Tight Quarters
Over the years, Schultz Miller has perfected the art of working in tight quarters. More often than not, it’s how we build in Seattle. We’ve worked on narrow lots with neighboring houses nearly to the property lines, super-steep lots, lots requiring alley access, and small lots with little room for storing materials or setting up equipment. Sometimes, as in the case of an underground garage we built recently on Queen Anne, we’ve confronted all of the above.
The garage would be bunkered into the backyard, facing a narrow alley below the house, where stood a wall of vintage concrete topped by a rusty chain link fence. Construction would require extensive shoring (a phalanx of “soldier piles,” steel I-beams sunk into the ground with timbers fitted between them during excavation to form a retaining wall), substantial concrete work, and careful re-grading, with all of the large machinery that goes along with these tasks. Neighboring houses would be just across the alley, perilously below the job site. There was literally no room for an error.
A job like this generates a certain amount of noise and commotion, but we made a concerted effort to reach out the neighbors, to keep reasonable working hours, and to schedule potentially disruptive work for opportune moments. The new garage is a welcome addition to the alley, in keeping with the ivy-covered walls but with a vibrant character all its own.
The piles were installed by subcontractor McDowell Northwest; excavation and sitework were by Active Environmental, Inc.; and concrete work was by Central Cascade Concrete.