"Green" remodeling for older homes

As we plan our bath and kitchen remodeling projects, we are trying to incorporate as many environmentally friendly aspects as possible to the design and selection of materials. This may include a sun-tube for day lighting, looking for tile that is produced and transported with conservation and recycling in mind, finding recycled countertop and flooring materials, and requiring that our contractor recycle as much removed material as possible. Quoted from the new website, www.regreenprogram.org, "The American Society of Interior Designers’ Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council have partnered on the development of best practice guidelines and targeted educational resources for sustainable residential improvement projects." Check the site to download the guidelines. Renovation tips can be found at the USGBC site www.greenhomeguide.org. Contractors who work in remodeling can become certified in environmentally friendly construction practices. Asking contractors if they have any of these designations can encourage them to get the training, as they perceive consumer interest:

1. Green Advantage has an education program, completion of which confers GA Certification
2. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) issues the Certified Green Professional designation
3. National Association of the Remodeling Industry education program can confer a Green Certified Professional designation.

Make sure your house numbers are visible in the dark

The fire & rescue departments find our houses easier with luminescent numbers painted on our curbs at the driveway curb-cuts. In previous years, we waited until someone put a notice on our door that they would be in the neighborhood to paint, and we would leave the payment on the door when they came by. However, it's been a number of years since any company solicited our business to refresh our painted numbers. There is a company that will do this work, if you call. They do a great job, use reflective paint, and add reflective crystals to the numbers. They can paint in a couple of color schemes. Call David Adamo, 714-580-0582, and leave a message if you'd like this service. You can email him at curbcareplus@yahoo.com. He is charging $19.95. In addition, he can paint iron railings, lamp posts, etc.

Let's get organized

It's been quite some time since Tilden Woods had a civic association meeting...so long that many people in our neighborhood don't even know that we used to have a civic association, collect dues ($15 per year), take care of our entrance, distribute a quarterly newsletter, hold community events, and sponsor occassional improvements at Farmland School. We paid (with Old Farm) for the bulletin board at Old Stage and Tilden Lane, which was built by neighbor volunteers. Tilden Woods Civic Association pressured the county to provide some traffic relief on Tildenwood Drive and Old Stage Road, which resulted in the traffic calming islands and circle that help slow the cars. We were rather active as a community when fighting the Montrose Parkway, but interest in our community has faded. Our new challenges are the maintenance of the entrance, possible rebuilding of the gazebo at the entrance, and monitoring of the traffic, now that the Montrose Parkway construction created a dedicated turn lane into Tildenwood Drive. Luxmanor Citizens Association has been quite proactive lately, working with the county to find solutions for cut-through traffic. They have a traffic committee. Shouldn't we have an organization that will participate in these discussions? Please post your comments- does anyone have a suggestion for how to get our civic association jump-started? Old Farm has had difficulty in organizing as well. Do you think that Old Farm, Walnut Woods, Hickory Woods, and Tilden Woods should re-organize with one meeting, election, and board? Do we have anyone in the overall communities (our FarmlandNeighbors.com community) who can serve as treasurer, or someone who knows how to set up the legal framework for our new organization? Does anyone know how to structure insurance for the new board? For those of you not familiar with a civic association, this is not a mandatory homeowner's association. Dues are voluntary (but highly suggested!) and there is no architectural control over what you can or cannot build on your property.

Update on the TW Drive cherry trees

Believe it or not, we got the new cherry trees that we asked for! Thanks so much to the county office of tree maintenance. Although the original plan was to have all of the old trees removed or pruned, with stumps taken out, prior to the planting, a vast majority of the trees to be planted were put in a week ago, with some additional plantings last Friday. I called Brett Linkletter, tree maintenance program director, to find out what changed the plans, and he said that, at this late date in the fiscal year, he would have to wait until the next fiscal year begins to have the contractor come and remove the old trees. After that, there will be a time gap before the rest of the new trees can be planted in their places. We are still trying to find out who will landscape the earth berm along Tildenwood Drive behind the new access to Faith Methodist Church. The contractor for the parkway is still responsible for completing the pavers on the traffic island and replanting it. There will be a redbud tree put on the island.

The "Flat People" are gone!

Finally, the owners of Montrose Crossing have removed the hideous sculpture that was on the northeast corner of the Montrose Road/Rockville Pike intersection. It was removed a week ago, presumably to make way for the construction project about to begin- the tunneling of Montrose Parkway under Rockville Pike. Since it was installed years ago, the "sculpture" was reviled by everyone I ever met in North Bethesda. It was a circle of huge flat consumers in primary colors. It seemed that the shopping center owners, who commissioned and installed it, consider the residents of the area to be devoid of depth or subtlety. After seeing many of the inspiring and interesting pieces of public art in other parts of the metro area, it was disappointing beyond measure to have this prominent piece "in our face." I am thrilled to see it go and hope that it never reappears. Public art should have some basis in the art world.

Montrose Road intersection opens June 16

Today, I stopped by the offices for Concrete General, the contractor building the Montrose Parkway West project, asking for clarification on some dates, construction goals, and issues we've had with the project "progress." Here is the recap:

1. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10am on Monday, June 16, for the Montrose Road bridge and tie-in intersection (in front of St. Elizabeth's Church) opening. This will eliminate the current detour for westbound Montrose Road traffic, and we will no longer have to turn onto East Jefferson St. when heading toward I-270. Montrose Road will intersect Montrose Parkway.
2. The piece of Montrose Parkway between E. Jefferson St. and old Old Georgetown Rd. (behind La Madeleine) is complete, but will not be opened to traffic until the state intersection project is built. This will take several years. The intersection project takes Montrose Parkway under Rockville Pike and dumps it back onto Randolph Road before the CSX tracks. Funding has been allocated (the county is "lending" some of the funds to the state to start construction sooner; don't hold your breath for getting this money back), but engineering is not complete. Concrete General won the construction contract (big surprise). So, we have a completed road section that will sit there, unused, for years, while all eastbound Montrose Parkway traffic has to turn at E. Jefferson St.
3. There is some confusion about the trees that were planted today on Tildenwood Drive. The old cherry trees were not taken down first, and I still don't know if the county planted the new trees (unlikely), or they were mistakenly installed by Concrete General's landscaping crew (more likely). I will write again about this when I find out what happened.
4. Final paving for Montrose Road & Parkway will occur between July and September, and Concrete General will consider the project complete. They think it's likely to be July-August, but are saying September to be conservative.
5. The sign for Hitching Post Lane at Montrose Road is missing. Conc. Gen'l's rep told me that they have the sign, but, until the final paving and re-alignment of the lanes, they can't install it. Hoping that it will be up within the next month.
6. They still haven't finished the brickwork or planting in what remains of the traffic island on Tildenwood Drive. Promises, promises. I asked about planting shrubbery or ground cover around the new eastern redbud tree that's supposed to go in, but the staff on hand were not aware of any landscaping plans that included anything other than a single tree. Negotiations continue.
7. I understood that Concrete General was responsible for planting trees and other screening on the berm next to the sidewalk on Tildenwood Drive (between the sidewalk and the new storm management pond behind Faith Methodist Church). Staff at the office had no record of this requirement. Again, I will follow up on this with the county tree maintenance department and with Roger Brown, the project manager for Concrete General.
8. There are currently no crosswalks at the intersection of Montrose Parkway and E. Jefferson Street. I have had to take my life into my hands getting around that intersection on foot or on my bike. Final plans show crosswalks for all four sides of the intersection, with pedestrian signals to be installed. I hope to find out when this will occur and let you all know.

Paying for "greening" your home

As of December 31, 2007, the federal tax credit incentives for installing energy-efficient windows, insulation, HVAC systems, etc. expired. Our current federal government has not yet re-instituted any of these incentives. Hopefully, this will be corrected (and post-dated, if we're lucky). Meanwhile, if you want to keep track of possible financial incentives, check out the federal, state, and local government programs to see what is available to you. They do change from year to year, so be sure to check often. We found that it is possible to install advanced & efficient systems that, after tax credits or other incentives, cost practically the same as a standard installation would have cost. After that, energy savings into the future are "gravy" and we are all doing what we can to reduce our impact on the planet. Besides, when you are ready to sell your home, you have some very positive selling features! Here are some sites that can help identify financial incentives: Federal - www.energytaxincentives.org Maryland - http://dsireusa.org/library/includes/map2.cfm?CurrentPageID=1&State=MD&RE=1&EE=1 This site (the home page, which covers the entire US, is www.dsireusa.org) also has links to federal programs and local programs, so the Montgomery County program is linked, as well. Montgomery County - http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/deptmpl.asp?url=/content/dep/rewards.asp Currently, this site is showing that the Energy Rewards program is out of funding. However, it has a lot of useful links to energy programs with Pepco, etc., and could be a future source of incentives. I wouldn't rule it out. Be sure to post any comments if you have any additional ideas.

The Cost of Commuting vs. Housing Costs

The cost of commuting and getting to the activities and places you want to go to has become a significant factor in deciding if a house is affordable or not. Along with the calculation of house size, determining the cost of transportation, parking, and the value of your time spent commuting can determine which neighborhoods you would consider living in. In past years, the decision of location vs. house size and age was not foremost for many relocating buyers. With the rise in gas prices, parking costs, and the terrible toll a long commute can take, I am finding that buyers are more likely to list location and access to transit as a higher priority than they did in the past. Many buyers are more willing to consider buying a condominium next to a transit station, shopping, and entertainment venues than in the past, even if the price is comparable to that of a detached home in a more suburban setting. I am often asked why a buyer would pay $650,000-$1,000,000 for a condo when, for the same price, he/she could have a house, yard, and greater privacy. The convenience of walking to stores, movies, and, sometimes, work, coupled with the ability to lock up and go on a trip can tip the balance. Add to that the modern, elegant surroundings of many of the new condo buildings (which often offer a security desk, fitness room, pool, business and function rooms, etc.), and it really is a choice to live in smaller space of high quality near "the action." Here in North Bethesda, we can have the best of all these worlds. There are plenty of luxurious condos to choose from, but we also have the advantage of the local amenities in the detached homes of Tilden Woods, Old Farm, North Farm, Walnut Woods, Old Hickory Woods, Luxmanor, Windemere, Montrose, Garrett Park, Wickford, and other lovely communities surrounding the North Bethesda "core." A new website is rich in analytical tools that help a buyer determine the travel-housing affordability of neighborhoods throughout the US. The DC Metro area has been charted on this site, www.htaindex.cnt.org.

North Bethesda real estate market

The market for detached houses has fallen into two categories; houses that are in good condition and are priced appropriately for this market (more about this below), and those whose owners are trying to recapture prices from a year or two ago. The first group is selling. The second group will linger on the market as buyers check them out, either in person or online, then reject them at the current prices. Buyers are actively looking at homes; I am having excellent "traffic" in open houses this spring. Yesterday, at an open house on Pooks Hill Road, several buyers told me that, although they had been thinking about buying for some time, they were getting more serious now that interest rates are dipping. No one knows if prices will stabilize or decline a bit further, but the threat of an interest rate increase in future months may cause some buyers who had been on the fence to commit to making an offer. As to the offers themselves, most buyers will make a very low first offer to test what the "floor" is for the sellers. Sellers should not be angered by this; in the buyers' position , they would likely do the same thing. The critical matter is the intent of the two parties. If the buyer is looking for a particular type of property at a reasonable price, then a house that meets those criteria will be attractive to that buyer and a proper price can be negotiated. Buyers whose main goal is to find a true, outright bargain in this market will continue to make serial offers on multiple properties until they find the seller who will take a particularly low price. For the sellers, the most successful tactic is to evaluate the current competition, the active listings that are similar to their home that a typical buyer would view before making a choice. Then, the sellers can set an asking price that will communicate to the buyers that "this house is a better buy today than the other ones you are looking at." This should be done with consultation with a really experienced Realtor who has success in selling properties in a slower market. Choosing an asking price based on the comparable sales of a year ago will not bring a buyer today. Buyers will only check comparables after they have selected a property. They will choose the property to make an offer on based on the current inventory, then check comparables as one of the tools to determine the price to offer. The newer listings, priced propertly, are actually selling within 45-75 days of coming on the market. Properties that are perceived by buyers' agents and buyers to be overpriced for what they offer (against other active listings) will linger for 12-200+ days on the market. The average days on market for detached houses in the Montrose/Old Georgetown wedge area is changing: Sold homes (these have gone to settlement and, therefore, were likely to have started on the market in the fall/winter of 2007) average 91 days, Currently Under Contract (these are the most recent spring 2008 sales) average 57 days on the market.

Saying goodbye to a dear old friend

Just before midnight on March 16th, Helen Zuppas, our dear next-door neighbor, passed away quietly in her sleep. Helen had been ill for some time, tenderly cared for by her daughter, sons, and daughters-in-law. We will miss her & her kind and gentle spirit, and will remember her for her devotion to her family, intelligence, smile, and the way she and Simos welcomed us and our children (very small when we first moved in!) into their home.

Retrofitting an older house for energy efficiency

When replacing the HVAC and hot water systems in our house this past summer, we were faced with a 44 year-old brick home, supplied by natural gas. Research indicated that a geo-thermal system would be too disruptive and expensive, while installing a standard high-efficiency natural gas forced air system would not provide the fuel efficiency that we were after. A solar hot water system or gas tankless system for water would have been workable, but, since we had to replace the furnace, AC, and hot water heater at the same time, the best choice was for an integrated hydronic system, which involved a natural-gas fired ultra-high efficiency boiler. This provided heat for the furnace (no more "dry" heat), still utilizing the forced-air ductwork, while providing virtually "free" hot water all winter as a residual benefit of the HVAC's boiler system. This system met the federal standard for energy credits, while costing only about 10% more than the installation costs of a new standard high-efficiency system. It is working flawlessly. Energy conservation and sustainable living are among my major concerns, and I have made a study of many of the techniques, materials, and systems that are being developed to "green" our world. I am delighted to share this information with any neighbor, customer, or client who is also interested in this exciting and promising area. Reducing your energy usage, living "greener," and, in general, being more sensitive to our impact on the environment is a huge area of study. Among the topics are

1. Modifications that can be made to an older home to conserve energy (such as adding insulation, plugging up gaps around windows and exterior outlets, replacing windows, doors, and old appliances with Energy Star items, installing solar or wind systems)
2. Materials that can be used in construction that are sustainable and renewable
3. Lifestyle changes to reduce waste (such as choosing products with less packaging, choosing items that are local, changing lights to compact fluorescents, and composting)
4. Choosing transportation & workplace options that reduce the use of the automobile

A note about compact fluorescent light bulbs. We tried many of them, and find that, if you search for the bulbs that are rated 2700-2800k (kelvin), you will have a bulb that most closely replicates the light quality and color of an incandescent bulb. The lower the kelvin rating, the "yellower" the light; the higher the rating, the "bluer" the light. We found the higher k bulbs to be very harsh. You cannot use the standard compact flourescent bulbs on circuits with dimmer switches; there are special compact bulbs for that purpose. We are using them everywhere we can, and find virtually no difference at all. They also last many, many times longer that the comparable incandescent bulbs. Just be sure to take the "spent" bulbs to the Shady Grove transfer center (not in your recycling bin) so that they can be disposed of properly; there are trace amounts of mercury inside the tubes.

Church tower driving neighbors crazy

The new bell tower at St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church is lit all night long, and the bells are set to ring every 15 minutes, causing havoc in the houses across the street on Tildenwood Lane. Our neighbors need our support to ask the church to turn off the lights after 9pm and to stop ringing the bells all day, every day. Below is a letter I received from Julie Winston, outlining the difficulties they are having: The bell tower started operation around December 10th (we were away till the 16th, but they certainly coordinated with the opening of the Montrose Parkway). We returned from our trip and the entire upstairs of my house (6709 Tildenwood Lane) was lit up...thought I had been robbed, but found it was the LIGHT from the church bell tower brilliantly shining into my upstairs bathroom, hallway and bedroom. Little did I realizethat the church BELLS would affect me even more than this problem. These "lovely" bells ring EVERY 15 minutes all day long, and even more so on Sundays. They are on a BIG BEN system like in London, and very few churches buy this program because it does affect the neighbors. I can accept Sundays, as this is church time. I contacted the church 6 times via phone, and was told it was the holiday season and no one would be able to respond to my message until after the 1st of January. No one ever returned my call, but on January 8th, I finally spoke to a Mr. Foria who is the building engineer. He said he was surprised to hear about the light being an issue, and would try to dim it with a filter. I asked for it to be turned off after 9pm, as it was disturbing our sleep. He told me that was impossible as they wanted it to be seen all night from the MONTROSE PARKWAY! The noise from the bells was not an issue, as far as he was concerned. He never did get back to me, as he had promised. I called the county Dept of Environment , and Dan McAnn (240-777-7743) has been out here to check the sound levels and has even spoken personally to Mr. Foria at the church, but to no avail. Dan says the sound levels are ok and they do go off at 9pm, so that is acceptable to the county, but he agrees that the quality of life is definitely disrupted by the bell sounds every 15 minutes. This is not a way to live..... the light is shining on my breakfast room table, in my den, and my entire upstairs... and the bells are driving me crazy!!!! Happy retirement at 6709 Tildenwood Lane. At least 4 of the residents of this street are affected as well, and I haven't asked the remaining houses as of yet. I so appreciate the community's support in resolving this awful problem. See the article below re: Reston Church bells, law suit. Thanks again, Julie 301-468-9399 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/30/AR2006113001419_pf.html

Montrose Road bridge construction

Dan & I just took a walk over to the closed section of Montrose Road. They are well on their way to creating the new bridge over Old Farm Creek. The photos here were taken while walking on the St. Elizabeth's Church side of the street, heading east toward East Jefferson Street. You can see the Montrose Parkway veering off to the right. To recap what the construction is all about:

1. Montrose Road used to have a "dip" over Old Farm Creek between St. Elizabeth's Church and Treeline Way (townhouses). The creek passed under Montrose Road through a small culvert. They are raising Montrose Road about 7' above where is used to be, eliminating much of the dip, removing the culvert, and building a bridge over the creek that will be large enough to accommodate a wildlife crossing beneath it. I believe that they are also talking about having a human path (bike path? - I'll be checking on this) to link our new parkway bike path to the north side of Montrose Road, into Rockville.
2. Once Montrose Road, traveling westbound, crosses the new bridge over the creek, it will veer left (south, and away from St. Elizabeth's) to intersect with the parkway. When you are on the parkway, you can see what looks like an incomplete intersection, with the booms for the traffic lights already installed. That's where Montrose Road will tie into Montrose Parkway.
3. The part of the old Montrose Road that went in front of St. Elizabeth's (between Tildenwood Drive and the new Montrose Road/Montrose Parkway intersection) will be removed.

So, here are the pictures of the construction so far...

View eastward from Tildenwood Drive & Montrose Road, taken from the north side. You can see the parkway veering off to the right. The construction is further along on the left, on the closed section of Montrose Road.

Here is where the construction begins, just past St. Elizabeth's old entrance.

Continuing eastward, they built a temporary footbridge over the creek for pedestrians & bicyclists. This will be removed after the new roadway is opened.

Standing on the footbridge, this is the view north into the Rockville side.

Turn around in the same spot, and this is the view south into the construction of the new Montrose Road bridge. The cylinder is the old culvert that used to go under Montrose Road, with Old Farm Creek channelized through it. Flanking each side of the culvert are the forms, under construction, for the embankments of the new bridge. You can see how much higher it will be than the old roadbed was.

More of the same. Montrose Parkway is in the distance, past the strip of trees.

We have crossed the pedestrian bridge and are now standing in the middle of Montrose Road, near the townhouses, looking back (west) across the gulf where they are building the bridge (between where the cranes are). It is apparent that the "dip" is now pretty much gone. On this side, they are also working on building the new roadbed.

Montrose Parkway construction problems

There are still many problems with the way the contractor has left the neighborhoods around the parkway as they work on completing construction. If you know of issues beyond the ones I will outline below, please post them as comments so that I can bring all of our problems to the contractor and the county for correction.

1. The Tilden Woods gazebo, just east of Tildenwood Drive & Montrose, is falling down and needs to be replaced or removed. In fact, contractors who illegally removed trees from the adjacent property felled limbs on the gazebo, making a bad situation worse.
2. On Tildenwood Drive, the traffic island was ripped up and has not been rebuilt or replanted.
3. Sidewalks were not built along the new length of Hitching Post Lane; the sound walls only allow vehicles through so that walkers cannot follow Hitching Post Lane to the swim club.
4. Numerous cherry trees were cut down along Tildenwood Drive, particulary near the new storm water management pond south of the back of Faith United Methodist Church and near the intersection with Montrose Road, leaving large blank spaces in our tree canopy. I have arranged with a county department to have these replaced, no thanks to the parkway construction contractor.
5. The contractor was to replant and landscape the earth berm between the storm water management pond (just mentioned above) and the sidewalk.

That's just near the entrance to Tilden Woods! Further east on the parkway,

1. The bike path gets to East Jefferson Street, continues on the other side, but there is no crosswalk. In fact, the vehicular traffic around that corner does not stop, and it is decidedly treacherous to cross the street to stay on the bike path.
2. The county transportation department (DPWT) has striped and re-striped the pavement along East Jefferson Street so that lanes suddenly appear, disappear, merge, and make forced turns in such a bizarre pattern that accidents are nearly a daily occurrance.
3. Although the utility companies have finished moving cables from the poles that were in the middle of the widened Montrose Road, not all of the poles have been removed. Notably, there is a pole in the street at the corner of Montrose & Tildenwood Drive. After I sent an email to the county, the contractor put a few barrels around it and nailed neon stripes to it, but it's an accident waiting to happen if someone rounds that corner and doesn't see it (or the barrels get blown aside, as one did this past week).

Do you know of other problems to be addressed? Be sure to post them. Thanks.

Street trees - County policy

The county will be replacing cherry trees on Tildenwood Drive due to the immense destruction that was caused by the construction crews when building the Montrose Parkway. Since first notifying everyone that the dead trees will be removed and new ones planted, a lot of people on other streets have asked to have trees removed and/or planted. First, I will outline the county tree maintenance department policy, as I understand it (having discussed these requests with Brett Linkletter, the tree maintenance program manager). Next, we can discuss the Montrose Parkway construction "fallout" as it pertains to the contiguous neighborhoods. I will put that into another post. A short course in ownership...property ownership does not extend to the street curbs. The grassy strips at the edge of the streets are generally easements for utilities and the county to do public maintenance. As a side note, the street itself is a public right-of-way, and parking along the streets is open to the public at large, if parking is permitted on that street. No property owner "owns" or controls the parking space on the street in front of his/her house. This issue has come up in the past, so I thought I'd clarify it. The trees next to the street are county-controlled. If there are power lines on that side of the street, pruning of the trees is done by Pepco, with the intention of keeping the lines clear and free from breakage. Pepco's tree-trimming subcontractors are notably unskilled at properly pruning for appropriate future growth. The county government is not responsible for these prunings. Any tree that is a county street tree in poor health or decayed beyond saving can be removed by the county, with a new tree planted in its place. The new tree may not be the same variety or species as the one removed. Since our communities were built 45-50 years ago, the science of street trees has grown, so that the list of "approved" trees for different locations has changed. In addition, the tree removal and subsequent replanting schedules vary widely. It may take a year to get a dead tree removed, and another year to get its replacement planted. The county will not plant a tree just to fill in a blank space; if there wasn't a tree there, they won't be likely to add one. It is up to each homeowner to notice if there is a problem with the street trees in front of his/her house. The county doesn't cruise the streets, inspecting all the trees. If you note that your tree(s) are dead or diseased, the county will respond if you notify them of the problem. You can reach Mr. Linkletter at brett.linkletter@montgomerycountymd.gov or by phone at 240-777-6000.