Thinking outside the box

An interesting trend here in Portland within the last year, we have converted 3 garages to live / work spaces.

A re-purposed garage can be a great spot to relax or work. Essentially a Man or Woman cave away from the hustle & bustle of the home.


Before




Zoning requirements have been a little challenging but we are finding ways to meet the code and make the inspectors happy.



Portland has been working to increase density in general, so these are becoming easier to push through the system.




AFTER

Our clients have found this to be a great cost effective way to increase the useful space they already own!



If additional space is needed for your home, and would help you write ballads or practice yoga, let us know and we may be able to help.

Improving a contractors old house part II

The attic has had new Icynene insulation for about a month and it has been a tremendous improvement in the way the home feels.

Following are the before and after photos.

BEFORE

Here is the old ceiling insulation: 3"1/2 of loose shredded newspaper cellulose.
This was vacuumed out.


The gable end showing the vent which helped let hot and cold air in when we didn't want it.

AFTER


Now the Icynene Insulation is sprayed directly underneath the roof to provide another layer of air between the elements and the attic. This prevents the attic from getting heated to 120F when the outside air temp is only 90F in the summer.

It also stops cold from entering all the roof vents in the winter.

Already the home is much more comfortable and we can't wait to see what it feels like during the hot days of summer.


When air transfer and moisture problems are dealt with correctly then the typical roof vents are unnecessary.

For more information:

Icynene Inc

Thank you S.C. Phelps Insulation for a great installation!

Essential Infastructure

Recently I have noticed a change of attitudes from clients with respect to infrastructure in their homes.

Now that energy costs are sky high, people are considering what it will cost in the future to operate a home. We are all realizing our homes are still one of the best return on investments and want to make choices that maintain their value.

There may be legislation in the future that requires disclosure of the annual operating costs of every home. This would be similar to the dealer sticker on a car that states the MPG for city and highway.

Previously, folks didn't spend a lot of time thinking about what's behind the walls until there is an untimely problem. We hope to change that and help educate clients about how important the items you don't see can be for their comfort and long term operating cost.

The problem with competitive bidding is that many contractors will not specify the correct product for the job. This explains for example, why so many electric panels recently installed by others are undersized. Yes, it may meet basic safety codes to pass an inspection, but when the house sells an unsuspecting buyer may need another $1400 panel because their electrical contractor wanted to save the client $100.

The following is a short list of items that may be incorporated to greatly improve energy efficiency or resale value of a home. These are just a few of Tim's favorites:

1) Icynene open cell spray foam insulation.
2) Cast iron pipe for waste lines (for sound only).
3) Appropriate sized electric service panel. Unfortunately almost everything needs to be plugged in and we need larger and larger panels to accommodate. New Code requirements also have added the need for additional circuits for safety and to reduce nuisance tripping of breakers. Certain outlets could be operated by a switch to reduce standby power when they are turned off. Many stereos, televisions and computers consume power in standby mode.
4) All water pipes (hot & cold supply) should be insulated.
5) All walls could be insulated and ceilings for sound. This will help with thermal pressure between floors as well.
6) Waste water heat exchanger. This captures heat from shower waste water and uses it to preheat replacement water supplying the hot water heater.
7) Timed recirculating valve for plumbing fixtures that are far from the hot water heater. These cut down the time it takes to get hot water out of a faucet, which reduces the amount of water running down the drain waiting for it to get hot.
8) Solar hot water heater.
9) Foot switch operated or touch-less faucet at main kitchen sink. This eliminates the waste of water every time the faucet is turned on. With typical standard faucets at least a cup minimum is wasted during during the time it takes to turn on the water, grab what needs to get wet ( for example soap for your hands ) and get that object under the water. The same goes for turning the water off. A few precious seconds are wasted between the time it takes to set the item down and turn the water off. A foot switch or touch-less style eliminates this problem. Manufactures include Brizo,Delta & Kohler.
10) Light colored roofing eliminates heat gain.
11) 40+ yr roof.
12) Engineered decking lasts longer than Cedar.
13) Water recovery devices like rain barrels. Or for inside the home: This one I love although, it is not allowed in Oregon at this time due to existing plumbing code: Pontos

Improving a contractors old house pt I

Since the addition of a hairy barking dog and some kids, our home has been feeling a little neglected lately. Finally, it's time to put some love and attention back into it.

Attack plan *A* required removing the squirrels from the attic. Awhile back I started hearing something alive on the roof and one day I realized they were not on the roof but a few inches above my head in the attic.
If anyone has heard the story on NPR about the squirrel, the cop and the guy and his wife in bathrobes, then I know what you're thinking right now.
I didn't actually hear the radio story but my lovely wife retold her version and it convinced me that I should never open the attic door. The consequences might involve more than fire and spilled wine.



I purchased an emitter from the hardware store that allegedly produces a high pitch sound which sends squirrels and other vermin running. It seemed to work for awhile depending where I placed it, so I bought another one. Then it seemed like it wasn't working at all. Somehow the sound changed to a siren call to help their buddies locate our home.

It was time to call a professional. One of my carpenters had a similar problem at his apartment which his landlord called the aptly named "A Wildlife Professional" to evict the squatters. Since I know landlords will do a lot of research to find the best deal in town I thought I would give this company a try. Tim Rickards came to my home the next day and got to work. He installed a one way gate that would allow the rascals to exit and not come back. Tim installed spray foam in the areas that they were getting in and covered unobtrusive metal on the outside.


Tim installing one way gate on the outside of the main entrance. Thanks Tim! They haven't been back.


Next it was time to remove the insulation. Squirrel poop does not enhance the Feng Shui, or indoor air quality. In addition, the loose-fill cellulose insulation didn't do much to reduce air transfer which made the home drafty and inefficient.




The old insulation was only 3.5 inches deep of shredded newspaper which equals a maximum R value of 11.9 in the best of circumstances. On a typical windy day, the air pressure difference combined with all the holes in the attic decreases the R value dramatically.


Here is the amazing thing. In the summer when it is 90 degrees outside, it was probably at least 120 degrees in the attic which is separated by 3.5 inches of loose fill insulation from the family. The rectangle on the wall at the end is one of the two gable end vents that let the wind whip up the dust in the attic and let cold or hot air into the space.

We chose to call upon Rapid Vac to Remove all the attic insulation. ENVI Construction had worked with their team before and were glad to see the same crew show up to our home. I was always impressed in how conscientious and professional the guys are and took the extra time to eliminate any dust in the living areas.



Now is a good time to get the dog out of the house because the noise of the vacuum is going to stress him out.



The crew almost wasn't able to fit into the attic hatch once the hoses were installed.

In a few hours, all the dirty, inefficient insulation will be long gone.

In part II we'll discuss what type of replacement insulation was chosen and why.

Materials Selection

Selecting materials color, texture and style is a challenging process but there are other items that can be considered.

At ENVI Construction, we strive to incorporate building methods that improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality.

We are also interested in what impact our purchasing choices have for our personal health and possible influences on our communities.

Japanese Printmaker Koichi Yamamoto of Tennessee states:

"Surface only provides record from recent event.
Making critical judgement requires understanding of what lies underneath".

In terms of selecting materials, with a concern for sustainability, understanding what lies "underneath" requires examining the relationship of many factors.
If clients are interested in this we will ask that they become a partner in making decisions in terms of environmental & personal health and the community.

The best tool I have seen to cut ease the confusion is Pharos Lens. Although not fully launched for consumers, the chart shown can be helpful for making decisions when selecting products.

Pharos Lens

List compiled from Pharos Lens

*Health and Pollution*
IAQ and User Exposure
High Hazard Toxics
Global Warming
Air Quality
Water Quality

*Environment and Resources*
Renewable Energy
Embodied Water
Solid Waste
Renewable Materials Use
Habitat
Embodied Energy

*Social and Community*
Occupational Heath and Safety
Consumer Health and Safety
Fairness and Equity
Community Relations
Corporate Leadership

When purchasing materials. Which of the elements would be the most important factor in selecting a sustainable product? Of course all of them but most products do not include improvement in all areas.

Understanding the gray areas of green building are can be one of the most daunting tasks a designer, builder or homeowner can tackle. Luckily if this is of interest to a client, there is plenty of available information that is being shared to assist with choices that are important to them.

Job Scheduling - Where is the Crew?

A majority of potential clients are concerned about safety and understand the importance of permits. They also want to understand how scheduling is handled with regard to when workers will be in their home.

Back in the old days when many carpenters didn’t care about permits or inspections they could start a job and work on that job every day until it was completed.

Since they didn’t acquire permits, they didn’t seem to need licensed tradespeople. The carpenter would install all the plumbing, electrics, tile, sheetrock and paint. This could save the carpenter a lot of time by not worrying about scheduling trade subcontractors or meeting code standards.

Some of the problems the one man shop caused were quality & safety issues.

The lack of a permit eliminated the need to pause work for the 2 or 3 inspection milestones that would need to happen before continuing. Now when a permit is pulled on a professional job, we are normally not allowed to install insulation while waiting around for the inspector because this would cover some of the work they are looking at.

We need to schedule in lag time which is breathing room for each trade. One potential disaster is a job not being ready for a particular trade on the day we say we are. If we attempt to schedule all the trades back to back with not enough time in between for small surprises, then we will be scheduled to the back of the line, thus causing further delays on the project.

What does all this mean to the client? This means that there will be days that no one is working in your home.
Do not despair!
Usually something is still happening behind the scenes with the tremendous amount of support from our trade partners and the ENVI office.

The value of increased safety and planning are worth the extra time needed to properly complete a quality job.

Final Inspection Tips

Often times a client will already have their own painter or paint a room themselves . This can cause a minor delay for the final inspections.
Here are some tips for the final inspection. The smallest details are important.

1. All switch plate and outlet covers for the home should be installed. Many times the homeowners or painters will remove these for painting and fail the inspection.
2. Bathroom ceiling fan cover needs to be in place.
3. The permit card needs to be available.
4. The permit drawings need to be available.
5. All new outlets need to be accessible and not covered by furniture.
6. All light fixtures need to be completely installed.
7. And most importantly: All bedrooms need to have (correctly placed – not above a doorway) smoke detectors. In addition every floor needs to have a smoke detector installed. All detectors need to be 10 year rated.

Basecamp-Online Project Management Tool

With all the advancing technologies out there, it can be a daunting task to choose a new program. However, it is vital that contractors keep up to date and meet the demands of the fast pace. Contractors often need to access information from the job sites, collaborate with busy clients, designers, architects and subcontractors. With so much information to organize every job needs it's own project manager.

At ENVI Construction, we have found an online resource that has made a positive impact in the way we run our company. One of the most useful and amazingly affordable programs our company uses is Basecamp by 37 Signals. Basecamp is a web based tool that is designed for collaborating with groups, it is our project management tool.

Our company provides every client with their own website to help manage the selections and production. What this does is enable the clients to review on their jobs 24/7 without necessarily calling the contractor. Many of our clients are very busy during the business day, this way they can review information in the evenings and weekends.

We will post schedules, to do tasks, send messages, and organize files & photos for every job using this format. On larger complicated jobs, we have invited the architects, designers, plumbers, electricians and other trade partners to check in and ask questions of each other or post files. This also enables our trade partners or designers to monitor progress and scheduling. This way it is easier to keep everybody in the loop.

"I personally don't have a lot of patience for searching through my email to locate the last word on a subject or a specification." says Tim Cook, Owner of ENVI Construction. "Basecamp allows our company to have one location online that holds all the files, photographs and comments for each job. It allows me to research information on demand from the job site or when I'm home watching the kids."

Check out their Free Trial

F.I.R. Program to ease the permiting and inspection process

ENVI Construction was accepted into City of Portland Field Issuance Remodel “F.I.R.” Program. Great news for clients working with ENVI Construction! Several months ago we were accepted into the City of Portland Field Issuance Remodel Program. ENVI Construction has been on the waiting list for over a year to be accepted into this award winning program.

ENVI is one of the few remodeling companies selected to work directly with inspectors who become part of our team for problem solving. The FIR Program allows us to work with the same inspector throughout the project to eliminate surprises at the final inspection. Permit fees are not charged up front. The inspections are billed hourly for consultations. The time between permitting and starting construction may be greatly reduced by solving potential problems ahead of time. This may also eliminate surprises during the construction process. Permits can be issued on the spot during the on site pre-construction meeting with the inspector. ENVI Construction carpenters have the direct phone line for the inspectors to consult with. The inspection process is collaborative and streamlined. Everyone saves costs by not paying the contractor to wait 1/2 day for an inspection, as with the old system. The old system would typically require 3 inspection visits and 3 four hour windows of non productive time.

The City of Portland is one of the only jurisdictions to follow this type inspection process that is based on the commercial permit process.

Just one more great reason to live in Portland and work with ENVI Construction.

How do contractors price the work?

In this day of getting information quickly, a client often hopes that contractors will immediately know what the price of the project will be in a two hour meeting.

If a quick budget is needed for reference, then we would recommend reviewing the Cost vs Value report. Many people have found the Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report very helpful for making decisions for remodeling. It provides average national and regional costs plus expected resale value for remodeling. Please review the Report. ENVI's work most often falls in between mid-range and upscale averages.

To arrive at a complete bid, professional remodelers will ask that at least 95% of the selections are completed. Yes, we can provide a preliminary budget that is based upon past experience. However, many factors like final engineering code requirements, and client selections can throw off that number by a large percentage.

We have found one of the most difficult components of the bidding process for many clients are making the material selections.


The following are very simple examples of what could create the large gap in prices for client selections:

1) Canlights are not selected
Standard canlights could cost roughly between $120 - $150 ea to install, parts and labor included per location. Lets say, later someone decides to use a canlight that is $1,000 ea just for the materials. The job may need 20 or 30 canlights total. Yes, this seems insane but these things happen.
Now the Electrician and General Contractor are responsible for handling 20K-30k in lighting materials, plus additional dimming switches, remote dimming modules, transformers, and dimming chokes another $5,000 - $8,000 on top of that. Now we start to see a wide range of pricing that began as a Kia and transformed into a Rolls Royce.

2) Lighting plan is not complete
Again, Professional contractors will need to know how many lights are going to be on the circuit. This will help us determine if a remote dimming module is necessary. Will the existing panel handle the additional load. Are we selecting Line voltage, Low voltage or Line voltage lights with internal transformers? This will help us determine if we'll need Magnetic dimmers or not. A Maestro 600w Single-pole Multi-location Low-volt Electronic Dimmer is approximately $126.00 ea compared to a standard toggle switch at $1.90ea.


3) Shut off valve
Lets examine something as simple as a stop valve to shut off the water for the toilet. The basic chrome stop valves usually cost around $8.00, depending on the price of gas that quarter. Later a client or designer decides they would like Satin Nickel instead of chrome for the bathroom. This changes the price of the stop valve that shuts off the water for the toilet is increased to approximately $85.00++. Each basic bathroom usually needs 3 stop valves, so now we have added $231 per bathroom for 3 small items that fit in the palm of a hand. Now that we know we are using satin nickel stops, we'll need satin nickel supply tubes if the stops are exposed, which is increasingly more common. The decision was made to keep the old tub to save money, now we'll need to also replace the waste and overflow to satin nickel as well to match the new shower handle.

Right now most folks will plead "Wait time out! your driving me crazy with all this lingo & technical slang! My job is not going to be this high end and I don't need any of this stuff. We just want a basic bid." Remember, the examples above are only 3 of the possibly hundreds of items that needs to be determined for a professional remodeler to quantify the final cost. Beware of contractors that appear confident what the price is when they have not completed the research.

Here's a secret - If you want the best pricing on your job, you'll want to help us eliminate as many surprises as possible.

These are only a few small examples of how complicated pricing a job can be. It is important for a successful contractor to know what the specifications are and complete the bid in a timely manner. We do not repetitively start and stop an estimate, it should be completed in a short time period if possible. This will help ensure accuracy and eliminate costly change orders.

The best advice we can give clients is to get design help if you need it and don't wait too long. If it looks like it will take a long time to make these selections we will want to know if it is also going to be difficult to make decisions when the house is in the middle of construction.
Please refer to our Material Finish Summary list to know what you need to finalize selections for and check them off the list. Some designers will offer to meet you at showrooms to make this process easier and eliminate the millions of distractions one can find there.

A lack of timely decision making can be hazardous to a construction schedule and cost.
If you feel like you need additional assistance with the selection process, let the contractor know right away to ensure the bid is completed in a timely manner.
We will most likely recommend a designer that will be a good fit for the project and budget.

We are committed to assist in any way possible to make this process work for you.