Helpful links if you plan to build in Los Altos Hills or Woodside

Los Altos Hills: 

For the Planning & Building Department:

http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/city-government/departments/building-and-planning

 

To see various documents, including the residential building guide, go to:

http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/documents-forms/browse/cat_view/74/88

then scroll down to where it says "Residential Building Guide" > Click Download.

 

To answer questions on drainage, sewer and other land development issues, in addition to performing technical reviews for site plans and subdivision plans in support of other Town Departments:

http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/city-government/departments/city-engineer

 

 

Woodside:

Building Department:

http://www.woodsidetown.org/building

 

Changes to the California Building Code Effective January 2014:

http://www.woodsidetown.org/building/changes-california-building-code-effective-january-2014

 

California Building Standard Commission:

http://www.bsc.ca.gov/

 

All new buildings or remodels that involve plumbing fixtures are required to have the flow rates as listed below :

http://www.woodsidetown.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/plumbing_fixture_upgradervsd_12-2013.pdf

 

To get a "primer" on building in Woodside, go to:

http://www.woodsidetown.org/building/basics-building-woodside

 

then scroll down to the link just under the word "Supporting Documents" > Click "Information for Most Building Permits".

http://www.woodsidetown.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/information_for_bldg_permits_-2-4-13.pdf

Mountain View Non-Profit Organization Helps Workers and Employers Meet

Mountain View Non-Profit Organization Helps Workers and Employers Meet (edit/delete)

The Day Worker Center of Mountain View provides reliable workers who are ready to serve anyone who needs help with housecleaning, yard work, moving, painting, plumbing, contruction, general labor, carpentry, electrical, leafleting, childcare, eldercare, handyman work, sign dance, etc.

The bilingual staff will help you find workers suitable for your job.

For further info you can visit or contact:

Day Worker Center of Mountain View

113 Escuela Ave (at end of Escuela going towards Central Expressway)

Mountain View, CA 94040

(650) 903-4102

www.dayworkercentermv.org

Monday thru Saturday 7am-5pm

Workers are available 24/7 by previous arrangement.


The service of identifying suitable workers for your specific job is provided by the Day Worker Center free of charge. However, you still must pay the worker for their work. A wage of $10-$15 per hour is suggested, with higher pay for special skills. You must agree on pay rate before you leave the Day Worker Center. You are expected to pay the workers in full daily. All of your payment will go to the worker. The Day Work Center does not charge anything for its services.

Although some workers have bicycles, you should plan on picking up and returning workers to the center. Some workers will not have food and drink with them. Please offer them something throughout the day. Please also show them the nearest restroom.



Robert Lei

Real Estate Professional

Century 21 El Camino

Sunnyvale, CA 94087

Kitchen Remodeling Cost Breakdown Estimate

Different people have different tastes, so often home buyers plan to remodel the kitchen to their individual tastes after buying their house.

What is an approximate cost for kitchen remodel?

Many contractors will tell you that the overall cost of a complete kitchen remodel could run from $60k-$100k.



Some of the costs are components that the homeowner chooses:
Appliances could cost from $10k - $30k, depending on which appliances you choose.
Cabinets (whether paint-grade or stain-grade) could run from $12k -$14k
Countertops, assuming nice granite countertops, could cost from $5k-$7k

The Electrical Circuits often need to be upgraded in the kitchen to get a permit
Count on 7 new circuits for an approximate cost of $7k
1. Dishwasher
2. Refrigerator
3. Garbage Disposal
4. Microwave
5. Oven 220V
6. Lights - Fluorescent
7. Other

The Total, if you add up stuff you have to do, comes to approximately $65-$70k.

PLUMBING
It's a good idea to change all the pipes to copper at this point. Whether it currently is copper or galvanized piping under the house, you'll want to run in copper from the floor up during the kitchen remodel, so you never have to run through it again. If you ever have to repipe to copper underneath the house, the pipes above the floor in the kitchen will already be copper, so you would not have to rip it up. You would be able to just tie the new copper pipes underneath into the existing copper pipes above the floor.

If the sink stays in same place, you will save yourself from some more extra plumbing work.

Broccoli floating up into my laundry utility sink?! How did that happen?

Why is broccoli floating up into my laundry utility sink?! This could happen to you too. In some homes, the kitchen drain line connects to the laundry drain line. There's nothing wrong with this. However, make sure to finish your broccoli. I witnesses one homeowner have broccoli coming up through her laundry utility sink. Apparently, her kids didn't like broccoli, so she dumped lots of broccoli down her garbage disposal. The broccoli clogged the path from her kitchen sink toward the main plumbing line. With that direction blocked, the waste from the kitchen sink was now forced to flow in the other direction, toward the laundry utility sink in the garage. Bits of broccoli were floating up into that garage sink.

The solution was to call C&K Plumbing & Drain Service. He pointed out a vent that was sticking up out of the roof above the kitchen. That was the place to snake down into the kitchen drain lines. He pointed to another vent that was on the roof above the washer dryer hookup. Those were for the laundry lines. Furthermore, on the roof above the master bathroom and the hall bathroom were one vent each for snaking down into those two bathroom drain lines if needed someday.

C&K Plumbing provided this drain service for kitchen sink drain and laundry drain with roof power snaking for a total price of $120. That was quite reasonable for short notice call on a Sunday with his assistant having to carry that heavy snake machine up onto the roof.

Let this be a lesson to all, EAT your broccoli, do NOT toss it down the drain. Even if you chop it into tiny bits with the garbage disposal, it can mix with laundry lint to clog your drains. If you really can't stand broccoli, then throw it away in the garbage rather than down the kitchen sink.