The Artist

After a little more than a week of actual construction on the property, one thing has caught our attention very dramatically:  Albert Gabelein is an artist with his excavator.  The huge orange metal arm of the excavator, and the swivel-bucket it commands is like an extension of Albert's body.

Everyone who's stopped by has commented on how effortlessly he maneuvers the grand machine.  Phil Groening, our neighbor to the North, commented that Albert's work is "second to none", and that he wouldn't trust anyone else with the work.

When I watch him work, it reminds me of an old video game we used to have on our computer called Mechwarrior.  The newer version is shown in a clip below.  If the military ever goes this route, I think they should be recruiting Albert.

Anyhow, we've made significant progress since a minor setback on our first day.  While digging out the driveway on the very first day, we discovered a power line in a steel tube running at about chest-height of where we wanted to dig the driveway.  It wasn't on any of the plans, and the City workers who came out to mark all of the utilities failed to locate it.

So, after a few days, we were able to get the power to that cable shut off temporarily and removed the line.  Once the driveway is in, we'll work with the City to get the power line reinstalled, but under the driveway this time.

Since then, Albert has taken 20 dump truck loads of dirt and 4 loads of brush off the property, and we've hardly made a dent.  The driveway is pretty well established, but we haven't begun to clear the majority of the site, nor dig out the home-site.  We're anticipating something like 50-60 additional loads of dirt, and only 2-3 more loads of brush need to be removed.

Tomorrow, the City inspector comes by to approve the temporary erosion control measures.  This involves the silt fences we've built around the entire exterior of the property, and anything else related to making sure that no dirt spills off the property when it rains.  Assuming all goes to plan, we'll begin full excavation mode tomorrow and keep digging until we're ready to install the foundation.

Thanks to everyone who's stopped by, including Mom and Dad, Uncle Dennis and Aunt Theresa, Nick Rohrbach, Jhon Mosely, and Becca and Ryan Porter.  In addition, we've received numerous drive-by guests. Tons of neighbors have stopped to say hello, and we even had an older couple stop by and tell us they owned the property in the sixties and were responsible for moving the power lines underground, which dramatically improved the view.  Thank god for them.

Feel free to stop by anytime, and we'll keep you posted on the progress.

Up Next:  Excavation Time!

The Beginning and The End

Top two reasons why May 21, 2011 was a great day: 

(1) We finally began our project

(2) The world didn't end 

At 8:30 a.m. yesterday, Albert Gabelein Construction rolled up with a dump truck and backhoe to our blackberry-choked patch of land and began digging. After two years of talking, dreaming, drawing, filing paperwork, crying, filing more paperwork, and hoping for the best, we finally turned over some dirt. 

The crew included John and Julie, Julie's dad,  mom, and brother, John's Dad and mom, and legal consultant for the project, Bill Schneeman. We began the day by cleaning up the sidewalk. The sidewalk ended at our property before Albert began scrapping the dirt and grass off of it. This was the first step to becoming a part of the neighborhood. One by one, neighbors began coming over to introduce themselves to us throughout the day. We quickly learned that everyone in the neighborhood at some point or another had dreamed about buying our property, but didn't have the "young courage" to tackle it. It's likely that after they went back into their houses, they whispered about those two crazy kids moving onto the street. 

Next up, we attacked the bush that marked the future driveway site. John and Steven jumped into the back of the dump truck as the backhoe plucked the bush, roots and all, from the hillside. John remarked that the scene was reminiscent of a Jurassic Park dinosaur devouring its prey. 

From inside the box, John and Steven trimmed the stray branches hanging out of the dump truck. Julie, Lori and Bill cleaned up every trace of dirt and leaf that had fallen onto the street, taking the city's warning seriously: We will shut you down if you leave any trace of the work on the street. 

Once the bush had been removed, we took a lunch break (courtesy of Lori and Costco) and plotted our next move. We were giddy with visions of the machinery actually being able to drive up onto the property by the end of the day. At the pace we were going, it felt like the house would be complete by next week. 

That was until we found the electrical wire. 

Our elation quickly dissolved when Albert cut the engine to the backhoe and jumped off to examine a newly exposed wire. John and Steven slowly pulled the wire from the dirt and followed it up the hill to our neighbor's house. We quickly discovered that no driveway could be built until this wire was removed. This would require conversations with the neighbor (the vacant house is managed by the owner's son who lives on Whidbey Island) and Seattle City Light. Bottom line: We are back to the City on day one. 

Not wanting to waste a perfectly good afternoon, we built the silt fence along the bottom of the property. This was a team effort with everyone either digging the trench, pounding in the fence posts, zip tying the silt fence to the posts or supervising the process. Around this time, John's parents dropped by to visit and had brooms in their hands within five minutes to help sweep up dirt and other debris from the road. 

It was a bittersweet end to our first day of construction. Our focus is now on pouring over documents to determine how to proceed with the removal of the underground electrical wire. We hope to be forging our driveway into the hillside in the next week like true homesteaders, barring any calamities such as problems relocating the wire or the world ending. 

Next Up:  Magical wire disappearing act

Mt. Pobre Yields - Groundbreaking

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This Post if from Friday, May 13...we just took a little while to post it
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It was a very big day.

In all, we passed our Pre-Construction conference, failed on our construction financing (temporarily), but without batting an eye hosted a Groundbreaking Ceremony on the site with friends and family.

(1) Pre-Construction Conference

After longer than we care to think about, we finally have permission to put equipment on our property and get to work. At 1:00pm this afternoon, Roger Moore (City of Seattle), Mark McGinnis (Geotech Consulants), and all of us (Julie, John, Albert, Lori and Larry), met on the property for the last hurdle prior to construction: The Pre-Construction Conference.

When we picked up the permit last week, we were notified of the numerous inspections that would be held at various intervals through the project. These include inspections of the foundation, drainage, etc. The first of these inspections is the Pre-Construction Conference.

At the meeting, Roger reviewed the plans in detail, and especially those spots he thought would be of concern.  Although he didn't walk the property with us, he was quick to point out the major concern areas (temporary erosion control measures, and pin piles to name a few), and be sure we understood the process.

Our biggest gift was the fact that Roger did not require us to build the entirety of the silt fences by hand (see the picture below for an example of a silt fence).  By allowing us to first build access into the property before constructing the silt fences, we'll be able to use Albert's equipment to dig the ditches for the silt fences.  Otherwise, we would have been digging by hand through roots for hundreds of feet.

The conference went very smoothly, and Roger effectively deputized Marc McGinnes as the private Sheriff of the project.  Keep Marc happy, and Roger will be happy, he effectively told us.  Marc is a very reasonable and helpful man, so we're pleased to have him working with us.

(2) Construction Financing Delayed

This one we feel really bad about.  Bridget Larsen, our banker at Coastal Community Bank, has been so kind to meet us on site in West Seattle twice now, driving down from Everett.  Today was supposed to mark the signing of our loan documents and another major hurdle completed.

Turns out we forgot about a key component of the documentation.  To be honest, it was everyone's fault.  We just flat missed it, but we missed it nonetheless.

It isn't a problem of any kind, and it won't prevent us from proceeding, but we just have to go back and have Bridget re-draw some of the documents.  So...next week.

Thankfully, though, we don't need to make any draws in the first part of the construction process.  Albert has everything we need to get started, so as soon as he's ready to get onto the property, we can get started, and we can sign the documents next week.

(3) Groundbreaking Party

Despite the fact that it wasn't going to set us back at all, we were still all pretty frustrated with the financing issue.  As a result, we hustled to the liquor store (at this point, it's about 4pm), and grabbed a nice bottle of cheap whiskey to hold us over (I mean, delicious whiskey, Albert).  After a drink, we all calmed down and got ready for the party.

Albert helped me pick up my BBQ (which has been in use at Tony and John Boyle's apartment for the last year), and haul it up onto the property.  Lori and Julie went to the store to pick up some food and drinks, and we all met back on the property to get set up.

Many friends and family arrived between 6-6:30pm for our ceremony.  With a huge smile on her face, Julie turned over a pile of dirt with a new ceremonial shovel provided by Albert.  Champagne bubbles flowed as we celebrated the biggest accomplishment of our project to date: turning the soil of Mt. Pobre.

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us on site.  We were so pleased to celebrate with you, and look forward to many more celebrations soon!

Permit in Hand!

Although we did most of the celebrating last week, when the permit was effectively approved, the City takes 2 days to process the permit before you can pick it up (oh, and they make sure you pay their exorbitant fees before they let you touch it, too).

So, after 3 full business days, and no word from the City, I decided to go down to the City myself for the first time since we actually submitted the original application about a year and a half ago, and check on things for myself.

To my great surprise, when I checked in at the "Plans Routing" desk, the associate informed me that everything had been processed, and that the permit was waiting for pickup on the 20th floor!

I bounded down to the Applicant Service Center, where the permit was waiting for me (and waiting for a nice big check)! At 1:38 pm, I signed on the dotted line and we are officially ready to go!

Our next steps are to schedule site visits with the City and Geotechnical Engineers, and get to work!

Next Up:  Breaking Ground!