Possible Program

Sketching on the site plan based on the required yards and other rules (see Code Analysis), we propose adding 1,120 SF of living space to the existing 1,082 SF house. We would demolish the existing 585 SF breezeway, apartment and workshop and build to the north and west of the existing main house. In addition, we propose a 529 SF two-car garage and a 835 SF second floor over the new western annex.

Total conditioned living space: 3,037 SF (5,332.5 allowable by FAR)

Footprint (including garage): 2,731 SF (3,732 SF allowable)

Height 2nd floor Ridge: 284', 27' above SW corner (30', or 35' with pitched roof exception)

New construction: 

First floor (FF 263'): 1,120 SF - $300,000

Garage (FF 260'): 529 SF - $80,000

Second floor (FF 272'): 835 SF - $200,000

Building only to the north and west of the existing residence avoids the Environmentally Critical Area in the canyon to the south and remains well away from the steep slope buffer area. The city might also be concerned by a 1980s-era rockery failure on the east.

Because we will need to replace the roof in the next ten years, preserving the existing stick rafters seems unimportant. When we demo the composition shingles, demolish the sheathing and rafters and replace with a new truss system roof. This gives us design freedom to extend the footprint of the existing house.

The second floor unit's roof (ceiling @ 280') could be 4:12 roof (284' ridge) or a flat roof deck.

Keeping the entire first floor constant at 263' means the house is wheelchair accessible. The garage at 260' can be reached using the entry walk and driveway as ramps. Waste pipes at 263' won't need a sewage ejector.

Main House: 1500 SF 

ADU 1: 705 SF - Side entrance and access to backyard. Kitchen and laundry.

ADU 2 (upstairs): 835 SF - Side entrance, possible roof deck. Kitchen and laundry.

(ADUs must be under 1,000 SF. Second ADU must meet a green building standard such as LEED to qualify.)

Code Analysis

Let's reassess. Seattle has made changes since I last studied up. We're on the 2018 Seattle Residential Code (IRC with a few changes). As of 2022, the zone is Neighborhood Residential--NR1 (not SF9600). Also, up to two ADUs are allowed with no additional parking requirements.

Because the building is 76 years old this year, let's look at the property from a developer's POV:

Lot: 10,665 SF. APN: 761120-0125 Legal Description: West 90' of Lot 24, Schroeppel Park Addition as recorded in Volume 35 of Plats, Page 12. King County, Washington

Allowable Footprint: 3,732.75 SF (Includes garage, accessory buildings, balconies, decks over 36" above grade. Only the first 36" of eaves are exempt.)

Allowable Floor Area: The FAR is a flat 0.50, so the total dwelling area for three units is 5,332.5 SF

Required Yards: 20' front, 5' sides, 25' rear. Seattle calls setbacks in NR zones "yards." On the east, we may want to stay with the current 9.5' setback to avoid disturbing the rockery. On the south (canyon) side, we are in a designated Steep Slope zone (part of the Environmentally Critical Area designation) and the city has drawn a map showing a buffer zone around steep slopes. This makes the 25' setback more like 35' in places, but seems pretty loose.

The neighbors to the east are dramatically set back, so the average of west and east is 48' 3". Luckily, it's that or 20', whichever is less.

Allowable Height: The limit is 30' above the average grade as it hits each wall, so we need a design to figure the limit precisely. The lot is basically flat at 260', sloping up to ~266' at the NE corner, ~258' in the SW and, of course, falling off dramatically into the canyon. A pitched roof with a ridge can exceed 30' by 5' and railings can be up to 4' above a flat roof.

Required Parking: Only 1 spot is required, but they want it "as part of the structure." Parking in a yard is okay as long as it's not the front yard. Only one 10' curb cut is allowed on this much frontage.

Climate: I keep forgetting that we are in Zone 4 (Marine), which means:  

• Ceiling R-49 (no, R-38 per R402.2.1?)
• Walls R-21
• Floor R-30. Slab R-10, 2 feet depth
• Windows U-Factor 0.30. Skylight U-Factor 0.50
• Frost line depth: 12"
• Winter Design Temperature: 24° F
• Mean Annual Temperature: 52.8° F
• Air Freezing Index: 250

ADU Requirements: Up to 2. No parking required. ADUs are limited to 1000 SF. The second ADU must "meet a green building standard" to qualify. (See Seattle Municpal Code 23.44.041 A.1.a.2)

Only one door on the street-facing side, unless there were multiple doors in 2017--I think we've got this one.

Seattle Municipal Code 23.44.99 talks about having a front door marked with a covered stoop facing the street (but that's just RSL zones--we're NR1) Garages can be in a required yard as specified by 23.44.016

Found it: 23.44.016 Parking and garages: F.1.a "no portion of a garage...[attached or detached]...may be closer to the street lot line than 80% of the...non-garage." So, if the main house is 29.1' from the property line, then the garage has to be 29.1' feet back as well.

This is the rule I remembered from 2015 that kept the garage from working, assuming that I didn't bring the house forward. But if I do bring the house forward, no problem. Well, no problem with this rule. The other problem is that we get one 10' curb cut, no parking is allowed in the front yard, and the turning radius doesn't work for a 2-car garage at the 20' setback. The garage needs to back away from the street so that the driveway can "Y" out to the 2-car garage. That's just fine with this rule.

By the way, F.3.c says "The Director may waive or modify the standards of this section based on..." One point is "Configuration of proposed or existing structures on the lot"; and another is "Location of exceptional trees as defined in 25.11.020." Another reason for exception is design features of modulation, screening, and landscaping. 

Structure Evaluation

Existing 1947 house is 1,082 SF with a 585 SF annex to the west. There is roughly 250 SF basement 4' below grade.

The building is 2x4 stud construction with minimal insulation. The garage workshop is typical of the poor insulation. The floor in the main house sags in places. The hip roof is sagging and the bathroom requires a sewage ejector. Most windows are double-pane, but air infiltration is massive. The 200A electrical system includes a patch panel 10' from the actual panel. The fascia is rotting at 13 corners, and the roof will need to be replaced by 2028. The kitchen layout is awkward and the kitchen sink needs repair. 

The gas furnace, electric water heater, and gas tankless water heater are relatively new, but they could be repurposed.

Proposal

Consider building 3 units--a main dwelling and two attached ADUs--on the bones of the existing home. I'm thinking a two-car garage, with occasional driveway or street parking for a third. (SDCI doesn't like parking in the required front yard.)

Main Dwelling	Up to 2804 SF (based on FAR)
ADU-1	1000 SF
ADU-2	1000 SF
Garage	528 SF
TOTAL	Up to 5332 SF

We can leave the existing 34' x 36' foundation but extend the house to the north while demolishing the west annex altogether. If we limit ourselves to the existing footprint, we won't be able to use most of the buildable area of the lot.

It may make sense to remove the 44" diam. Douglas Fir blocking the driveway.

I'd like to create 3 units, only one of which requires stairs. (Aging in place.) Especially if we remove the Doug Fir, we could raise the garage for more positive driveway drainage and have less vertical distance to the house. Drive to street to house should act as a wheelchair ramp.

According to How Much Does it Cost to Build a Home in Seattle? the answer is about $400 per SF. Three units is three kitchens, so maybe more. If we hold the main dwelling to 1200 SF and exclude the garage, that's a $1.28M investment. 

An ADU might break down: 150 living, 100 kitchen, 150 bedroom, 120 bedroom, 50 bath, 50 closets, 200 circulation, entry, dining. We could do 2 bedrooms in 820 SF.

So 1100 for Main, 820 for two ADUs, now we're talking about 2740, or $1.1M. We trimmed almost $200K, but it's still a very big number.

Main House Cogitating

Most stories encounter some problems in the middle. Promising start, not a bad ending, but nagging difficulties in the middle that we hope the reader doesn't get hung up thinking about. Robinson Crusoe--great beginning and he gets rescued in the end. The author has to work hard in the middle to convey the boredom and routine and yet be exciting enough to keep us from wondering why he couldn't have been rescued sooner, since it's just a story.

House designs are the same way. A single design can't solve everything without leaving some oddness that we hope people won't be too critical of. 

The house needs storage--entry closet (winter coats, umbrellas); linens (sheets, towels, comforters); vacuum, broom, mops; and pantry items.

I'm happy with the idea of a fairly formal room off the living room, convenient to the kitchen, to be used as an office for a family therapist, architect, lawyer, who sometimes sees clients at home. This room could be restaged for a party or even a couch surfer.

I like the idea of using the breezeway as the dining room. If we don't expand the breezeway (and new roof and foundation would be $$), then the path from the kitchen to the new dining area has to be through a dark inner part of the house. I think we need a butler's pantry there. Pantry shelves and a closet for mops and brooms. The tile floor of the kitchen would continue into it.

I think the remodel needs to end up with a tub, but I want a walk-in shower, darn it. This plan gives BR2 a full bath and lets me have a walk-in shower in the en suite. 

I studied how I use the laundry and concluded that it has only two deficiencies: I have no place to put soap, softener, bleach, and so on; and it could be closer to linen storage. The laundry is only related to the two bedrooms.

The problems I hope no one obsesses over are:

• The refrigerator has no counter adjacent and it's too far from the sink. This is partly mitigated by water in the door
• The butler's pantry is a little awkward, but I'm hoping that a French door-sized window will make it more attractive ("walk toward light," Sarah Susanka says) and I haven't thought much about traffic in the breezeway.
• For the bed to use that wall, I have to shrink the closet door. So, I made it an open alcove. Now I'm thinking a hinged bookcase might be cool for potential buyers--put your jewels here.
• I didn't worry about the TV in the living room for now; there are several good options possible.
• I'm not thrilled with looking directly into BR1 from the front door, but we can do things with the framed opening to make it clear that the bedroom hall is private space--dropped soffit, subdued lighting and I'm thinking of carpet or maybe a long runner.

Kitchen Scheme #2

Wing's Visual Handbook includes 21 of the 31 rules from the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA).

Sum of the work triangle is 14' (less than 26'). Sides are 6', 4', 4' (in range 4' to 9'). The tall cabinet next to the refrigerator does not separate work centers. No traffic crosses the triangle. The work aisle is 48". The traffic walkway is at least 36".

Clearance at the dishwasher is too tight--NKBA wants 21" from dishwasher door to center of corner sink.

Positives: 

• Tight work triangle, out of traffic
• Corner sink meets corner window
• Cantilever pop-out for refrigerator is clever; takes place of greenhouse window
• Coffee service (on right) and in refrig door water stays out of cook's way

Negatives:

• Open to Office, but only a doorway; no Living Room TV view
• Area to the right--the Laundry--still unresolved
• Moving the range means vent goes through roof, visible from street
• Dishwasher is tight
• Lots of unusable counter space in corners; too little where it's needed
• View from Office to Kitchen is of tall cabinet
• Cook at sink or stove with fan could probably not hear call from Dining Room

The struggle continues

Not on my watch

January 2015. I didn't like the juniper, but the yard looked okay.

2019: A gardener got agressive trimming it back

The street side was hacked

 

Hacked, see?

2021: I bought new clippers and finished it

I left some grips for leverage...

...but I didn't need all of them

Almost gone

This was the goal.

Strange Ideas

I feel like I'm kneading clay, or arranging and rearranging wildflowers. I'm not sure what this remodel should be.

Maybe I don't build a second floor apartment, just a real garage and move the dining room into the breezeway. Maybe I just rebuild the roof over the west wing to include a proper attic for storage. 12:12 pitch gable, for example. Pull-down stairs in the garage.

In Bath 1, I only showed a tub because, you know, resale. But I want a shower. It doesn't have to be curb-less--I could step over a 3" curb. I like a fixed glass divider instead of a glass door compartment.

I've been focused on the kitchen recently, and it could not be more obvious--a range saves money and cabinet space compared to a cooktop and a wall oven. On the other hand, the cooktop and wall oven...what? What the heck is the advantage? The fact that the oven is at a more convenient height just isn't compelling. Then there's the microwave drawer. I like the new new thing, but an OTR (over-the-range) microwave, like I have now, saves money and cabinet space. Wall microwaves waste a lot of space and you end up with a weird aspect ratio to the oven volume. I really like the sink I like (or something like it)--Kohler Prolific Workstation Sink (K-5540), so we'll use that.

The new kitchen has a lot going for it:

• Kohler Workstation Sink
• Induction Cooktop
• Counter at corner window
• Full-depth refrigerator doesn't protrude
• New stainless steel range, microwave, dishwasher
• Coffee, soda, ice and water in door, all out of the way of cooking
• Quartz counter wall-to-wall at the sink
• 12x24 slate-like porcelain tile floor
• Framed view of living room TV; open to home office

Pretend the broom closet is more flush with the refrigerator

French door refrigerator with extra drawers

Samsung NE63B8611SS

Handle design matches refrigerator

I'm thinking we could use matching Ikea wall cabinets and reuse the existing base cabinets, doors, drawers , and cup pulls below the counter.

Kohler K-5540 Prolific Workstation Sink

IKEA Kitchen

IKEA generally offers smart, clever solutions for household problems. On the downside, with kitchens in particular, home buyers tend to see "dorm room cheap." So, we may not end up with an Ikea kitchen, but from an efficiency perspective, the slightly smaller European sizes might suggest better designs, and the lower cost allows us to do a studs-out remodel rather than trying to reuse existing cabinets.

Cabinets are generally SEKTION system with a wide choice of doors. ENHET is the new system.

There are lots of door/drawer styles, so we'll organize by the cost of a 15 x 30 door:

HAVSTORP "Turquoise" $21 for 15x30

Lower Cost - $21-$57 for 15x30

VEDDINGE Flush White; HAVSTORP Beige/Teal Flush; ASKERSUND Flush Horiz Grain, like plywood, light/dark; ENKÖPING White/Wood Frame; BODARP Flush Green; STENSUND Bead Board Like, KUNGSBACKA Black Flush

BODARP "Gray-green" $47 for 15x30

Mid-Range - $70-$90 for 15x30

JUTIS Frameless Clear/Tinted Glass; AXSTAD White/Gray/Blue Frame; SINARP Flush Walnut; BODBYN White/Gray/Green Wood inset (like existing cabinets); LERHYTTAN Dark Wood/Gray Frame; HASSLARP (18" @ $102) Wood Herringbone

ENKÖPING "white wood effect" $33 for 15x30

High End - $97-$156 for 15x30

RINGHULT Gloss White; VOXTORP Gloss White/Gray/Horiz Washed Wood; VEDHAMN Vert Wood Frame; VEDHAMN Glass (3 lite)

AXSTAD "matte blue" $74 for 15x30 (also available in "matt white" and "dark gray"

Appliances & Fixtures

Sink: I like a square-cornered single bowl stainless steel undermount, like the Kohler K-5540 Prolific Workstation. Ikea seems to be phasing out the NORRSJÖN, Ikea's only sink like that.

Dishwasher: They are all the same size, so I can put off the Consumer Reports of it until later.

TVÄRSÄKER range with induction cooktop ($1400). Controls on back (not my preference). 30" W, 26-3/8" D. Controls are 11" H

TVÄRSÄKER

Or, Cooktop and Oven. SÄRDRAG induction cooktop ($950). 30" W. ADRÄTT wall oven ($1830), true convection and self-cleaning. Clearly, cooktop and oven in a range is $1400 and as separates it is almost twice as expensive at $2780. The oven is 30" W, 29" H. Looks like floor to oven top is 48" or so.

SÄRDRAG

The HUVUDSAKLIG microwave oven ($750) is designed for installation above the ADRÄTT oven. It's 30" W, 18" H.  

HUVUDSAKLIG above ADRÄTT oven

The UPPSEENDE microwave ($650) is an over-the-range model. 30" W, 16-3/8" H, 15-3/8" D. True convection. Lights and fan on the bottom. Stainless steel look interior.

UPPSEENDE

If we have a wall microwave (HUVUDSAKLIG), we need a hood. There is a basic, GENOMDRIVA ($100), and a mostly hidden in the cabinet version that I prefer, the UTDRAGBAR ($430), with a pull out shelf to keep steam off the cabinet. 30" W, 13" D, 11-3/4" H, but only 1" or so below the cabinets.

UTDRAGBAR

Two alternatives: 

• Range with microwave above (TVARSAKER, UPPSEENDE) $2050
• Cooktop, oven, built-in microwave, hood (SARDRAG, ADRATT, HUVUDSAKLIG, UTDRAGBAR) $3960. This would be more expensive electrically and for cabinets, as well.

Compare Ikea to the "Real" World

Range: KitchenAid KSIB900ESS $3400

Microwave over Range: KitchenAid KMHS120KPS $650

Cooktop: Samsung NZ30A3060UK $1300

Wall Oven: KitchenAid KOSE500ESS $3100

Wall Microwave: KitchenAid KMBS104ESS $1850

(Combo Oven/Microwave: KOCE500ESS $4600)

Hood: KitchenAid KVUB400GSS $900

Alternatives:

• Range with microwave above: Ikea $2050; Real $4050 +98%
• Cooktop, oven, bi microwave, hood: Ikea $3960; Real $6800 +72%