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.