Bits and Pieces

Yeah, here are the latest bits and pieces...

1. Still no news from PG&E - and in other news, Glen Miller is still missing (OK, if you're too young to know what that means, look it up on Wikipedia!).

2. However, we've decided that, if PG&E says no, we're going to proceed with an application to the Pacifica Planning Dept for a variance to the rear setback. This will cost at least $4000.00 and take around three months, but after talking to them we're comfortable that we at least have a chance of getting the variance. And if at the end of the day the Planning Commission says no, we can at least move ahead on Plan B knowing that we did everything we could to get the preferred site plan.

3. No need to wait, then -we're going to move ahead and try to get our plans to the Building Dept in the next couple of weeks. They told us they'll do the plan check on our preferred site plan even without permission from PG&E, and will issue comments. They just won't issue the building permits without a letter from PG&E.

4. Ed's plan is to pre-mix the concrete for the basement using a pigment from Davis Colors, which sounds like a good idea. I'm considering either a darkish grey, or perhaps grey with a little green in it, as in the rendition below.

5. Thinking seriously about having another sliding door for the basement, opening onto a deck, along with three other transom windows. Waiting for a quote from 1st Windows for that.

6. Still looking for a roofing system, although Ed got a quote from Standard Roofing for just over $6K for an EPDM roof. I need a little information about that - does it include everything, such as insulation boards? If it does, we could be in business! Haven't heard back from Armstrong Roofing about the sprayed foam roof. Some people just don't seem to want my business. Very strange.

7. For the A/V system, I'm going with an Onkyo TX-SR806 receiver, which I just bought from Amazon (got a good deal on an open box), and in-wall and in-ceiling speakers from The Speaker Company. They are very cheap, but supposedly very good, and they have a 30 day money back guarantee with return shipping paid, so I'll set them up at home and see if they sound good. The distributed audio will be taken care of by the Sonos Multi-Room Music System, which I have in my apartment and at work - it's absolutely awesome.

8. Ed's looking at the cost of Rocio's sub-floor system, which includes load of Simpson Hangers. Ed can't figure out why she designed it with everything hanging off the foundations, and wants to redesign it to eliminate the hangers - which will probably save us thousands of dollars. More on this later...

9. So far, it looks like water and sewage will be relatively easy, which is a big relief. Not cheap, but fairly easy (for example, the Water Dept charges a $2100.00 deposit towards installation, and a $5441.00 'Transmission and Storage Fee' for the hookup!). The fire hydrant is on our side of the street so we won't have to dig trenches across the road, and the sewer line is at the bottom of the lot, down the hill, giving us a straight shot right into the lateral line. All good. The wild card, again, is PG&E. If we can just hook up to the overhead lines for electric we'll be in good shape, but if they make us go underground... well... not so good!

10. Playlist: it's all U2, No Line On The Horizon. Takes a while to get into it, but then it starts to sound really good.

11. Over and out...