Colorado Homes & Lifestyles Magazine Article on 1109 Pine

The Jan/Feb Colorado Homes & Lifestyles magazine featured an article about our house remodel.  Photographer David Patterson did a fabulous job with the photography and writer Eliza Cross kept the article focused and precise.  David Patterson very generously provided me copies of the gorgeous photographs.

Board Formed Concrete Wall

Board formed concrete

Wall of board formed concrete

Wood board frames

Board forms next to regular poured concrete

Our contractor Joel Smiley suggested that we make a board formed concrete wall in the studio apartment we are creating in the detached garage next to our house.   Since we had to remove the entire north wall and strengthen it with a new wall, it was an opportunity to introduce a design element into the interior scheme.  Board formed concrete walls are created when wood is applied to the frame.  When the wet concrete is poured into the frame, the concrete dries against the grain of the wood, developing a wood-like appearance when the frames are removed. Depending on the type and texture of the wood used in the frames, the result can be very smooth or rough.  We wanted to achieve a smooth look so our boards were tightly applied to the frames. The north wall will be divided between a small kitchen, bathroom and built in bed.  The board formed concrete wall will be an accent wall for the small kitchen and built in bed area.  Against other woods and materials, it will provide some visual interest to the space.  It will be exciting to see how it all comes together when the other elements are added.

Renovating from Inside Out

North wall before demo

Removal of North wall and ceiling

We have begun construction to convert our 1920s garage into an Owner's Accessory Unit (OAU).  Because we live in the Mapleton Historic District of Boulder and cannot alter the exterior appearance of the building, we are renovating the garage from the inside out.  We will need to build a stronger interior structure that ties into the exterior structure, a structure which has some major weaknesses.   The first step in the renovation is shoring up the north wall, which was built against a steep hillside when it was constructed in the 1920s.  The wall developed major cracks over the past 90 years, becoming more structurally unsound after the Boulder floods of September, 2013.  With some small but mighty equipment, our contractor Joel removed the entire back wall and some of the western and eastern walls.  He also removed some of the slab, which will have to be completely removed and re-poured in order to bring in plumbing lines and new radiant floor heating.

Owner's Accessory Unit (OAU) Application

interior view of garage and carriage doors

Applying with the city of Boulder to convert our 1920s garage into an Owner's Accessory Unit (OAU) is fairly involved process and we needed to hire an architect and contractor to help us provide all of the supporting documents.  We have hired our old team of Joel Smiley of Smiley Construction and Lisa Egger, AIA to help with this project. In 2011, Lisa and Joel helped us completely renovate our 1905 Victorian home on Pine Street, working with the Landmarks board to comply with Mapleton Hill Historic District alteration requirements.  Last September, we decided to see if our garage was eligible for an OAU conversion.  In December, we were granted a variance by the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BOZA) to use the existing garage for the OAU.  Next, we had to submit a comprehensive OAU application to the City of Boulder  for administrative review by the planning department.  The application included a checklist of items for review such as a professional survey, site plans, floor drawings, proof of ownership, variance approval documentation, etc. In addition, in order to be granted an an OAU, we needed to show adequate parking (1 off-street parking space) and 60 square feet of designated green space.  After we submitted the application and fee ($420), we posted a public sign for 10+ days during the review.  In our case, we cleared most of the requirements with our existing site conditions and construction plans with the exception of our water service.  The city is requiring that we upgrade our water service from 3/4" to 1".  We will need a separate permit to complete this work.

New Year, New Project

There is a joke in Boulder that garages are more valued for sports equipment storage than car storage. In fact, garages in this mountain town seem to be used for everything but cars.  Our garage is no exception. We don't have a fleet of elite mountain bikes or space hogging kayaks, but we easily filled our generous two car garage with all the random and cumbersome things in our lives, plus a few cruiser bikes.  Our excuse was partly practical. The small and awkward carriage doors on the 1920s structure make opening and closing the garage quite tricky, and because we are not allowed to change them due to their historic significance, settling for convenient storage seemed fine.   Then the Boulder floods hit hard in September and we be began to look at the garage with fresh eyes and to ask a fundamental question: was there a better purpose for this 500 square foot structure beyond gratuitous storage?

Our 2011 land survey revealed that our property sits in a medium density zoning block within the Mapleton Hill historic district.  We are zoned RMX-1, which means we are zoned medium density and zoned for an Owner's Accessory Unit (OAU).   OAUs are complete housekeeping units that can be legally rented.  They can exist either within a primary dwelling or as a separate structure. Many older properties have garages and carriage houses that have been converted to informal guest houses, but unless you get the formal OAU license, you are only permitted a sink and toilet (no shower or kitchen) for your guest house.

Our preliminary discussions with the city in late September proved promising.  We met with the zoning, building and Landmarks departments and got an initial green light to pursue an OAU.  In October, we hit a bump.  Our landmarked building was actually too large.  They allow 450 square feet for an OAU and ours was over 600.  We were caught between two competing city codes: we had a landmarked building that couldn't be altered and a yet we were over the limit on the allowable OAU size.  This situation led us to take our case to the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BOZA) to get a variance.  In December, our case was presented to BOZA and our variance was approved.   It was a unanimous decision to allow us to use the full size of the building for the OAU.  The next step was to apply for the OAU with the city.