do it lightly. The plans cannot be changed after that, and the intake appointment can't be rescheduled. But, it's possible that the plan review could start before the intake, so the time to permit would improve. Again, no promises.

Update: 4pm the same day, Katie Jones sent an email--she grabbed a cancellation, so my new intake date is July 10. Amazing! Need to click "Submit for Intake" before 7 a.m. that day (it's a Friday), and preferably sooner.

Speaking of color ideas

The Trees Room siding is cement board, like HardiePanel Smooth in Countrylane Red. The existing house has wood siding, vertical over horizontal. I think the new north face should be all horizontal, which can be HardiePlank Lap Beaded Smooth, perhaps in Cobblestone (a light gray).

I'd like a more custom finish on the Trees Room--I wonder if we can apply a patina-like stain on the HardiePanels.

Fixing up the gazebo

The lattice has to go. Everything else can be other colors.

Requesting an intake appointment

The drawings are about done, ready to submit to the City of Seattle DPD. So we used the online Project Portal to submit the drawings, the geotechnical report, and the DPD Cover Sheet. With luck, the DPD response will be to schedule an intake meeting. I'm concerned that they will require structural calcs and details, so I didn't spend much time on that aspect of the plans and I'm working to line up a firm that can turn the project around quickly. Dibble Engineers is a possibility.

Update: Ken Jensen, the architect who took the palm tree, recommends Roland Heimisch of Kenmore, http://www.tecinstruct.com/,

Coming out of the closet

Many people are replacing a typical closet with a built-in wardrobe, according to the LA Times and Starcraft Custom Builders (it's a good article, or I wouldn't reference a builder). I haven't investigated Ikea yet, but this article references Pax cabinets with Hemnes (like my bed) doors.

Ikea, as usual, has a pretty cool system, as shown in this brief, soundless video:

Bedrooms 2 and 4 are all set for closets--2 with its tiny, old-fashioned one, and 4 with its walk-in closet with washer/dryer hookup.

Bedroom 3 would save some space--a drywall closet is 30" deep (24" + stud wall), but the Ikea boxes are just shy of 24". Bedroom 1 has two closets--the old-fashioned one by the chimney and a wide one that would look good without fin walls and clunky doors. We also have 3 linen closets: Ba1, by the laundry, and Ba2.

The Pax units come in two heights: 79.25" and too high (except for Br3). Widths are about 20", 40", 60" and depths are, roughly, 15" or 24". The cabinets come in white, black (like my bed), and what they call "white stained oak effect."

Bedroom 1 is 86" wall to wall. This would be 100% accessible, unlike the current 63" bi-sliding doors. Two (his and her) 40"w units (like this).

Bedroom 3 is 52" wide with walls. If we just mount the Ikea stuff, we have 73" door jamb to door jamb. (We might want to compromise and leave one fin wall for the light switch. Say 61". 60"w, x 93.125"h, like this.

Ba1 16" wide, 15" deep. May have to be custom.

Linen Closet in hall 24" wide, 20" deep. Make it 20" wide and give more space to the laundry. Either take a full 24" deep (and shorten the Br4 kitchen counter) or make it 15" deep (and lengthen the Br4 counter). I like 20"w x 24" deep, like this.

Ba2 23" wide (we could turn the studs flat on the tub plumbing wall and gain 1-1/2". The space is 18" deep on one side, 30" deep on the other. Make it 20"w x 15"d and create a pipe chase.

First, there was a palm tree.

The Chinese Fan Palm (Trachycarpus Fortunei) in the backyard was fighting the Carkeek vibe. It was likely a fun bit of serendipity before it was exposed by the removal of the rhododendron hedge.

Architect Ken Jensen contacted me about my post in the Nextdoor "free things" section. He and his helper, Hamilton, weren't able to get it loose on Friday, so they came back with other tools Sunday and took it out. Then we discovered that it was likely about 300 pounds. With the modest root ball in Ken's wheelbarrow and the tied-up fronds on my hand truck, the three of us tugged and strained and grunted it around the side to Ken's truck in front. Just to promote a successful end, I followed them to Ken's house and helped take it off the truck and plant it in the pre-dug hole.

First, there was a palm tree,

Ken and Hamilton spent an hour working on the tree on Friday. Part of the lower pond had to be dismantled.

...then there was no palm tree...

Success! Now we wondered what do you do if you ever actually catch a palm tree?

Three hundred pounds, at least.

I followed Ken to his house

Then there was.

Ken's house is painted tropical blue. He plans to remove the shady maple to the left.

No more tropical or Chinese trees! Ken mentioned that they had to leave a tap root. He said he couldn't assure me that it wouldn't grow back.