Starting up Trees House 2017

Well, 2016 happened. Trees House 2015 is officially dead; the Seattle Bldg. Dept. asked me to cancel the permit in process and I did, knowing I don't want to gut the house and build a big old trees room. In this real estate market, I can pretty the place up and make a tidy profit.

Two important drawings were discovered from the huge pile of 2015 project documents. First is a simpler remodel plan by Peggy:

I'm not even sure when this was drawn (likely about April 2016)

This calls for

• Extending the garage for a full depth. But, cleverly, put in a demising wall so that one bay can be offered to a tenant (and to avoid expensive beams and 16' wide overhead doors).
• Move the washer/dryer down the hall
• Remodel the breezeway and stairs
• Extend the breezeway north and south (not sure what's supposed to happen to the roof and eaves). Also, proposed furniture isn't shown. I think we might leave the exterior walls where they are.
• Remodel the BR3 bathroom. Kind of ignores the 12-gallon water heater, but we could put real fixtures and finishes in there for a big improvement.
• Remodel the central bath into a linear configuration (move the shower drain, basically). Or, we could just leave it a powder bath
• Remodel the BR1 door to make the hall work better with the living room
• Remodel the BR1 bathroom--new window, new fixtures.
• Build a new south deck--replace the old. Simplify.
• And revise the kitchen (saved the best for last)

The revised kitchen is my favorite. It would be so much easier to use, and it would work with a large dining table like a country kitchen.

The new kitchen features:

• Preserving the corner window (and getting rid of the glass blocks and greenhouse window)
• 30" gas range with a real hood
• Not sure where the microwave goes--perhaps over the gas range?
• The problem with the NW corner persists, but is already better than what we have now.

Still on the sump pump

Update: In a case of "why don't you just order what will work?" the Liberty 237 fits the sump pit perfectly, and the vertical magnetic float switch doesn't get fouled up by hitting the side of the pit. Amazon had it in my hands in 25 hours (at no extra cost).

Okay, I ordered the Liberty 237.

I finally tired of making the new Everbilt 1/2 HP model SBA033BC with tether switch work. The manual calls for a bigger sump, and the tether switch hit the side. I need a more compact switch that will fit in my 12" x 12" x 12" sump.

Amazon

→Liberty 237 1/3 HP Vertical Magnetic Float switch $133 - free 1-day. 2 yr.
287 1/2 HP VMF $211
247 1/4 HP cast iron $125

Wayne WSF50 1/2 HP plastic $116 - free 1-day

Flotec E75VLT 3/4 HP $151
FPZS33V 1/3 HP $119

Home Depot

Water Source 1/2 HP cast iron $111 - might be stubbier. Not at store. Free Del 4/12.
Requires 12" diam. x 10" depth. Model WSSPC5V 66 GPM; 50 GPM @ 10' head

Everbilt 1/3 HP $85 plastic. Raised inlet. Not at store. Shipping delivery 4/12
1/3 HP S/S $159 SBA033V1
1/2 HP S/S $189
3/4 HP $198
1 HP $228

Superior 1/3 HP $72 plastic. Not at store [$72 at Amazon]
1/3 HP $85.54 cast iron  92341 [$85.13 at Amazon]
1/2 HP $70 plastic. Not at store
3/4 HP $172

AquaPro 1 HP $228
1/2 HP $179

Eco Flo 1/2 HP cast iron $101 [$98 at Amazon]
1/3 HP $83 [ $83 at Amazon]
3/4 cast iron $132
1/3 cast iron $101

Lowe's

Flotec 1/2 cast iron $169 - 80 GPM. Free delivery 4/10 - switch on right, not left

Utilitech 1/2 cast iron $159

H20PRO 3/4 cast iron $229 - looks stubbier

Sump Pump Issues

Today's basement issue is the sump pump outside the basement door. It has been running at odd times and is increasingly noisy and vibrate-y. Since it hasn't been raining, I finally went to investigate, and sure enough, the pump seems like it's running dry, which is very bad for pumps.

The sump is a 12 x 12 x 12 box in the concrete landing. It also accepts drainage from a pipe coming from under the deck. The box and the grate on top of it are plastic, but it seems in fine condition.

The pump is a 1/3-HP cast-iron submersible sump pump made by Utilitech. It has a 120V wire going into the top of it, and another 120V wire that ends in a float thing. The powered float seems odd to me. Both wires run under the basement door and plug in to an ordinary outlet behind the door. A flexible hose connects to the 1-1/2 NPT discharge on the pump, allowing it to be pulled out of the sump. From there, it connects to a rigid pipe with a backflow preventer and a rigid pipe to drain that runs under the deck and daylights on the bank.

Update: I found an older model that looks like mine, with two 120V wires. The trick is, you have to plug the pump into the float switch plug, which is one of those "through" plugs. Obviously, the float switch interrupts power to the pump, except when the water is high enough.

First inspection showed 3 or 4 inches of debris in the sump and the float was resting on the debris. I cleaned that out, reassembled the kit, and now the pump doesn't want to shut off. The internet thinks that float valves go bad every four years or so.

I don't know when the pump got plugged in to the normal outlet, but perhaps it has been running that way for a week (since the water heater installation) and it only turns off when the motor gets too hot. Or maybe I plugged it in wrong when I started investigating and now its burned out because of me.

Maybe it's time for a new pump.

Home Depot offers one from Wayne for $120. This model, also from Wayne, features a "tether float switch" that looks more like the Utilitech model. It is $128.

Lowe's sells a newer Utilitech model for $99. It seems to have a 120V wire going to the float, but just a single wire going to the outlet.

Amazon sells Wayne and other brands, but not Utilitech. I liked this Liberty Pump because it's smaller and seems to have a more reliable float. It's $133.

Water Heater Installed

Thanks to Johnathan Jones, the water heater problems are history. I found the model I wanted online and the local Home Depot had 8 in stock. It had to be a Medium, not a Tall, or we would have needed to modify the hot and cold pipes. We bought the thing for around $610, carried it home (it's 127 pounds in the box) and hand-trucked it down the basement stairs. Draining the old tank added considerably to the water in the basement, but the sump pump at the door did its job. John made disconnecting the water and power look easy.

We wrestled the old tank toward the door, unpacked and wrestled the new one onto an insulated base (styrofoam) in a special plastic pan made for this purpose, and John made hooking it up look easy. We had to run to Home Depot for some ground wire and a ground clamp, but the new unit was quickly up and serving hot water.

The white PVC directs the pressure relief valve output to the floor (there's a drain to the right)

The next morning, the floor was largely dry. I installed the leak detector in the pan and the special WiFi module. It wouldn't let me set it up, so after three tries I contacted Rheem tech support. To my delight, they got back to me pretty quickly with alternate instructions involving my laptop. That worked, and my phone can now switch the water heater to vacation mode from anywhere in the world.

Model: Rheem XE50M12EC55U1W
Serial: M071709451
Manufactured: 2/13/2017
Bought/Installed: 3/22/2017
Electrical: 240V, dual 5500-watt elements
Warranty: 12 years parts / 3 years in home labor (warranty ends in 2029)

The owner's manual says to pull the anode every year and check it.

Comparable With Healthy Asking Price

Update 5/27/17: Went pending 3/25/17, fell out of contract, listing removed 5/4/17.

This just on the market, asking a full 18% over the Zestimate. $365/SF.

11502 4th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98177

3 BR, 2 BA, 1970 SF. Hardwood floors throughout main level. One bed and bath on the lower floor. Oil furnace. New 40-year roof with "slick no maintenance gutters." Baths: one full, one 3/4. Lot size 10,018 SF. Built in 1951. Zestimate $610,059. Asking $719,900. (Originally, they asked $739,900, but came down $20 after ten days on Zillow.)

Not much Carkeek, if any, but it's at the end of a dead end street. That's 3rd Ave in the background of the photo--easy walk to the bus stop.

My Zestimate, today, is $669,648. 18% more would be $790,185. I'm 3 BR, 3 BA, 1592 SF. Lot size 10,798 SF. Built in 1947. I'm farther from the bus, but Carkeek is right there.

Unrepentant kitchen

Looks like the full bath is downstairs, the 3/4 bath is upstairs

One-car garage, but it is generous for a shop or storage

Not exactly a Sound view, but its better than mine.

Water Heater Issues

The water heater leaks. It still delivers hot water for showers, etc., but the city just billed me for 3x the water use over the same period last year. Not to mention the electricity for heating the water dribbling out.

Current is a Whirlpool EE2H50RD045V, 50-gal 240V 4500/4500. Installed 9/2003 (13.5 years ago) with a 9 year warranty. Serial number 0340103969 (who cares?). The Energy Guide sticker says that it uses 4772 kwh/Year.

I can replace it with models costing less than $500, and it looks like a pretty easy swap out. There's a handy cold water shut off right at the tank. Here's a spreadsheet of the available models.

The water heater has been leaking for some time, it seems--since January 2017 at least.

Aurora Plumbing was just here and gave me a bid of $1700 for a 10-year warranty Rheem, plus another $500 for labor. Or, for $750, they'll install a customer-supplied model. That's kind of nuts, since the model I like is the

Rheem Performance Platinum 50 Gal. Tall 12 Year 5500/5500-Watt Elements Electric Water Heater with Wi-Fi Module Included for $609, available at my local Home Depot. (The existing model is a Medium, meaning shorter; this is a Tall). 12 warranty on tank and parts, 3 year in home labor warranty. Dual 5500-watt stainless steel heating elements. EcoNet WiFi built-in.

Rheem XE50T12EC55U1W Performance Platinum 12-year warranty water heater.

Moving Forward

Inspired by the progress in Sierra Madre, I'm going to start thinking about Trees House again. Rather than a journal entry, I'll keep updating this entry until it represents a prioritized list of the things I want to address about the house. I'm thinking that the full-blown remodel is unnecessary, but maybe all the little things add up to it, in which case...

Heating system. I have a bid for about $8000 to replace the oil furnace with one that runs on gas. John Jones says we can do it for $4000 or so. I haven't done it because I would like to get rid of the ducts. The current electric heaters x 6 were running about $350/mo last winter (I should nail that down) and winter is coming round again.

Extend garage. It doesn't work to park a car under those trees. A lockable garage seems important--people in this neighborhood leave for days and weeks. It would be nice if burglars couldn't tell by the presence of a car whether you're home. Doing a carport instead would mean losing all that storage to passers by.

Site development - Front yard. This is urgent. Things are dying, other things are overgrown. The crumbling path is starting to say 17th c. France. Also, the Douglas Fir's roots are burgeoning and I'd like to realign the drive a little to stay off them. We have no walk to the second front door at the moment, but front yard development can help with the front door confusion.

Kitchen. Now that I'm using the kitchen, I am terribly frustrated by its inefficient layout. I want that Kohler sink with the built-in cutting board and drying rack. In addition to lack of counter space, there's no storage space. A new gas range, a real vent hood, a larger refrigerator--hard to see how that yields more storage and counter space.

New roof. The roof is at end of life, but maybe a pressure-wash would be enough. I don't know, but the roof is a major part of the curb appeal. A garage extension would need to tie-in at the roof somehow. I suspect that once the shingles are off, we'll need to repair sags and gaps. A whole new roof (26 squares) and 260 linear feet of gutter is probably $10,000 or so. My concern is that the trees rain junk on the roof, so a new roof will look old soon enough. It's great that we don't seem to have any leaks, despite the clogged gutters.

Site development - Rear yard. Clearly less important since I never go outside and Carkeek Park sells itself, but the deck is half torn-up and partly rotten. The hot tub space just sits there, with an unpainted wood railing. The hole where the palm tree was ruins the pond's ability to hold water, and the pond is still ugly blue. Also, I don't like the mish-mash of railings at the top of slope.

Bathroom #2. I hate this layout, from the plastic shower to the pocket door. But if I just want to dress it up and sell it, I need to address the broken vanity and medicine cabinet.

Master Bath. I don't want a spa tub, especially if it means I have to high jump to get in the shower. The slit stained glass window is horrible--energy-wise, hack carpentry-wise, no light-wise. I would really like a real window and a tile shower. Ideally, a no-step shower, which involves notching the floor. I'm sure they could do it for $20,000 or so. Maybe a curb shower. Sigh.

Mother In Law. Let's assume I rent out that room. I could improve the bath a little, perhaps. The heater works fine. We could take out the exercise equipment. The renter would come into the breezeway, or the garage, I guess. The window is still cracked, but the heater works. Replace the crappy carpentry at the trim.

Attic clean-up. The "Clean Crawls" bidder said I should leave the rock wool insulation in the attic and cover it with fiberglass batts. To do that, I'll have to un-bag the insulation and fill in where it isn't. I'm not sure what's going on over the kitchen, but I think it's un-insulated. I don't want to think about it.

Insulate under main house. The ducts and joists are completely uninsulated.

Fireplace damper. Repair the flue and install a damper--bids were like $1000-$1500.

New front doors. I don't like the builder-quality doors I have, but they are both good quality in good condition. Not clear it's worth it.

Zillow lists a bunch of projects with costs and added value. Pretty general, but if they are right, they recommend:

• Fiberglass Attic Insulation - 50.3% return
• Garage Door Replacement - 36.8% return
• Vinyl Window Replacement - 13.8% return
• Bathroom Remodel - 13.0% return
• Major Kitchen Remodel - 7.7% return
• Entry Door Replacement - 4% return
• Siding Replacement - 3.2% return

They include Basement Remodel, but it works out at -5.8% loss on investment.