Snow melt update - Memorial weekend

Went camping with the family and some friends to Lake Wenatchee over the holiday weekend. Here's a picture of the snow at the entrance to road to the property along with a picture of the same location a couple weeks ago when I got the permit.

May 27, 2017

May 11, 2017

I'm working on getting bids for excavation, septic and foundation work. Everyone wants to look at the property -- problem is, that won't be possible until July (probably).

Here's the scientific version of the pictures above...

Bathroom fixtures & finishes (hopefully)

This is my chosen faucet for all the bathrooms.

Why, you ask?

I like the modern look to it. Simple. Clean.  Also, the handle is out on the end OVER THE SINK, so you don't drip all over the wall and counter when you turn it off with your wet hands. I really like wall-mounted faucets because they keep the counters clear of mess and water -- easier to clean.

This is the type of sink and vanity I'm planning for the powder room.

This is the type of sink I'm planning for the upstairs, main bathroom.

The overall look of the upstairs bathroom, the one we'll all have to share, is planned to be something along these lines (below), although I don't plan to have tile counter tops, nor will the permanent finishes be red.

The above picture is from an HGTV Dream Home a few years back. I like the black open cabinets, cabinets and the touches of color.

Definitely planning for a one-piece toilet. I've replaced too many gaskets that became leaky on two-piece / base+tank toilets in my own home to every consider something else. Choosing a toilet is a difficult proposition because how do you test that it's comfortable in the showroom? (At least without having the store manager call in the cops for my indecent exposure!)  And you also don't get much of a feel for how easy/difficult it is to get clogged up. Can't usually flush a toilet in a showroom.

So for the moment, this is the direction I'm headed, but it could change, but I'm not sure how those corners on the bowl are going to feel during an extended-go-session....

So maybe something a little rounder will show up.

For showerheads, I also want simple but a little bit decadent. Something like this seems right. But I will definitely want to have a handheld sprayer with a diverter in each shower as well. 

And for towel and toilet paper holders, I'm definitely going this direction (probably make them myself).

Building permit in-hand

Picked-up the actual, for-real building permit yesterday in Wenatchee -- that's a seminal event and a major accomplishment for me, especially considering that I don't have legal access to water yet. But the health department, building department, and public works dept were flexible enough to lay down a reasonable guantlet for me to navigate.

Two and a half hour driving trip, 15 minutes in their office to sign the permit and pay the fees, then two and a half hours back. 250 miles roundtrip (again). Hopefully that's the last.

It was 82 degrees in Wenatchee. Ahhh.  I stopped by the entrance to property on the way home and took this video.  The snow's melting, but not very fast.

Interior Finishes

The picture below is the closest I've found to my intended general itnention for interior finishes on all levels. Shooting for fairly neutral and natural finishes, then decorate with splashes of color -- especially Swiss red (without going overboard, of course). I want durable, low maintenance, and fun without being too "cabiny" (word?). Needs to be warm and cozy, too. But I don't want dirty, dingy, or dusty.

Polished concrete floors (radiant heated). Super durable and rustic. I'll expose wood beams wherever I can and where it makes sense. But I'm not going to be too religious about exposing or covering up everything.

Walls will be a combination of standard sheet rock, with at least one wall in every room showing rustic or natural wood planks. Distressed would make a nice contrast against the concrete.

There's also something rolling around my head inspired by Chiptole restaurant decor and their plywood wall treatments. Not sure what yet, but I do like the back-lit treatment on these.

In bathrooms, I'm planning on the latest wood-grained ceramic tiles. The bathroom below is perhpas a bit overkill on the woodgrain tile, but you get the idea.

Maybe some tile a little closer to the below.

HVAC intentions

Here's the management summary:

• Radiant heating in the floor on all three levels
• On-demand water heater
• Fireplace on the main level (more for ambiance and entertainment, but it will provide some heat).

Normally, this would be pretty much be the end of the post, but I have a few interesting circumstances that make my choices, especially for in-floor, radiant heating a little less obvious.

Gas Situation

There's no natural or propane gas in the street, so if I wanted to use gas I have to install a propane tank. BUT the cabin is inaccessible to drive-up traffic from November through June. And  I *REALLY* don't like the idea of running out of propane for critical systems like heat (to keep pipes from freezing!)

I am planning on a 500 gal propane tank that we fill once a season to power a gas cook top and the hotwater heater. Although, I still may end-up using electricity for the water heater. That would let me get a smaller propane tank, since it would only be supplying the cook-top. Which then leads me to think, why not forgo the propane (and the associated cost) altogether, and go 100% electric? Inductive cook top and on-demand, electric water heater. My thoughts are muddled. My wife and I are spoiled with our gas cook top at home. Oooh. Aaah.

Electricity Situation

I am planning on the radiant heat to be all electric for the reasons stated above. This will be installed in/below poured 1" concrete (the heavy stuff), not quickcrete (the light stuff).The power lines are burried throught the community, and according to many long-time residents the power is *very* reliable. Also, since it's on the Eastside of the mountains, the power is also cheaper than on the Westside. Electricity just make sense. But that's where the choices/decisions start to become a little muddled.

Radiant Heating Choices

Hydronic radiant heat

• Tried-and-tested, and many subs are accustomed to installing.😊
• Tubing is thick, adding to floor thickness. 😡
• Pumps wear out eventually. 😡
• Cost of installation can be expensive, and I'm not competent to DIY it. 😡

Electric radiant heat

I've found a number of manufacturers of radiant floor heating, which is the direction I'm most likely to go.  The one I currently favor, Step Warm Floor (warmfloor.com) has a thin, flexible, low-voltage conductive, self-regulating polymer.

The other vendors I'm still considering include Nuheat, Warmlyours, Floorheat, Warmup, Heatizon, Speedheat, Suntouch, Carbonicheat.

Here's my analysis of Step (so far).

• Low voltage, DC current 😊. This is fairly unique; most other vendors are 110V/220V.
• They claim they are more effecient than other electric solutions, but no one has done a true side-by-side scientific comparison. 😡
• Very thin & easy to install. 😊 Potentially DIY friendly.
• There are no moving parts to wear out (although eventually AC/DC trasnformers will wear out). 😊
• The warranties from any company don't exceed 5 or 10 years. What happens when it fails in 11 years?! I'll have to tear out all my concrete floors.😡 But, of course, the same could be true of hydronic as well, so I've decided not to worry about this too much, but instead make sure I choose a product from a reputable, well-established company.

What would you do?

Since we're located about 4,000 in the mountains, I've decided not to worry too much about air conditioning. I am making sure we have screens on the windows and can get a cross breeze. Plus, we'll be well insulated.

Also, because I expect the cabin to be pretty "tight" (well-insulated), I'm also planning to have fans in the bathrooms on each level that vent to the exterior so I can move the air. Don't want a sick house.

Plans for exterior finishes

As I've looked through designs and plans and exterior finishes, I've really gravitated towards a few finishes that I like contrasted against each other. The only material that will need more frequent care is the wood.  If I can find something that's a reasonable replacement that is more resilient and durable, I will certainly consider it. Really shooting for low maintenance on the exterior.

Concrete, corrugated metal siding, Hardieboard siding, and non-lap natural wood siding (perhaps redwood).

The picture above shows an example of these finishes together.

I'm planning to run the corrugated siding vertically instead of horizontally.

The picture above shows the ideal wood finish I'm looking for. Love the contrast with the metal siding.

The above picture shows a bigger field of the Hardiepanel siding in the charcoal color I have an affinity for.

And finally, who can argue with the red doors as a contrast to all those finsishes?!!

I'm excited to see how things actually turn out on the cabin. No telling what comprimises I'll have to make to stay with in budget and keep things workable.

Expenses to-date

I thought it might help to see what my expenses to-date have been for all the design work, applications, permits, and printing.

Plans & Reports

$1800 - Geotechnical site evaluation and report
$1000 - Septic site evaluation and stamped design
$3125 - Building plans, site plan, and revisions
$2150 - Engineering, plan review, large format printing & engineering stamps

Permits

$581 - Septic permit
$902 - Building permit application
$220 - Driveway/Approach permit

So total outlay as of early May 2017 is just under $10K.

The amounts above don't include mileage to file for the permits (~500 miles in round trips so far), nor does it include my land acquisition costs.  I'm still one driveway permit away from having a building permit.  And I don't expect the snow to be melted until June sometime.

Building permit -- good news / bad news

Good new/bad news letter from the county building department on April 28th.

Good news

They’ve reviewed the plans I submitted last week (that’s really good and fast!)

Bad news

They issued a “Letter of Insufficiency” for (a) the septic permit, (b) the approach permit, and (c) water availability. And I have 60 days to resolve these items or risk losing my application.

Also left a couple vmails at the county building department to talk with them about the insufficiency items. Brad called back pretty quickly, and it turns out that I’m in better shape than the email indicated.

(a) Although the septic permit has already been issued, the building department needs the health department to go in to their system and "sign off".  Apparently it's easier to get the DOH to do that if I "nudge" them by email/phone. <sigh> 

(b) The approach permit still needs to be issued. I called and talked to Joby's supervisor to explain the situation. He is going to see if they can do something to expedite the approach application. 

(c) The water availability document was just stuck to another page in the packet I submitted. He found it, so we resolved that immediately.

Net-Net

Brad confirmed that the rest of the plans and engineering look good, so after the septic sign-off and approach permit are settled, I'll have a building permit.

The Driveway Permit

On April 27, the day after I filed by phone for my driveway permit, Joby from Chelan County called me to discuss it. Even though I had explained to the woman on the phone that everything was still covered in snow, Joby had tried to go up and look at the site to get the lay of the land see if there were any drainage culverts or other items that might require a bond prior to constructing the driveway. He discovered for himself that there’s still 5+ feet of snow on the ground. No way for him to drive to the property much less look at the ground.

Building permit attempt #2 - Success!

After returning home from my first attempt at filing for the building permit, I emailed and called Mark. He called Brad at the building department to get the scoop on how he was measuring building height. In the end, our resolution was to get rid of the planned ground-floor door on the back of house and replace it with a window. That way we can keep the garage door in front, which we felt is more important. 

Mark made plan revisions, we sent them all back over to Rick for engineering wet stamps, and they were ready to go two weeks later when we got back from a Spring Break trip with the family to San Diego and Ensenada.

Below are the revisions we made to the site plan as a result of the first visit.

My next visit to the the building department on April 20th was successful, and I was able to fully submit for the building permit. Of course, I also went away having acknowledged that I also needed to get a driveway permit, officiall an “Approach to County Road”.  A cool additional $215, which I filed for over the phone.

This time I went solo because Katie needed to help a neighbor with some medical appointments. This time, the lunch stop on the way back was to Arby's.  Those curley fries are just the best.

I stopped by the entrance to the property on the way back and took these pictures. Still 4 to 5 feet of snow here at the winter parking spot, and more as you venture in. These pictures are about 1/2 mile from our actual lot.

Building permit attempt #1

I received the septic permit on April 3rd. I was waiting to file for the building permit until I knew I could get septic, figuring I didn't make sense to incur the costs for with the water issues potentially holding everything up.

I took the day off work on April 6th to drive the 120 miles over to the building office in Chelan County to submit the building permit.  In advance of that, I had to fill out the building permit application, get duplicate copies of most of my documents, and also have "wet-stamped" copies of the building plans and the engeineering.

Katie and I had a nice drive over, arriving about 11:30 am.  I went in to a courthouse looking place to ask for a bathroom, and also ask where I could find a business copying center.  The woman pointed down the hall, and then asked how many copies I needed.  I showed her the 68 page building permit, and she offered to make one set of copies for me right there.  Now that's service.

I found the building department in the building across the street on the 3rd floor, and waited only for about 10 minutes until someone was free to help me. Brad went through all my documents and plans right there at the counter.

He took out his trusty ruler that converts to-scale plans into feet and to measurements on various pages in the plan. Although he gave me a B+ because I wasn't missing any documents and they were all complete, he sent me packing with the following things to correct:

• Setback: According to his measurment of the plans, the house is less than 150' from Nason Creek's "ordinary high". He measured about 135'. So, we need to move the house 15' more back to meet the requirement. 
• Overhangs: Roof overhangs that exceed 2' have to be included in the calculation of "porch square footage." I asked my planner/designer to recalc those measurements. 
• Elevation labels: Existing and new elevations need to be labeled more clearly on the plans.
• Building height: His measurement of total building height on the plan is 38'6", not 35'. I guess even though the house will be set down in the existing grade, he measures from the bottom of the garage door (lowest point at the front) to the maximum peak height.
  
  This last one is problematic to solve. I could shave the roof overhang on the high side, but it wouldn't reduce height by 3.5 feet. My other option is to get rid of the garage door so the front of the building is burried.

So Brad sent me packing with all the copies and plans and a list of changes. Katie and I stopped at Taco Time on our way out and got soft bean burritos and mexi-fries.

Plans & Engineering

Although I'm pretty handy with Sketchup and my designs were well fleshed out, I knew it was going to take someone with more expertise to turn my designs into plans that would pass muster with the county. A general contractor friend referred me to Mark Tersieff at Plan Create Build (plancreatebuild.com).

Thoughtful, thorough, and easy to work with.  I came to him late summer, and because I was not in a hurry to get plans completed until year-end, he was able to fit things in to his schedule. (P.S. I've found that most people in the construction industry are a lot easier to work with when you're not having an emergency or need things done in hurry.) We talked a couple times by phone, and did some back-and-forth emailing as he worked through the plans in the fall.

Mark optimized the use of some space above the top-floor bathroom so that we can use it for storage, and made a few other tweaks throughout. I was very pleased with the outcome.  In addition, he helped generate a site plan, and also help me fill out a required energy efficiency form required by the county. Really appreciated working with him. He was able to stick to the budget we'd originally agreed upon. No surprises. I would use him again in a heartbeat.

In total, we went through 4 sets of revisions to get everything right.

Mark was also able to coordinate to get the engineering done on the plans. The engineer, Rick Heidi of Design Build Services (dbsmonroe.com).

Because my structure has to withstand 320 lbs per ft2 on the roof, I was planning on engineering even if the county hadn't required it.  Rick had a bit of a backlog, so there was some wait to get the engineering completed. But again, no surprises with Rick either. He set my expectations well and did a great job. His office staff was also helpful getting copies of the plans made and stamped so they were ready to be submitted with the permit application.

In all, the engineering plans totalled 68 pages! Most of it incomprehensible to me (and I'm a pretty smart guy). I'd definitely use Rick again in a heartbeat, too.

After Rick was done with the engineering, Mark had to update the plans to incorporate some of the engineering.  Mark had to make some revisions after I tried to submit for the building permit the first time. But for the most part, the plans and the engineering sailed through the county building department a week after I successfully submitted them.

The design

First of all, shoutout to Sketchup. I'm a pretty quick study on how to use software, and I was able to come up to speed pretty quickly with Sketchup Make. Very usefuly (in my opinion) for designing with actual dimensions and seeing the results. I tried a bunch of other home planning software packages. They were too limiting and simplistic for what I wanted. Sketchup gave me the perfect combination of flexibility to be creative while also allowing for detailed construction.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I started out with a much larger footprint. I'd wanted to have a lot of glass on the Northside to frame the view of Lichtenberg Mtn.  If I could have had my way, or more correctly put, if I could have afforded my way, I would have had a wall of glass, even with a glass corner. All the glazing is expensive and requires additional engineering to support the structure and the glass. 

I went from this concerpt to something that has a shed roof -- no eves, no valleys. Simple. 

I took this plan quite far, building the entire structure in Sketchup -- the foundation, the individual pieces of lumber, the floor and roof joists, etc.  It was good exercise understanding how the building would actually be constructed.  This was the plan of record for almost a year until I started to come to terms with the costs per square foot and the size of our lot. 

Finally, I had to confront the inevitable compromises of a limited budget. I shrunk overall dimensions down to 16' x 32' on the exterior. I exchanged the great room for 10' ceilings on the main level. I eliminated glazing on all 4 sides and limited it to the North and South sides only.  But there were a few things I wasn't willing to compromise on. It still needed to have a "modern" feel. At least 2 bedrooms. And all the standard amenities, including a bathroom on each level, a fireplace, a kitchen.

Just the night before I sent these plans off to our designer, my wife had the strong feeling we should move the staircase to where it's shown in the plan. It was a stroke a genius, but one that required a chunk of rework very quickly.  

Since committing these plans to actual schematics and designs, we've also planned to put a door on the downstairs staircase so that we can potentially rent out the downtairs and keep it separate from the upstairs.  We plan a small kitchenette downstairs as well.

In all, the total square footage is about 1500 square feet, split between 3 levels. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn good. It's buildable. And I'm excited to build it.

Septic permit: Getting around the "water" issue

By early December, the water system was making good progress on the water rights issue. The public comment period was over, and wanted to get things started to see where the roadblocks were.

I submitted the application for a septic permit right before Christmas 2016 to Chelan County. Knowing then that the key issue would be water availability. Our water system commissioner filled out the water availability verfication truthfully saying water wasn't available *now* but would be soon, assuming the current process proceeded through to the end.

Of course, the health department predictably denied the initial application. Although I have to say here that the folks in the Health Dept at the Chelan County were very kind to work with, helpful and reasonable the whole way. They also recognized that I have a short building season and that it appeared likely I will have water available when I'm done. 

But in the end, I had to jump through a couple additional hoops.

I had to write and sign a hold-harmless agreement acknowledging that (a) they could not grant me an occupancy permit until water was legally available and hooked-up, and (b) I would not blame them or sue them for withholding an occupancy permit until that had happened. I also had to get our water system commissioner to send them an email confirming the details and status of the water rights process they are going through.

During the process, I got plugged in to a guy from the state DoH who threw everyone for a bit of a loop, insisting that just getting the water rights would not be sufficent. The system would also need to certify water capacity--at the cost of thousands more dollars to be paid to an engineer. 

That was not something the Yodelin system was counting on, but in the end it was good we found out. They've engaged with the same engineer who built the original system, and we are sure that based on current usage the system has ample capacity for new hookups. 

Septic Design & Perk Test

In the summer of 2016, I hired county-approved septic system designer to do the design for the lot. I asked him to do a 3 bedroom design even though technically there are only 2 bedrooms planned for the cabin. That way we'll have a little extra capacity.  

He scheduled a backhoe and I met him up there. When I got there, the hole had already been dug.  He hopped in and showed me that it ws very sandy soil, basically crushed granite. No problem with drainage/perk, but actually the problem is that the soil drains *too* well. 

We will have to build a "pressurized" system, which mean we have to haul in special sand/dirt that holds the water a little better than the sandy dirt that's there. 

About a week later he emailed me a copy of the septic design. Only problem was that it had someone else's name on it. (He had apparently reused the design from another one of his clients.) I didn't make a big deal out of it. He made the correction, and I sat on the septic design knowing that I couldn't file for a permit until I had water availability worked out.