Ideas

Peggy sent a link to these photos of the Ajioka House, a Buff & Hensman 1960 project.

I created an Ideabook on Houzz back in September to gather inspirational photos.

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.

Washing and Drying

Whirlpool Duet

At Albert Lee Appliances, I bought a new Whirlpool washer (WFW94HEAW) and a matching floor model dryer (WED94HEAW) on Monday, Nov 11 for delivery Saturday. The dryer had a scratch on the right side, but otherwise they're a matched pair. I needed a $21 stack kit. I liked my salesman, Vernon White (vernon.white@albertleeappliances.com).

On Saturday, Nov 15, at 2:30, the truck showed up with 3 men to bring it in. They unpacked and setup the units in the street, then walked the pair, stacked, into the house using a sling between two men. The 3-prong 220V outlet in the closet had three straight slots, which I'm told is for a range, so they couldn't test the dryer, which has an L-shaped ground plug.

They ran the washer to verify proper hookup and leak-less drain. Seems fine. After I signed the delivery forms, I went to Home Depot and bought the right outlet. After I swapped out the 220V outlet, I discovered that they hadn't bothered to install the vent.

Update: After I complained, Albert Lee sent two installers back out on Tuesday, Nov 18. They trimmed the vent hose and installed the water line for the dryer's steam feature. By the way, I found this photo on the internet. The closet still looks like this:

All is revealed

Dewey from Lee's General Landscaping and Yard Cleanup came by Thursday afternoon and gave me a quote of $1150 plus 9.5% tax to clear away the Rhododenron in back and the wisteria and ivy against the garage. He bargained down to $1200, tax included.

The garage is no longer being accosted by the wisteria. The brick veneer at the corner, and the green siding, had been completely hidden behind ivy.

On Friday, Nov 14, about 9am, 4 men showed up and started removing the plants (and trimming the wisteria or whatever it is at the SW corner of BR3). They worked until almost 1pm, with a short lunch break. I asked them to trim the wisteria at the entry steps some more, and they had left a Rhododenron branch skeleton at the south end of the bush which I asked them to take. Close to 2pm, Dewey showed up with a truck and it took the now smaller crew a full hour to load the debris onto the truck. Lots of chain saw action while standing in the back of the stake truck.

So, 16 man-hours in the morning, another 3 loading the truck, plus dump fees. If the dump fees were $200, with 9.5% sales tax, I paid about $900 for 19 man-hours. That's about $47. Seems like I could have had the work done for a lot less than $1200, but that's what I paid. I'll have to be more careful with my money in the future.

The cleanup revealed a very nice Norman brick entry monument from which the (still inoperable) post light emerges. It also revealed dark green siding that didn't get painted blue with the rest of the house. On the south side, it seems that the deck railing was once a rust red instead of bright white.

Charming 1947 site furniture that had been completely obscured

Site of the huge hedge that blocked the view of Carkeek Park

Dewey was certain that what Peggy called an English Laurel was actually a Rhododendron, which Peggy said would produce beautiful flowers in Spring. Turns out there are hundreds of varieties of "Rhodies," including the Azalea. This one had to go, however, so that we could see the trees of Carkeek from the entry breezeway. It worked, except now you can see the incongruous palm tree, which will likely have to be transplanted.

Before: Rhoda the Rhododendron hides everything

After: You can see clearly now

Now you're heating with oil

Aidan O'Callaghan of Sound Oil left his card last week and we spoke on the phone Monday morning.

Dear New Owner,
Congratulations on your new home! Please call us anytime for details on heating your new home and to schedule a furnace tuneup (no charge). We have served your home previously (Sound/Anderson oil) and the tank is very low. Thank you. Aidan.

It's a 300-gallon tank, about 60" x 38" diameter. They chart the weather daily for a more accurate estimate, and they try to top off the tank when it's about 1/4 or 1/3 full. They bill at the end of the delivery month, and 40% is due at that time, or a minimum of $105. The oil is currently about $3.80 per gallon, plus 5% sales tax. He guesses that two deliveries a year is enough for this house.

We'll get a delivery today or tomorrow, because Aidan thinks that the tank is pretty low--near "residual." If it's 290 gallons, that will cost $1,102 plus $55.10 sales tax, or $1,157.10. But they will bill at the end of November for $462.84 (40%). I guess (but I'm not sure), that that will leave a remaining balance of $694.26 and I'll be billed for 40% of that ($277.70) in December, and so on.

I'll contact Aidan (he's my account rep) soon to schedule a free furnace tuneup/inspection. Sound Oil offers a $189/year service plan that even includes parts, or we can go T&M at $140/hour plus $30 per call.

Office: 206-725-6300
Fax: 206-725-5007
Cell: 206-940-1113
Email: aidan@soundoil.net

Sound Oil
6346 Rainier Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98118

Update: Delivery on Tuesday, Nov 11 at 4:54pm of 212.1 gallons at $3.799/gallon. "Dyed Diesel Fuel"--odd, huh? The oil was $805.77, plus $76.55 (9.5%) tax. Total $882.32. Driver is Eric.

Update: Returning home Jan. 22, I found that the oil tank was empty. (It ran out sometime between Jan. 17 and 22.)

Update: Sound sent Eric Jan. 23 to fill me up--280.7 gallons this time. The oil is only $2.989/gallon, so I saved $227.37. Not bad. I added $918.72 to my Sound Oil balance.

Deep cleaning

A four-person crew from Secret Service Housekeeping descended on Trees House Monday, Nov 3 from 10:30 to just about 2. For $400, they cleaned everything except the oven (they didn't expect that it wouldn't have a self-clean feature). The leader is Ozzy Girl.

ozzy@secretservicehousekeeping.com
17430 Ambaum Blvd. S #12
Burien, WA 98148

The big move

On Thursday, Oct 30, I slept at the Joneses. We all woke up at 5am or so and they drove me to the light rail on Friday, Oct 31. I landed in San Jose, waited around a bit, and met Peggy's flight at 11. We arranged for a 14' U-Haul truck for Saturday morning, had lunch at a very cool Apple cafeteria (designed by Norman Foster) and visited Kelley's apartment. Then we met Jon and Kelley for dinner at Mama Mia. We spent the night at the Larkspur Landing in Campbell. Jon slept on the couch.

On Saturday, Nov 1, Jon drove us out to Newark (near Fremont) to pick up the U-Haul truck. It was brand new, with only 1,000 miles on it. Then we spent all of Saturday sorting through our storage lockers and carefully loading the truck with Peggy's things. Jon was a huge help. We all headed back to Larkspur Landing that night.

On Sunday, Nov 2, we finished loading the truck and couldn't refuse Jon's request that we visit his apartment in San Francisco. Jon, Kelley, Peggy, and I drove up in Jon's Corolla and Jon and I assembled his hat rack while Kelley and Peggy got hot dogs at Biergarten. We nailed up a ledger and hung his Mexican rug. Then everyone but Jon drove back to Los Gatos, We got the truck from Extra Space and convoyed to Apple in Cupertino, where we parked the Corolla for Jon's use and said goodbye to Kelley.

Peggy and I drove to Salinas Sunday night and stayed at the brand new Hampton Inn. The room was too big, so the TV was too far from the bed--champagne problems. We ate at Pica Fresh Mex downtown.

Monday, Nov 3, we drove down 101 to Pasadena. We arrived about 3:30 and scrambled to empty the truck until Peggy called and found we had until 10am the following day. So, we left half the stuff in the truck overnight and had dinner with Frieda at Panda Inn.

Tuesday, Nov 4, we emptied the truck and returned it to U-Haul, then I built the Expedit bookcase and put Peggy's books away. That left us with a lot of boxes to dispose of, which we did--in a "cardboard only" dumpster at Cal Tech. We spent Tuesday integrating Peggy's stuff into Frieda's duplex. I installed a sliding glass dog door for Oreo.

Wednesday, Nov 5, we got up at 5 am, only to find that Southwest had cancelled our flight. We had to call and book a flight that was two hours later.

The eventual flight was pleasantly half-full and we arrived in San Jose at 11:30, when we had planned to be there at 9:30. Kelley met us and drove me to U-Haul of Campbell, where I rented a 17' truck that was very similar to the 14' truck, only 3 feet longer.

Peggy and I worked all afternoon Wednesday loading the remaining stuff into the truck. At 3:30, we had to stop and drive Peggy to her 4pm meeting with David Beck. While they talked, I drove to Home Depot and bought rope and a box cutter. By 5:30, fortified with McDonald's, we were back clearing out the storage lockers. The sun went down and we kept working. Extra Space closed at 10 pm, and we kept working. Finally, at 11:30, we had only locker 1133 to finish. Lockers 4143 and 4144 (all 10x10) were empty. We drove the truck to Safeway, bought dinner, and headed to the Inn of Los Gatos for the night.

The next morning, Thursday, Nov 6, we finished loading the truck and I called Don at Extra Space to say that we were out of all three lockers. We went back to the hotel to freshen up for the drive north. We took 280 to 680 to the Carquinez Bridge. The 80 to the 505 to I-5, then had lunch at Granzella's in Williams.

I was surprised that it was only four and a half hours from Williams, CA to Grants Pass, OR, where we had reservations at the La Quinta. It was walking distance to a McDonald's, so we did that and then collapsed. We encountered some rain at the Oregon border, which was worrisome because the U-Haul truck wasn't guaranteed to be waterproof, but there turned out to be no problem.

Friday, Nov 7, we woke at 6am to get an early start, and by 7 we were driving through foggy Oregon. We had lunch at a McDonald's in Vancouver, WA, and at 3:30 or so, we found ourselves in downtown Seattle with the truck complaining that it had less than 50 miles of gas left. I didn't want to risk hunting for a gas station, so we went to one I knew on Roosevelt and we arrived at the Trees House at about 4:20. Peggy and I methodically emptied the truck into the garage and the MIL room behind it, and then drove the Prius to Chiang's Gourmet to meet the Joneses for dinner.

Saturday, Nov 8, we suggested that the Joneses use our truck to take their heavy, old TV to Goodwill. Kevin and I did that from 9:30 to 10, then Peggy met me at the U-Haul center on 15th south of Ballard. We kicked around Saturday afternoon, grabbing ice cream at Molly Moon's, and doing laundry at the Joneses. We planned to get started unpacking seriously on Sunday.