Chief Architect as a Design Tool

 

Here's the massing of a garage at 15-degrees and an apartment above it. I have modeled stairs up each side of the 20x20 cube, because I'm not sure what to do.

Stairs up the western side isolate the apartment from the existing house, including BR3. They are the most private solution for an ADU above the garage. I drew them outside the 20x20 box, but they could be interior stairs, too.

It would seem that a small ADU above the garage would not need more than one fire exit. Presumably, an egress window will serve as the alternative. Stairs up the back (along the south side) make the most sense, except that they move the full-height ceiling to the edge. We might have some kind of A-frame if the door was in the middle of a wall.

Stairs up the east side interfere with the electric service entrance. The service head and meter can be moved, presumably, but the panel inside cannot, making an awkward jog in the stair necessary. I would prefer not to move either the service head or the meter, and we can get away with that, I think, if the east side is wall or roof and dormer.

In theory, the south side stairs could run the other way--start in the Breezeway and end at the west--but that cuts off access to BR3 or the garage, one or the other. If we bump out the Breezeway to the north to get garage access, we cut off the electric meter.

We wouldn't have to tilt the garage, and we could slide 6.5' west, if we removed the 44" Douglas fir blocking the existing driveway.

We shouldn't rule out completely re-wiring the house. It's just not that many runs--6 for the kitchen, 2 for the laundry, 2x3 baths, 2 lighting/outlets, maybe 18, 20 runs into the attic and the basement. If we need a new panel for the ADU and a new service head due to geometry, maybe we're most of the way there.

All new siding?

I had not thought that I would consider spending money on the siding. The walls are in great shape, thanks to the 26" overhang all around. But I picked up a Hardie brochure at the home show and I started thinking about it.

1. I've never liked the chair rail at the house's waist, nor the vertical over horizontal pattern.
2. There are some damaged areas that need repair. Any new windows will need patches, and they really hacked it up for BR3 and the skinny window out of BA1.
3. I was planning to re-paint the house; fresh paint always looks good, and I could choose a better LRV on the north-facing curb side.
4. The walls contain a 1/2" sandwich of kraft paper with rock wool inside. It's good for R-2.5.

After seeing how my neighbor added huge value to his ugly house with a new roof, I'm thinking...maybe my house needs new siding instead of new paint. It would be nice to tell a prospective buyer--see that brand new siding? We put insulation under it all around, and spruced up the 75-year-old structure at the same time.

Hardie makes a cement fiber siding with integral color. I'm thinking a light color horizontal lap, consistently, around new construction and old.

Lowe's sells the planks (7.25" x 12') for $14.44, or just about $2/SF. So, maybe $6 installed and trimmed out? Seems like something I could do with the help of a laborer. 4x8 smooth sheets are $55.44, or $1.74/SF. 

RemodelingExpense.com says it's $6.71 for Good, $8.78 for Better, installed.

Maybe forget the insulation and install the siding right over the existing siding? That's a lot of material to haul away, otherwise.

Looks like the vicinity of 2000 SF of exterior walls, so $13,420 to $17,560 to "re-siding" the house.

Maybe vertical looks better. Maybe the 4x8 sheets work--a Meier grid look (like the Getty) and/or shoji screens. I don't know where we'll end up, but it's something to think about.

I don't know if I can trust Remodeling Expense's numbers, but they say exterior painting a 2000 SF (siding) house would be $4950-$6200. 

I'll just leave this here...

Tree Identification

I would like to get my trees classified better than I have. The survey says tree #1, just north of the NE corner, is a fir, but I think it's a cedar, for example.

Tree #1

#1 is the city's tree, in the ROW. It's a 24" Fir on the survey.

Website What Tree Is That? says that individual needles like this that taper at the connection to the twig, so as to appear stalked, make this a Douglasfir (their spelling), or Pseudotsuga Menziesii. If so, the survey is right.

Rough bark

Tree #2

#2 is the huge tree in the NW corner of my property. It's trunk veers east as it meets the ground, and it splits in two trunks 70' in the air. It's called a 44" Fir on the survey.

I've always thought this was a Douglas Fir

Looking at the photos, this not only looks like #1, but the cones look like the photo online. The cones are very distinctive--they are not like pine cones. Maybe 1-1/2" long, narrow and almost bullet-shaped with rows of scales.

Tree #3

#3 is a large, messy 36" Cedar, according to the survey. It's why I got a canopy. Its trunk splits into 5 major trunks just 8' off the ground.

It would appear to be an Incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens). Libocedrus decurrens Torr is its former name. This is where the yellow pollen dust comes from, but the cones in the driveway are from the Douglas fir. 

Tree #4

#4 is 26" Fir on the west property line, just south of BR3. Its bark is a little mossy; it's hard to describe.

Tree #4 in the foreground; Tree #5 lurking for comparison

Tree #5

#5 is a 36" Fir near #4 on the west property line--actually straddling the line. Its bark looks different from #4, however.

Killing and removing the lower ivy took a toll on the upper ivy.

Tree #6

#6 is a 10" Fir. Like #4 and #5, its branches start so far up, it's hard to even see the needles. The trunks of all three are perfectly vertical--maybe they are Lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta). The What Tree Is That? tree finder suggests Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis), but they could all be Doug firs for all I know.

Tree #7

#7 is a 26" Cedar just about centered on the breezeway, about 10' away from the southern property line.

Tree #8

#8 is massive 38" Fir aligned with the basement stairs.

Tree #9 is an 18" Fir just east of #8.

A Day of Design Exploration

The idea of spending real money, giving a set of plans to a contractor and watching it be built 10x faster than I could do it, is very appealing. My previous sketch of a garage and driveway made me want to develop the front yard further, which led to trying to solve the floor plan. I drew three plans today, and I know how I would change each one for version 2.

Site Plan

The site plan is hard to read, but I considered ramps and steps and drainage in the context of the lay of the land. The basic ideas are:

• Move the driveway east, away from the base of the Douglas Fir
• Widen the driveway, so a car can get to the garage even if one is parked in the driveway
• Run the wide driveway to the street so that we might get 6 cars parked for a party
• The drive can't move very far east, but don't need to deal with the city's drainage pipe and we can preserve the brick tombstone with the post light
• I need to replace the front walk--the finish is shot, it's cracking, and...yeah. But this means I can plan for a step-free access to the breezeway. Pull in the driveway, wheel yourself to the street and over to the entry walk and you're in.
• I'm calling for pavers over the Doug Fir and Cedar roots--I was thinking pavers for everything, but they're pricey and the driveway is already 750 SF. 
• I think I need a small retaining wall at the east side of the driveway--I'm thinking of interlocking blocks
• Finally, I think I have the trash bins where I want them--behind a modesty fence. Double gates--the north side with a cane bolt, the south gate by the garage for everyday. Wednesday night, open the south gate, wheel the bin to the street--paved the whole way--then wheel them back in.

Just fooling around. Green spot in driveway is a mistake; ignore.

What would I change? Well, the this-way-and-that aspect of the entry walk is a little annoying, and I'm not sure what I'm doing with the dining room window and therefore the porch. Also, do I need paving to the east side yard? I can imagine a Rubbermaid garden shed over there, as well. Stepping stones (or nothing) don't work so great for pulling out a lawn mower (but I'm not planning on having  lawn). I'm thinking of a gate to block people from walking up to the breezeway, but that's based on the floor plan.

I didn't call it out, but a hose bibb and area light at the north garage corner would be awesome for keeping the garbage bins clean. What a luxury.

Street number goes on brick tombstone--Chief Architect can't do that :-)

First Floor Plan

Here's the deal: A "real" garage is 400-500 SF, which is $50,000, all things considered. When I go to list the house, it will still be about 1,600 SF, but it will have a garage. If I built a little higher and put in a floor, for a similar amount of money, I could have a 2,100 SF house with more beds and baths.

First Floor

I could not come up with a way to get from the breezeway down to Casey's room and the garage and stairs up to the floor above the garage. I could do 2 of them, not 3. I could have the stairs to the 2nd floor enter from the west and enter Casey's room from the breezeway (essentially as it is now), but I think there's value in having two rentals, or one big rental.

Another consideration in all this is the electrical system for the house. The service entrance is on the breezeway roof, directly above the panel. The panel, you will recall, was moved from the south wall to the north, leaving a rat's nest of splices behind a louvered door. All the wiring in the house goes to the old location, then it all runs over the breezeway ceiling to the new panel for power. Moving any of those three--service, panel, old splices--is tantamount to rewiring the entire house. The meter isn't a big deal because it's a "smart" meter now, so the meter reader doesn't need to see it from the street.

Two 8' overhead doors is better than one 16' door. I would probably park on the east side and use the west as a workshop.

I imagine the breezeway as just that--a light, airy space with French doors to a deck. A quiet place to sit in a white wicker chair and flip through a magazine. Oh, all right, I admit it--I have no idea. The circulation in the main house sucks. I could see them bulldoze my deck, but I don't want to have to argue with Seattle to get a permit to build closer to Carkeek if I can avoid it.

What would I change? I'm wasting 25 SF on a vestibule that could be better thought out. For one thing, the grade is about 3' down on that side, so I need stairs and a landing, or something like that. Casey's bed has no night stand, so maybe have the door to the side yard lead you straight up the stairs or, you turn right and enter Casey's room--that is, give Casey's room part of the vestibule.

I have no clue about the windows in the kitchen. I could bump out for a refrigerator niche, but I haven't thought it through. Also, I thought a coat closet just outside the garage might be nice, but it should probably be the triangular closet and let Casey have more space under the stairs.

Lastly, I'm thinking plumbing for a laundry in the back of the garage, to be shared by two tenants. The problem is, it wouldn't work with the main sewer line. It would have to piggyback on the existing sewage pump that Casey's bathroom is on. I've seen washers drain--I don't think it could keep up.

Second Floor Plan

If you thought the first floor was quick and dirty, get ready. 

One goal of messing with the garage roof is to resolve the ridiculous triangle pieces where the garage fascia tucks under the house fascia and the breezeway hits the garage hip roof awkwardly. The way I would like to do it is to build a 3' cripple wall up around Casey's bedroom and bath, then build a new hip roof 3' higher than before. The fascia and gutters then run around the house and Casey's room at the same height. We can fix up the breezeway roof, but we want to leave it where it is, because all the electrical runs through it.

What's going on in the apartment? Well, a full bath for one thing. I'm thinking dormers in front, so that we don't have a two-story blank wall facing the street. That is, I'd like it to look more like the Chief rendering above, which I did before I thought of a two-story garage.

So the roof is kind of a salt box, with an 8:12 in front at the dormers and maybe a 4:12 on the back, over the stairs. I'm thinking the closet would be better between the living room and bedroom, moving the door closer to the kitchen. Bed on the west wall, couch on the east wall, facing the TV on the demising wall. 

Can you tell I haven't done a section to prove that any of this roof fantasy actually works? I'm thinking we could get some high south light on the stairs and borrow it in the kitchen/dining side, but it depends on the section.

Oh, and a place for a stacked washer/dryer would be lovely. It's okay on the second floor, because we can drop the sewer down to the breezeway. Under the breezeway floor, I think there's room to slope to the main house sewer in the basement. If not, we can catch the sewer closer to the street. The garage level doesn't have these options. Just looking at it, maybe it goes on the south side of the stairs at the top landing, and the door to the attic storage moves down a little.

Lastly, the odd looking hip roof is because we have appendages on the side, but we added the 3' cripple wall for other reasons, so we have lots of room to morph the hip into a shed. Thinking about it, though, there's no reason for a 5' overhang--we could just put the shed over the appendage. God knows what the gutter does--actually, I guess it's just treated like a short gable so it doesn't have a gutter.

Construction Phases

I'm thinking that we could build this as Phase 1--bulldoze the workshop, the driveway, the front yard and build this two-story thing. Casey moves into the guest bedroom, most likely.

Phase 2 is the kitchen remodel and dressing up the dining room and living room--moldings, paint.

Phase 3 is bathroom and hall remodel, refinish the floors, paint the original house.

So that was my Friday. 

Front Yard Inspiration

I've been thinking--ruminating, really--about how to improve the curb appeal of this house, presuming that I'm willing to spend tens or hundred of thousands. A bunch of concepts compete:

• Paint the house--all light (it's north-facing) with no blue two-tone
• Re-roof (it's nearly time)--the existing blackish composition works, but the gutters need to be re-done. Also, the uphill neighbors are re-roofing in metal.
• A proper garage to replace the driveway canopy - de-emphasize the doors, if possible
• Repair the crumbling driveway and cracking, stained front walk
• Eliminate front door confusion
• Get the hardscape sorted so that we can actually landscape--front patio would be nice
• Hide the trash cans (least of my worries, but it's on the list)

The Douglas Fir in the NW corner of the property has always been an issue. I would hate to remove it, but it blocks the driveway from going straight in. Also, I want to minimize driveway impact to the roots. At the Home Show yesterday, I realized that pavers, being permeable, are better than asphalt or concrete over tree roots. Also, I saw that the drip line on the survey is exaggerated. 

I started sketching, hoping that I could move the driveway complete off the roots, but that's not going to happen. I know we can bury the drainage ditch, so the driveway-to-street intersection can be anywhere. In the end, though, I realized that it doesn't work.

Thumbnail design

For a fresh approach, I thought I'd doodle at a small scale, like 1"=40'. I kind of like the way this looks.

I'm visualizing the trash yard as a double gate, with the gate closest to the garage being used typically and the garbage bins lined up behind the other gate. For access, we can open both gates and wheel the bins out of the way, but each week, we just use the usual gate to wheel out each bin.

In the new garage, I'd like a storage loft, but maybe with a permanent or pull-down stair. The street view is important so that it doesn't hulk as this sketch predicts.

One wishlist item that this doesn't solve: It would be nice to have step-free access to the main house. In theory, this could be arranged at the breezeway, but it's awkward given the current grade.

It's funny doing little thumbnails of site plans when you haven't solved the floor plan--not even a little bit--but maybe it helps break the design logjam.

As for the crummy sketch--if only I had a multi-thousand dollar design tool that could make 3D renderings for me.

Trees House 2022

 In general terms, I'm realizing that I need to spend $100,000 or so:

• Paint (implying carpentry repair)
• Roof and Gutters - particularly gutters and fascia, but roof is 20+ years
• Kitchen could be more efficient; make better use of corners
• Resolve the carport/workshop thing; fix driveway
• BA1 - skinny door? whirlpool tub?
• BA2 - yikes
• BA3 - Widen Casey's shower now that water heater closet is gone
• Finishes in living, dining--molding, paint
• Resolve laundry situation; ideally, make ADU work
• Windows--better energy, more openable
• Insulation--insulate floor? refurb. attic insulation?

Maybe $150,000, now that I think about it.

Noodling last night looks a lot like the pre-survey drawing I did in 2014.

I got to thinking about the Zoning Envelope again. Maybe a real garage is possible, and I could retire the canopy. I checked back with the city, and Tip #220, linked in the original post, still seems to apply, but they are generally more open to ADUs, following the national trend. I'm not sure why I decided that the existing front wall (29.1' setback) was the limit.

Expanding the workshop into a garage is great, but it means a new foundation, walls, garage doors, and basically building a new roof. I remember Shoreline builder Wally Fosmore telling me, among many nuggets of good advice, that if the breezeway was giving me trouble, he could remove it down to dirt in about a day. Build it back at whatever floor height and roof intersection we need. I said something like "But it's built on a concrete vault" and him just looking at me. "So?"

The Zillow zestimate for the house hit $1,018,100 recently (up 3.7% in the last 30 days). They have a new feature where they estimate closing costs and for me that's:

6% Agent commission $61,086

1% Selling concessions (?) $10,181

Closing fees $5,850

1.8% Taxes $18,123 (Real Estate Excise Tax--REET--is 1.28%)

Closing costs: $95,240

The REET changed in January 2020; it's now a graduated amount. Seattle charges 0.50%, double what some cities charge. But, anyway, the state now charges 1.1% on the first $500k and 1.28% on the remainder (it goes up after $1.5M).

Presumably, after a $150,000 remodel, the selling price (and closing costs) would be a little higher. In 2016, Zillow estimated return on various improvements: insulating the attic returned 50.3% and garage door replacement got 36.8%. Kitchen remodel was only worth 7.7%, lower than window replacement (13.8%) and bathroom remodel (13.0%). Makes me think I should do the kitchen on the cheap--rearrange the existing cabinets, for example.

If I get any positive return on my $175,000 remodel, I'm looking at a $1.2M asking price. Let's hope the market stays high.

Hypothetical: House sells for $1,195,000 after I spend $200,000 on it.

This spreadsheet predicts an ROI of 47.74%.

Even at $982,500 and $250,000 invested, the ROI is 16.39%--better than a bank. God willin' and Rainier don' blow.

Furnace Needs Repair

You'll recall that I installed a brand-new 96% efficient Lennox furnace at the end of May 2017. July 6, 2021 at 8:57am I received an email from the furnace:

Dear icomfort user,

The iComfort system Trees House has generated a new alert. 

Below is some more detailed information:

Thermostat:	WS17B07324
Description:	Indoor Blower Motor Problem
Time:           7/6/2021 8:57:00 AM
Alarm number:	201
Alarm value:

Ballard Natural Gas sent Clinton later that day and he quickly diagnosed the issue as a problem with the circuit board that controls the fan--that is, the main blower ECM (Electronic Control Module). Clinton thinks it will take him 30 minutes to swap out the board. Incidentally, he resets the system and the 201 alert fires again, sending a second email at 3:15pm.

On July 8, I called Ballard and asked what they were doing for me. They called back and quoted $360 for labor. I protested that, based on Clinton's estimate, that amounted to $720 an hour, but they didn't care. They called again July 9 to say the new ECM was in and we set up a date for July 15 around 9am.

This seems like a ripoff. We give you a 10-year parts warranty, but we can charge whatever we want for labor. Following the Lennox warranty's suggestion, I visited Find a Lennox Dealer | HVAC Dealers | HVAC Service to get other bids. Turns out there are only 3 dealers within 10 miles.

I spoke to Mark at Air Pros (425-773-3748). He thought that there were lots of Lennox dealers in the area. He quoted $89 (basic) + $159 (min. hour) or $248, and he explained that many dealers use software called CoolFront that spits out estimates, so the labor costs will be pretty constant.

I had Ballard out for an annual service July 11, 2018, and they charged $149 for just about nothing, so I didn't call them out again. According to the invoice, $149 paid for:

• Checking vent connections
• Checking ignitor ohms
• Sanding the flame sensor
• Cleaning the pilot burner and all burners
• Checking heat exchangers for cracks
• Cleaning the air intake ports on the blower motor
• Checking bearings
• Checking for unusal [sic] noises 
• Cleaning the pressure switch and connections

I'll try to get Clinton to check out the entire system when he replaces the ECM. I'll consider Air Pros for the checkup ($139) in the future.