Thanks for looking into the
Hulbert Home at 1547 Yale Avenue, Salt Lake
City, UT. We purchased this beautiful home in 2007
with the intention of
expanding its size by adding an addition to the rear of the home. The
home
is a 2,300 square foot home on two above ground levels and a basement.
As
we worked with the city and our architect, a plan emerged. As the
details
of the plan took shape, our consultants started telling us the details
of
the plan. We asked for a cost estimate. This is when we
learned that the
foundation of the home was failing (it has sunk 6" in some locations)
which
also caused the brick walls on top of the foundation to fail. The
foundation may continue to sink. There is not easy fix for this
condition.
Some of my neighbors refuse to believe that this is true.
Here are the details: The home is being demolition because the
cost to
repair the foundation and exterior brick walls is excessively high,
especially considering these tough economic times. The cost is
excessive
because the process of repairing the foundation and brick walls is
complicated and labor intensive. The brick walls rest on the
foundation,
together with the brick walls, form the structure of the house which
supports the second floor and roof structure. Because this is an
all brick
structure (no wood stud walls), if you take down the brick walls to
repair
them, something else must replace them to support the second floor and
roof
during the repairs. That something is a shoring system which
consists of
steel beams placed through the house on the second floor and roof,
resting
on columns to support the home after the brick is removed. So the
process
goes like this: a new foundation would put in place, the shoring would
be
installed to support the home, the existing brick walls taken down brick
by
brick, cleaned and then reinstalled on the new foundation, last the
shoring
would be removed. This is basically rebuilding 1/2 of the exterior
of the
home and foundation The cost to complete this is over $150,000.
The
repairs must be completed if the home is to last another 80 years.
No one
would invest $300,000 to remodel the interior of the home, unless
they
first fixed the structure of the home.
This is the new home we had designed for us by a prominent local
architect
who has completed many projects in the Harvard - Yale area over 20
years.
Many of my neighbors have been spreading misinformation on the size,
mass
and height of my home calling it a "MCMANSION" and stating that it isn't
compatible with the other homes on Yale Avenue.
It unfortunate that the information being shared about our home is not
placed in context with the other existing homes on our street. To
this end
I had my architect prepare a series of exhibits. The aerial photo
is from
Google earth and shows the homes on the north side of Yale; two to the
east
of our home and two to the west, with the footprint of our new home in
the
middle. All the information shown comes from the records of the
Salt Lake
County assessor.
The facts show that our new home actually is compatible with the
existing
homes. As shown above, the Morgan home has a total of 5,194 square
feet
above ground and occupies 31% of the lot. The Jedrziewski Home
next door
has only 2,594 square feet above ground and occupies only 16% of the
lot.
The Parkin just east of my home, has 2,817 square feet above ground and
occupies 25% of the lot. The Seninger home has 3,880 square feet
above
ground and covers 34% of the lot. Our new home will have 4,830
Square feet
above ground and occupies only 23% of the lot area. Based on this
factual
information, our new home will fit comfortably in the middle of the
upper
end of the range, between the Morgan home which is the largest at 5,194
square feet and the Seninger home at 3,880 square feet.
Just to be clear, the site coverage percentage includes both the home
and
garage areas - which makes it an apples to apples comparison since my
home
and the Morgan home have garages attached to the home.
These facts clearly show that the size of our home is compatible with
the
homes adjacent to our house on both the east and west sides.
