PerpetualPlanet

As we planned where to place our driveway and parking area we realized there might be some fire equipment access requirements to be met. The Tualitin Valley Fire and Rescue Department is who responds to emergencies in our area. We are protection code B8. Their closest station is about 2 miles from our house at 185th and Highway 26. There is a document authored by the Oregon Fire Code Metro Code Committee here that describes the requirements. Our contact at TVF&R is Drew DuBois at 503-356-4700. Relief from these requirements is possible if we install an approved automatic fire sprinkler system in accordance with the provisions of ORS 455.610(5)). I’ve never seen a house with one but perhaps there is some merit to looking into this both to simplify the site and also to better protect the house.

A fire truck needs to be able to get within 150′ of any portion of the structure. Since we are more than 150 feet from the road and a dead end, we must supply a turnaround. This could be a T, Y or cul-d-sac of adquate dimensions.

The road size is important. A vertical clearance of 13.5 feet is required. We have a couple of vertical and horizontal bottlenecks that can be opened by doing some pruning. The code calls for a width of 20 feet, but “when serving two or less dwelling units and accessory buildings (does two houses and a barn fit?), the driving surface may be reduced to 12 feet, although the unobstructed width shall be 20 feet. Turning radii for curves and turnarounds on reduced width roads shall be not less than 28 feet and 48 feet respectively, measured from the same enter point.”

This last item is the trickiest. We have a tight 90 degree turn upon coming on to the property. To make make it less sharp will require removing a forsythia and probably some rare black bamboo and/or moving our fence back. An alternative may be to get a wider easement from our neighbor or running the road out back of our current house.

Update from 8/9/07. Our fire marshall came to see the property and provided some excellent information.

If the we do the house as a renovation and the combined square footage of all living areas exceeds 3600 square feet, a residential sprinkler system will be required. We are confident of staying under this minimum but putting in a sprinkler sprinkler system still looks attractive for safety and may reduce the constraints for access including the need to run a driveway up to the house.  Note that a completely separate structure that is more than 15 feet from the current house would be counted as separate square footage. This poses the question of how far the new building could be from the existing one and still be considered a renovation.

Sprinklers are much less expensive when installed in new construction — about $1.50/sq ft.  They can reduce insurance costs and are much more effective at saving a structure from an internal fire.  The marshall noted most rural houses are an automatic loss in a fire. The department’s efforts go to preventing the fire from spreading.

There are lots of myths about sprinkers all going off when there is no fire or bursting.  However the heads trigger individually and not from kitchen smoke but from 165 degree heat. Breakage occurs in 1 of 16 million systems.

Systems should conform to NFPA 13D sprinkler standards.

The refrigerator in the house we will remodel is starting to whine and make other noises. It seems like a possible opportunity to get a head start on appliances for the new place, assuming we can predict the proper size and color we will want.

I found a good buyer’s guide in Home Power.

It seems you can save a big chunk of kwh/day with a well-made unit. Sun Frost leads the brands in efficiency. Super insulation and putting the compressor and coils on the top are the big reasons. The RF-16 looks like the best fit for our needs. But ouch, the cost delivered is about $3000! The most efficient conventional models are about $1000 for similar capacity. The Sun Frost uses about .48 kwh/day and the conventional uses about 1.25 kwh/day.

Sun Frost needs some competition!

What’s needed according to our architect is topographical survey of our house site. The result should show one-foot countours 150 from each edge of the house and well as the driveway and existing septic field. Large trees locations and the relationship of the survey area to the lot location should be noted.

One big question remains that affects the area to be surveyed and that is whether the existing drive to the home site will accomodate fire department trucks. The lane needs to be 20 feet wide and have adequate turning radius. I’m trying to schedule a visit by a fire department building inspector to evaluate options.

A search of the local providers yielded these links:

Alpha - Community Development - They have done work for the City of Portland and for Orenco Village.

Andy Paris & Associates - Recommended on Angie’s List.

Heritage Surveying - Angie’s List. No web site. (503) 255-6558.

Tetsuka - Helped at Max and Hildy’s Nursery.

Olson Engineering

Weddell Surveying - Angie’s List. No web site. (503) 292-8083

ZTEC Engineers - Recommended by architect. No web site. 3737 Se 8th Ave, Portland, OR 97202 - (503) 235-8795

It turns out that LIDAR imaging, if available, might satisfy the requirement for having 1 foot contour mapping. LIDAR mapping is performed from aircraft over large metro areas for the purpose of mapping flood plains, fault zones etc. The USGS pays for much of it and the data are then available to other government bodies. The GIS experts at Oregon’s Department of Geology and Minerals (DOGAMI) told me that data from recent flights over our area would be available in August 2007 from METRO, our regional government.

The means to heat and cool your home cheaply is outside in the dirt. Heat pumps provide a home with comfort without emissions and at substantial cost reductions from oil, gas or electric systems. The only requirement is digging and the space to do so. This heat pump technology is variously called ground-source, earth-coupled or geothermal. I’ve written primer which can be found here.