Concrete Steps are gone!

Excavator (John Burke, Marshall Excavation) was here this morning. In order not to damage the street, he had to load up onto his trailer and roll the truck/tralier down the street. The tracks are called "street crawlers" but they still tear easily up city streets.

Once in location, the actual demolition did not take that long. The big steps were a bit tough, but once shaken a few times, the "cap" was lifted out of the way. As expected, only dirt underneath.

He managed to work both around the trees and bushes, even though it looked like close calls a few times, but he had the situation under control. Also broke up the large pieces into smaller ones so they can be handled by the Bobcat next week.

If you're looking for a good and cheap "digger", give John Burke a call; 425-941-6422. He is worth every penny!

Notice to Neighbors...

Long overdue, but did today write a little courtesy notice to our (all great) neighbors, just informing them about the project. There's been so much construction going on in our neighborhood over the past few years, and most of it just starts, w/o any prior notice.

Try to do a little better, even though most neighbors are already aware...

Permit is in hand

After paying the final fee today to the city, the building permit is finally released and official - and proudly posted in thw window (as required).

Only thing missing was that the contractor's license had expired. He needs to renew his insurance and pay a re-instatement fee (less than $60) to L&I in order to be "current" again.

Dropped him a voice mail and he called me back late tonight and promised to take care of it. Do not want to act as "general contractor" for the initial building and framing (liability and tax issues), but can take that role once we get to the electrical, and finsihing work (easy part for me), since I do not plan to hire anyone to take care of those tasks.

Excavator lined up

They've been digging at a new construction site up the street for months now, but are getting closer to finish (after hauling some 1,500 yards of dirt away).

I managed to get the "excavator guy" to come down and look at my concrete steps. It just would be so sweet if he could take 15 minutes of pure hydraulic power to crack this up into chunks before he leaves the area.

He agreed to do this for $100. Deal - likely about what I would have spent on an electric jackhammer + two days of sweat equity. Maybe I can also get him to move the big yard rocks a bit out of the way as well.

Contractor's visit

Our contractor finally came around yesterday and presented a formal offer. We got a good ball park number about a month ago, but I really needed something in writing.

This might sound worse than it is, but he has he has been here a number of times over the past 18 months while we've been contemplating the project and is therefore pretty much up to speed of the actual scope, but it feels good to finally have this paper in hand.

Aslo agreed that I will take care of getting the concrete steps "hacked-up" and he will take care of hauling away the concrete and have it recycled.

Tentative plan now is to start to Tuesday after Labor Day.

Rhododendron

Check this "sister blog" for more info on the removal of the rhododendron: KirklandZoo

But during the digging for the rhodi, I also found our old septic tank and (new) sewer line. At least it was good to find them, since the sewer line was nowhere close to where the "locator service" have put it. Only have to make sure the sewer does not get crushed by heavy machinery during the excavation phase.

Removed steps and cleaned up for concrete removal

Took the past few days to remove all the steps and railings that were added sometimes in the mid-90ies. A LOT of nails to pull out, but needed in order to be able to handle all the wood and pack it up nicely.

A nice surprise was that the concrete top of the old stairs was already removed and be able to see that the big "hunk" of concrete is not a solid block, but rather just thin (well, 6 inches...) walls. At least it'll be easier to get rid of it.

No permit in the neighborhood

A house I can see from our deck was nicely cleaned just a few weeks ago. They removed some trees and in general took care of the lot. The house now really looks good and is "visible" compared to before. They have also done some heavy work in removing all siding, interior walls, building a new porch, and other work.

But, the other day I noticed that there was no more activity. Thought I even saw a red note, but it is too far away to be sure. So when walking the dogs, we stopped by to take closer look. And, sure enough, the site has been "red-tagged" and a "work stoppage" order had been issued. The order indicated "no approved permit, no approved plans". Sort of daring to go that far w/o ANY paper work - in such a visible location.

In any case, they tried to cut corners by bypassing all the needed and boring papers work, but are dearly paying for that now.

Support beam in basement

After never hearing back from architect, despite repeated calls, I managed to get hold of him today. Discussed the beam and he was to look at it.
Also sent him a "packet" of photos and current dimensions in case he'd forgotten about what the span actually looks like.

A bit "miffed" over this since this issue should never really have surfaced, nor should I have to "chase him" to have it corrected.