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.