Page 39 - Flathead Beacon // 8.26.15

ENERGIZING THOUGHTS DAVID BOPP GOOD INTENTIONS
BUILDING PERMITS
BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED IN KALISPELL AND WHITEFISH IN JULY
THE ROAD TO HE_ _ IS PAVED with good intentions, according to rough translation of either Saint Bernard or Virgil. Well, here at Flathead Electric, good intentions don’t lead there but they can certainly lead to very high electric bills. Often home- owners or contractors trying to do the “right” thing for efficiency but on a lim- ited budget, will cut a corner to complete a job. The corner that is cut to save a few cents can often create a stream of lost dollars later.
I see this in action on an almost daily basis and was struck by one example recently that just boggled my mind. A house was having in-floor radiant heat installed in the concrete slab of the walk- out basement. They spent money insu- lating under the slab but put no insula- tion on the edge of the slab which is the part that sees the coldest temperatures. This would be the equivalent of putting a vent for a forced air furnace blowing out- side of your home or installing a base- board heater on your front porch. It just doesn’t make sense.
In simple terms: they put on a warm pair of boots but forgot to put any pants or underwear on before heading out into the cold. Sure they could now give the house a nice jacket, but it will always be missing its pants. Could you fix this? Yes, but with limited ability. At the moment it wouldn’t even pass our building codes. What would it have cost to fix this? Maybe a few hundred dollars. Is this the only example of good inten- tions that weren’t followed through that I have seen recently? Not even close.
I inspected a house that was having a high-efficiency heat pump installed (lots of money), but the duct work was being run outside of the house’s insulation. Not only that, but where the ductwork headed out of the insulation there was a huge hole around the ductwork. In short, they cut a large hole in their hat andputafaninit.Notthebestwayto stay warm in the winter, but it saved a couple hundred dollars in the cost of installing the ducting.
In another house I saw a framer (with
no insulation experience) installing the insulation. By the time it was done, it was so full of gaps, holes, and com- pressed areas it was worth maybe half of what it could have been. It looked like someone had taken a cheese grater to their winter jacket. Once again, all to save a few hundred dollars.
The most common of all that I see (drum roll please) is the rain-jacket tucked into the rain-pants! Quite fre- quently the water barrier on the outside of the house isn’t layered so each suc- ceeding layer going up the house is also on the outside of the layer below. Would you tuck your rain pants into your rain boots and then your rain jacket into your rain pants? Never! Unfortunately this is often done for houses. If too much of this occurs you end up with a house that rots out from under you, and while this is happening it costs a lot of energy to keep the house dry inside. What does it cost to do this one right? Nothing but a little more attention to the detail.
Could these have been prevented? Absolutely! Improvements in the orig- inal design could have prevented all of these and implementation in the field could have caught them. Why they were missed, I don’t know. Maybe the con- tractors didn’t know better; maybe they didn’t think it was a big deal; maybe there was pressure to do it faster or cheaper. Maybe they took advantage of the homeowner or maybe the home- owner cut the corner. I would guess everyone involved had good intentions and didn’t mean for it to be ruinous. All I know is that no one came to ask us.
At Flathead Electric, you have a trusted, knowledgeable partner for your homes and businesses. We have the expertise to advise you on all your energy questions. Don’t let good inten- tions get the better of you. We’ll help you find a good path to follow and the infor- mation to know how to follow it.
Don’t build (or remodel) your home or business with good intentions. Talk to your trusted energy advisors at Flat- head Electric Cooperative and achieve your goals. We are here to help you save.
KALISPELL
RECIPIENT: Tracy Gardner; 621 11th St. W CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $9,000
RECIPIENT: Don and Faith Lasher; 844 Woodland Ave.
CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $3,500
RECIPIENT: Mackinaw & Co.; 127 Stryker Peak Tr.
CONTRACTOR: Mackinaw & Co. FOR: Single-family residence VALUE: $245,000
RECIPIENT: Tamara Newby; 403 Seventh Ave. W CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $60,000
RECIPIENT: Flathead County; 130 11th St. W CONTRACTOR: Swank Enterprises
FOR: Building
VALUE: $5,443,000
RECIPIENT: Kathleen Nicolitz; 1358 Airport Rd. CONTRACTOR: Bruce Corpron Const.
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $3,000
RECIPIENT: Dave Suvak; 544 Fifth Ave. W CONTRACTOR: Hicks Woodworking FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $18,000
RECIPIENT: Kalispell Assembly of God Church; 255 Summit Ridge Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Sunrise Creek Development FOR: Addition
VALUE: $1,200,000
RECIPIENT: Faith Free Lutheran Church; 405 Liberty St.
CONTRACTOR: Meredith Const.
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $717,000
RECIPIENT: James and Susan Matters; 524
Second Ave. E
CONTRACTOR: Sauer Contracting FOR: Roof
VALUE: $1,200
RECIPIENT: Kalispell Regional Healthcare; 310 Sunnyview Ln.
CONTRACTOR: KRMC Woodshop
FOR: Wall
VALUE: $1,200
RECIPIENT: School District #5; 124 Third Ave. E
CONTRACTOR: Advanced Roofing FOR: Roof
VALUE: $21,000
RECIPIENT: Owl Corporation; 273 E Nicklaus Ave. CONTRACTOR: Owl Corporation
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $115,000
RECIPIENT: Owl Corporation; 275 E Nicklaus Ave. CONTRACTOR: Owl Corporation
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $115,000
RECIPIENT: Kalispell Regional Healthcare; 310 Sunnyview Ln.
CONTRACTOR: Systems Northwest, LLC FOR: Fire alarm
VALUE: $13,126.65
RECIPIENT: Cabela’s; 125 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Cabela’s Inc.
FOR: Adjustment
VALUE: $875
RECIPIENT: Glacier Country Builders; 154 Sage Grouse Way
CONTRACTOR: Glacier Country Builders
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $162,875
RECIPIENT: John Peschel; 22 Fifth Ave. W
CONTRACTOR: Edge Exterior Coatings FOR: Roof
VALUE: $26,825
RECIPIENT: DCP Kalispell, LLC; 165 School House Loop
CONTRACTOR: Quintec Integration
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $202,900
RECIPIENT: Larry and Eulalie Johnson; 611
First Ave. E
CONTRACTOR: A to Z Const. FOR: Addition
VALUE: $15,000
RECIPIENT: Kalispell Regional Healthcare; 310 Sunnyview Ln.
CONTRACTOR: Montana Fire Sprinklers FOR: Fire sprinklers
VALUE: $58,900
RECIPIENT: Richard and Mary Todd; 116 Fifth Ave. E
CONTRACTOR: Bessette Nation Wide Builders FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $5,700
RECIPIENT: Ron Terry Construction; 27 Muskrat
Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Ron Terry Construction FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $126,000
RECIPIENT: Ron Terry Construction; 29 Muskrat Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Ron Terry Construction
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $126,000
RECIPIENT: KNIC; 426 Bluebell Rd. CONTRACTOR: Point Arbor, Inc. FOR: Single-family residence VALUE: $159,204
RECIPIENT: KNIC; 432 Bluebell Rd. CONTRACTOR: Point Arbor, Inc. FOR: Single-family residence VALUE: $160,871
RECIPIENT: Swanberg Building, LLC; 705 Sixth Ave. E
CONTRACTOR: Swank Enterprises
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $139,768
RECIPIENT: Flathead Hospital Development Co.; 160 Heritage Way
CONTRACTOR: Swank Enterprises
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $902,000
RECIPIENT: Flathead Hospital Development Co.; 205 Sunnyview Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Swank Enterprises
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $194,199
RECIPIENT: Northwest Healthcare Corp.; 205 Sunnyview Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Advanced Roofing
FOR: Roof
VALUE: $170,000
RECIPIENT: Kevin and Allie Sturgess; 165 Kara Dr. CONTRACTOR: Spooner
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $204,000
RECIPIENT: TKG Spring Prairie Dev 3; 55 Treeline Rd.
CONTRACTOR: IT & M Division, Inc. FOR: Fire sprinkler
VALUE: $33,183
RECIPIENT: City of Kalispell; 330 Woodland Ave.
CONTRACTOR: Kent Meyer Construction, Inc. FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $1,300
RECIPIENT: CHS, Inc.; 305 E Idaho St. CONTRACTOR: Robert W. Ross Bldg Const. FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $28,000
WHITEFISH
RECIPIENT: WF Hotel Group; 650 E Third St. CONTRACTOR: Rocky Mtn Builders
FOR: Hotel
VALUE: $8,550,000
RECIPIENT: Hampton Inn; 6340 Hwy 93 S CONTRACTOR: Swank Enterprises
FOR: Hotel
VALUE: $5,800,000
RECIPIENT: Remedies Day Spa; 403 E Second St. CONTRACTOR: Malmquist
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $36,000
RECIPIENT: Sarah Bilal; 607 Geddes Ave. CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $225,000
RECIPIENT: Sarah Bilal; 605 Geddes Ave. CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $225,000
RECIPIENT: Patricia Greenspan; 25 Washington CONTRACTOR: Pat Clark
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $15,000
RECIPIENT: Linda and Terry Bell; N Beargrass Cir. CONTRACTOR: TBD
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $50,000
RECIPIENT: Daniel and Kirsten Fuller; 160 Woodland Star Cir.
CONTRACTOR: Great Northern Homes FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $1,300,000
RECIPIENT: Keith Gardner; 1768 E Second St.
CONTRACTOR: Mindful Designs FOR: Single-family residence VALUE: $550,000
RECIPIENT: Tim and Linda Babiak; 626 Woodland Pl.
CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: Mike Sybrant; 1004 Park
CONTRACTOR: D&V Construction FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $2,000
RECIPIENT: Janice Whitfield; 637 Somers Ave. CONTRACTOR: Artisan Construction
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $30,000
RECIPIENT: Bob and Kate McMahon; 151 Wedgewood Ln.
CONTRACTOR: Kann Crafted Homes FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $4,500
“THE CORNER THAT IS CUT TO SAVE A FEW CENTS CAN OFTEN CREATE A STREAM OF LOST DOLLARS LATER.”
David Bopp is Energy Services Representative at Flathead Electric Co-op
AUGUST 26, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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