SOLARIZING THE STARTER HOME 2.0 PROJECT

Preliminary Solarize Cincy Solar Panel Assessment

Earlier this month at a Pleasant Ridge Community Council meeting, I was made aware of a local neighborhood initiative developed by the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, called Solarize Cincinnati, which looks to encourage homeowners to explore adding solar panel arrays on their roofs as a means of reducing electric bills and increasing renewable energy power generation in the region. As a first step in this effort, Solarize Cincinnati offers customers a free report analyzing their homes solar potential, breaking down the system size, system cost, energy savings and payback in terms of return on investment.
Below is the initial report I received on the Starter Home 2.0 Pleasant Ridge house, which was deemed a good candidate for solar with its large expanse of west facing roof area and lack of tree cover that could potentially block out the sun. I'm not yet ready to commit to installing a solar array on this house, but I did go ahead and submit some additional information on the home's energy usage to get a more detailed report on the exact system cost and energy savings, which I can share in a future blog post. It is also worth noting that the SH2.0 Oakley home with its large expanse of south facing roof, is also a good candidate for solar, and something I will look into as that project progresses.

A SEWER SITUATION

Lessons Learned from the MSD

Two words that no homeowner ever wants to say are 'Sewer Backup', but on Friday the 13th I found myself on the phone with the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) of Greater Cincinnati having that conversation after I noticed the clean out at the end of the driveway starting to leak raw sewage (you're welcome for not posting those pictures!). 

Thankfully, the backup never made its way into the house and the blockage was at the street, which meant that the Metropolitan Sewer District is responsible for all the costs associated with fixing it. The story behind the blockage is also a valuable lesson learned that I will be sure to take into account in the construction of the Starter Home 2.0 Oakley Project.

The source of the problem was not a blockage in the line, but rather the result of MSD, when re-lining the main sewer pipe in the street, lining right over the sewer lateral that was going to my property, instead of leaving an opening at the lateral as they should have done. Consequently, with this opening lined over, there was no place for the liquid waste to empty to (except for the minimal amount that was able to seep around the liner) causing the drain line to back up until it began to escape out of the clean out. The crazy thing I learned is that this is actually a somewhat common occurrence at new homes in the area that were built on vacant lots. That said, when building the next house in Oakley, I will be sure to have MSD run a camera down the main line in the street to make sure that they did not line over the lateral on that property as well.

To fix this situation, the MSD had to close off the street, and bring in a full crew of trucks, equipment, and workers to saw cut the pavement and get down to the sewer line where they could cut in a hole in the lining and complete the connection from the sewer lateral to the main pipe. I had a front row seat to all the action sitting on my porch all Friday afternoon and evening, and it was actually a really interesting process to watch, despite the inconvenience of it all for my neighbors and myself. 

After working until 10PM on Friday to fix the problem, the crew came back earlier this week to fill back in the hole and patch the pavement, closing out the sewer saga. In the end, things could have been much worse and I was proud of myself for how I was able to keep calm and handle the matter in an efficient and effective manner. It was validation that I have what it takes to respond to the crises that inevitably pop up in construction and real estate development. After all, Sh*t happens...

CITY SIDEWALKS

Oakley Sidewalk Surprise

One of my absolute favorite things about being an Architect and Real Estate Developer is that I am always learning something new. That said, I was not very happy to learn when the City of Cincinnati does repairs to the 'public sidewalk' (at their sole discretion without the consent of the property owner), it is the property owner who is charged with the bill. They do give the property owner the choice of paying the entire amount up front, or rolling it into future tax bills at a specified interest rate, but I highly dislike both options. Anyways, just thought it was worth making a public service announcement about this for any Cincinnati property owners that might fall victim to this same fate.

WATER LINE CONNECTION

Greater Cincinnati Water Works Letter

Last week I received a rather vague and oddly worded letter from the GCWW regarding the status of the water line to the vacant Oakley lot I am going to be building the next Starter Home 2.0 project on next year. The letter made mention of how with the lot no longer having a house on it, the service could be disconnected and I could avoid paying the quarterly fees on the line that are charged by the Greater Cincinnati Water Works (which are typically less than $100). What the letter did not mention, however, was that if I wanted to re-connect the line to start service once the new house is under construction, the cost of that would be several thousand dollars. This was something that I learned only after calling up the GCWW and talking to a representative, which is why I have made a habit of following up on every letter I receive from municipalities with a phone conversation and recommend that everyone reading this does the same. 

OWNERSHIP & COMMUNITY

Neighborhood Pride

I have said this before, but one of the biggest surprise benefits for me as a first-time homeowner is the social connection and pride I instantly developed for my new neighborhood that had previously been lacking as a renter. This sense of place and ownership pushed me to get involved in volunteering with initiatives such as the community development corporation and neighborhood school outreach programs, and yesterday was one of those days when those efforts paid off. For the past 4-months, I have been working with students in the first and second grade at Pleasant Ridge Montessori to teach them about design and architecture through a project based learning program called Design LAB, and yesterday their projects were showcased at the Main Downtown Branch of the Cincinnati Public Library as part of the 2016 Design LAB Fair. Below are some pictures of their work, and here is a link to a blog post I wrote for SHP Leading Design that describes the program in more detail. The bottom line here is that not only does home ownership benefit the homeowner, but it also benefits the surrounding community in ways that renting simply cannot replicate.

CONTRACTOR ROUNDTABLE

View of Architects from a Contractor's Perspective

Earlier this week I attended a panel discussion titled, 'The Contractor's Perspective: Working with an architect from their point of view' that was moderated by the AIA Cincinnati's Custom Residential Architects Network, in hopes of walking away with some takeaways for the Starter Home 2.0 Project. I was especially interested in getting a glimpse into the world of Custom Residential Architecture as someone that has never worked in that project type (I'm an architect-developer for the Starter Home 2.0 project, so I don't have residential clients and my work at SHP Leading Design deals strictly with commercial and institutional clients).

The contractors that made up the panel were Chris Gilles (of Crapsey & Gilles Contractors, Inc.), Billy Bohl (of Dallman & Bohl General Contractors, Inc.), Mark Frederiksen (of Timeless Custom Designs), and Paul Bauscher (of Bauscher Construction), and below are some of their comments that I recorded.

• Architects need to get a builder involved in the process as early as possible
• The perception is that architects don't talk with clients about budget at initial meetings
• Competitively bidding preliminary designs is a waste of time and effort for builders
• Historically, custom residential projects almost always run over budget
• Contractors are not, nor do they want to be designers
• The blueprints are 'The Bible' and what the builder will go by
• A united architect-contractor front is necessary when approaching clients with problems

Overall, the biggest takeaway from me was simply validation in what I am doing as an architect-developer and affirmation that I have no desire to be a traditional custom residential architect. I have a great amount of respect and enjoy working with, and learning from the contractors and sub-contractors that I have worked with on the Starter Home 2.0 project, and continue to collaborate with them as I'm working through the design of the Oakley project. I only wished more architects felt the same way.

OAKLEY CONSTRUCTION DOCS

SH2.0 Oakley Drawings & Specs Update

Over the course of the next couple months leading into summer, my focus on the Starter Home 2.0 Oakley project is going to be getting the construction drawings, specifications, and building information model to a point where they are substantially complete and able to be used as resources to establish the construction budget with my builder, begin shopping the project around to banks to obtain financing, and start marketing the project to the public and potential buyers. Below is a progress image of the construction drawings for the first floor plan sheet that is part of what architects call a 'cartoon set', which is a draft outline of all the different drawings that will be needed to bid, permit, and construct the building.