When is a gate not a gate?

When it's ajar, of course. I came home after Christmas to find that the wind had blown my east side gate down.

The bottom of the two 4x4s at the house had rotted out at grade--this has been going on for a long time, making the gate hard to close. You had to lift and pull to open it. So, I set it back in place temporarily and the wind blew it down again.

This time, I drove three screws into it so that--say it with me now--"That's not going anywhere." This was an inconvenience to my gardeners, but I'd like any new work to tie in with all the other fences and gates I want to build and I haven't designed them yet.

The other day I had a brainstorm. As you can imagine, as empty as my head is, the winds were fierce. My thought was that, since the west side is wide open to anyone, why not just remove the east gate for now? I went to unscrew the hinges and, while I was doing that, the gate and hinge side just fell, whump, into the dirt. That was easy.

Interesting illusion: Looks like two brick colors instead of one.

Laundry area floor suddenly important

Some might call it work avoidance, but on October 21, 2024, I decided that I was done with the ratty, worn-out carpet in the hall. See Carpet Be Gone.

I put down Ram Board, but three months later, almost to the day, I decided that the Ram Board was not going to last forever and I had to forgo the work I was doing on the plans to address it. I didn't have to address it, but this is how I preserve my mental health--I just humored myself. Sure, this is the most important thing.

Exposed jackets, am I right? I'm asking--am I right?

I biggered the problem (as the Lorax's Once-ler said), deciding that the open jacket hooks would be much better as an enclosed Ikea wardrobe with a shelf for laundry supplies. Still thinking about that decision, but it's done.

Floor & Decor just opened nearby, and I was curious how a floating laminate floor would work, so, poof, I bought some flooring (at Lowe's, by the way) for $2/square foot. One trick I learned from YouTube is to sort the box by pattern so you don't use the same pattern nearby.

QuickStep Studio in Glenwood Oak, sorted

Then I bought a white Brimnes wardrobe from Ikea. Two 90-pound boxes should have been a clue. Not like a desk or a bookcase. To put on the right side, I had to connect it to a bunch of parts dangling from the left side--it was impossible. So I built a stand to hold the parts in place--bingo.

I'm a clever guy, right? Read on.

Just as I'm patting myself on the back, I realized that the floor is sticking out past the sides. A little bit of bare particleboard would be visible. Reluctantly, I took the whole thing apart and flipped the floor piece 180 degrees. Mo' betta, as Jim Poole used to say. The instructions said nothing about making sure the floor piece was one way or the other. The custom stand still helped.

The flooring installed easily--it locks together like a toy--but there's a lot of cutting and fitting to be done. Also, banging on one edge for a tighter fit tends to loosen all the other boards if you're not careful. You Tube tip: put in temporary screws to keep boards from sliding toward the wall that you're supposed to stay 1/4" away from.

I also wanted to try out the baseboard I'm thinking of standardizing on throughout the house--something taller, with an ogee edge. (I'm still going for the white woodwork Shutters at the Beach vibe.) And--oof--that A/C register. Because the register is right at floor level, it prevents an ordinary vent from fitting. 

Brilliant carpenter that I am, I built a frame for the baseboard (and shoe) to die into.

That's 2x2 poplar with an ogee edge routed all around

Remember that that wall had 1/8" masonite glued to it. I pulled it off in 2014, leaving blotches of glue and decided that the wall would need new drywall. Then I painted it gray, right over the glue. So, this is not a candidate for wall of the year. I found a 5-1/4" MDF baseboard that I liked, with a little shoe molding to match elsewhere in the house and Bob's your uncle.

"A little caulk and a little paint \ Makes a carpenter what he ain't."

I put off extending the floor into Bath #2, mostly because I would need to remove the existing crappy baseboard and either reinstall the old crappy baseboard afterward, or figure out how to do it with beautiful new 5-1/4" baseboard in a room I know I'm going to remodel.

Thresholds! This tiny hall has 5 thresholds, 6 including the washer/dryer. At the breezeway, we were up 1", so I went with a wide piece of oak that I hit with 3 layers of polyurethane. I bought a countersink bit to recess the screws. The basic "wood" threshold that Lowes sells next to the flooring worked great at the transitions to the old oak flooring, but not at the tiled kitchen. I found a vinyl product on Amazon that seems fine. It comes with peel and stick, which I augmented with Lexel. "That's not going anywhere."

Less than a month after deciding to replace the Ram Board, I've got a real floor.

Oak threshold for 1" step

pardon my sleeve...

ADU Windows

Considering casements, not only horizontal sliders, for egress requirements. Rules are 20" (net) wide by 36" (net) high, no more than 44" above the floor. First thought was a 40" high window with a 24.75" wide casement and 64.75" fixed--that's actually two Golden Rectangles, one horizontal, one vertical.

But then I came across this bad boy:

This unit is 72" x 48" (sill at 32"). The three casements open into the room, so no hassle with screens, but they also tilt in (as hopper windows). Triple low-e glazed, white vinyl. Available at the Home Depot. The panels seem square in the illustrations, but they are actually 24" x 48".

I modeled both in Chief: 

Tilt and turn at left; casement+fixed at right

Solving an age-old Chief Architect problem!

This is a quick post to record the solution to modeling the Bedroom 3 as-built in Chief Architect.

The finished bedroom ceiling is 99", but the wall plate height is 112". They nailed the 2x6@16 ceiling framing to the studs, rather than resting the ceiling joists on the plate.

Wall heights are specified in the Room object, on the Structure panel. Floor and Ceiling have Absolute and Relative Heights, but these are not necessarily the plate height.

In the Room object, Structure panel, we also specify the ceiling as Flat Ceiling Over This Room and Shelf Ceiling, as well as the Ceiling Structure and Ceiling Finish.

Wall objects also have a Structure panel. Here, we specify that the wall framing: Balloon Through Ceiling Above. That is, the wall is taller than the ceiling. Make sure, on the Roof panel, that we specify the correct roof pitch and overhang.

The plate height is specified when we build the roof. In the Build Roof dialog (Ctrl+R), on the Roof panel, we can specify Raise/Lower From Ceiling Height. Normally 0", we make this 112" - 99" = 13" and we get what we want.

Second Issue

Here's another problem: Different roof, foundation, and framing in different parts of the house.

Roof. Thanks to the Build Framing for Selected Objects command on the toolbar, we can show, for example, only new framing. For roofs, we have to rebuild all (Ctrl+R), Roof panel: Build Roof Planes, but we can check Retain Manually Drawn Roof Planes and Retain Edited Automatic Roof Planes. So, select what you want framed and click to frame them vs. Edit the roofs you don't want built and then click to rebuild the non-edited roofs.

Foundation. Foundations don't have any such option. Build Foundation (Ctrl+0), Foundation panel, has just 3 types: walls and footings, grade beams on piers, and slab. How do you get CA to let you have a slab in one part and a wood floor in another? Foundation type is controlled by the Room. So, build the entire foundation and change specific rooms to Monolithic Slab as needed.

Framing. While we're at it, referring to the first issue, how do you raise the roof 13" above the ceiling in one place and not in another? After building the roofs 13" above the ceiling, the roof plane in the Garage has a Top Plate elevation of 112". I thought that might survive if I rebuilt the roofs without raising the roof, but no. It rebuilt the roof over the Garage with a plate at the ceiling height.

This sequence solves the problem:

1. Set the Garage ceiling to 99" and the House ceiling to 95" + 36" - 13" = 118".
2. Rebuild the roofs, raising the roof (top of plate) by 13". This creates the shelf ceiling we want in the Garage.
3. Change the House ceiling to 95" + 36" = 131" (or just subtract the 13"). Now the ceiling in the House will rest on the plate (until the next time we rebuild the roofs).

Issue Last: Terrain

I think I solved my Terrain issues, as well. The basic message is: use as little Elevation Data as you possibly can to achieve the slope you want. For the slope in back, I drew a line at the top of the slope (256') and another at (220'), both tracing the contours on the survey. Boom--that's my steep slope.

To make the driveway flat and to connect with the street, I drew an Elevation Region at 260' in the upper left of the Terrain Perimeter. I drew another Elevation Region (262') under the house, extending into the front and back yards, and a third (272') under my neighbor to the east's house and yard. That was enough to make the street slope smoothly up from my driveway to theirs.

I added three more Elevation Lines, keeping them short and making sure they didn't overlap with any of the regions. One, at 257' to lower the corner at BR3. Another at 258' to get the slope along the west wall of the garage to look right, a little line in the front yard (at 264') to make the ground slope up to the street in the NE corner. 

It's kind of like placing cardboard boxes on a table (Elevation Regions) and throwing in some carboard fins (Elevation Lines), then draping thin felt over both. You don't need Terrain Breaks.

Aesthetics

We wouldn't want to put function ahead of aesthetics. Because we want high windows in the garage/workshop/studio, maybe borrow from Kevin's house and use a pattern of squares--some awning and some fixed.

Doesn't seem to hurt function, but it's more aesthetic, so la di dah.

Front windows centered on wall space

Preliminary Site Plan

I just sent this site plan to Seattle SDCI for review. I can't imagine any problems they might have with it, but you don't know what you don't know.

The  Preliminary Site Plan file is up on Drive. For reference, so is the GeoDimensions Survey.

SDCI Response

Ashley Ubil, Permit Specialist, responded with no objections, but a list of things to check.

• More information about residential additions.
• Zoning Regulations
• Yards SMC 23.44.014
• Lot Coverage SMC 23.44.010
• FAR SMC 23.44.011
• Height 23.44.012
• Tree Protection SMC 25.11
• Parking and Garages SMC 23.44.016
• Parking Space SMC 23.54.030
• Tip sheet CAM220

She also provided information about the application process. To apply:

• Plans (PDF). See Tip 103 for site plan, Tip 303 for plan examples.
• Statement of Financial Responsibility. Use this form.

I'll also need Electrical, Mechanical (perhaps), and Plumbing, which is not handled by SDCI--plumbing is King County Public Health.

Turns out SDCI offers a paid "zoning coaching appointment" for preliminary feedback about a specific proposal. $430 an hour, one hour minimum.

Chief Architect Layout Notes

 A set of drawings created from a Chief Architect model uses the Layout to place views on "paper." I can print 11" x 17" (also called "Ledger," "Tabloid," or ANSI B), which can fit a 1/8" scale floor plan. Some folks tell Layout the sheet is 22" x 34" (ANSI D) and then print at 1/2 size.

Back in the day, we used 24" x 36" (ARCH D) paper, which would be ANSI D with an 1" all around. ARCH D is not equal to ANSI D and Chief Architect invites you to make this mistake.

Let's say the Layout is ANSI D (22 x34), with a 1" title block on the right. 1/2" margin, with 1" at the left, leaves a drawing area of 21" x 31 1/2". We'll print things at 1/2 size.

Grid

Drawing Area: 21" x 31.5" Peggy created a grid for details and other subsections--let's do that.

Height. 2 @ 10.5", 3 @ 7", 4 @ 5 1/4"

Width. 3 @ 10.5", 4 @ 7 7/8", 5 @ 6 5/16"~, 6 @ 5 1/4" 

Site Plan

My property is 90' x 135.52', but with some entourage (it's 30' to the centerline of 118th St) we need about 100' x 175'. Given the sensitivity of Carkeek Park and the gazebo which may or may not be permitted, I'm thinking I should cut the south end of the property off. 100' x 157' still shows most of the backyard and the SW property corner.

With north up, the site plan on a 21" high drawing area:

1:120 (1" = 10') - 15.7"

1:96 (1/8" = 1'0") - 19 5/8"  <-- Use this. North property line 50' (6 1/4") down from top border.

The width, 100', will be 12 1/2" at 1/8"--two width units, leaving two. Center it 7 7/8" from the left border.

Floor Plan

The ADU project is 20' wide by 42' high, with other things outside the walls. At 1/4" scale, that's 5" x 10 1/2", with dimensions and other things, maybe 9" x 15". This means two plans on a sheet with north up. Demolition, Foundation, Floor Plan, Roof Plan.

Elevations and Sections

Elevations are no higher than 16' (4" at 1/4" scale), so we can pack 4 rows on a sheet, or only 3 for more space. West is the big one--it's 10 1/2" wide. We can fit North or South (5" wide) on the same row, but East and West don't fit with any room to spare.

NORTH            |            WEST

EAST (with Breezeway section)  |   SOUTH

E-W SECTION |          N-S SECTION