Shannon and Nick Harper, senior director of strategy & policy, discuss our progress in advancing the MBA's legislative priorities, from addressing the Supreme Court's Hirst decision to expanding career and technical education.

See how you can advocate for housing

By Cameron Poague

Q: Our hardwood floors have gone to heck over the winter, and probably long before that. Should we attempt to salvage our floors by refinishing them ourselves or are we asking for trouble?

A: Hardwood floors take the brunt of many blows, including shoe scuffs, heavy furniture scratches, dust, dogs' nails, and all kinds of assorted blotches. These floors, with their alluring old-school charm and increased home value, don't often get the respect they deserve (heck, we walk all over them!) until it's too late.

Let's change that.

How can you tell if your floor needs refinishing? The eye test is probably the most trusted method, but it isn't necessarily the best method. To be certain, isolate the most trafficked area of your floor and spread a few droplets of water onto the section. If droplets form, you're good. If the droplets soak into the wood slowly, it means the finish is starting to wear; when droplets quickly infiltrate the wood, you're due for a refinish.

When you reach the refinishing point, there's an easy way to find out whether you should attempt to take on the process yourself. Just remember: If your floor is less than 3/4-inch thick, get a pro to do the job. How can you find your floor's thickness? Find two floorboards that have a groove between them, enough to fit a business card in between. Push the card as far down as it will go, then mark where the floor surface is. Pull the card out, measure the mark from the edge, and there's your depth.

Other indicators that warrant professional assistance include warped, bent, or soft floorboards and discoloration or stains that won't rub out.

You got this—or do you?

So, you want to go at it alone? Before giving your floor a DIY facelift, you'll need to be aware of a few crucial things. For whole-floor refinishes, you'll be clearing the entire room of furniture, drapes, and any other items that might get in the way. Then cover your vents, lighting fixtures, and doorways with plastic or sheets, taping off the edges so nothing can sneak through.

Next up: Check for protruding nail heads and carpet staples, driving in nails and removing staples if necessary, so they don't tear your sandpaper—when you get to that point. After properly prepping, you'll need to clean the entire area with the right hardwood floor cleaner.

You'll then need to buff and finish your floor. It is paramount to use protection (dust mask, goggles or respirator, gloves, kneepads, etc.) and know with complete confidence how to handle the equipment you are using. Not knowing what you're doing before powering on a sander can lead to exponentially more damage to your floors than you started out with—thereby making moot the whole home-improvement thing you were going for.

Did you know?

It's optimal to wait a week after applying your last layer of finish before putting furniture back onto the floor. Water-based polyurethane finishes take about three hours to dry; oil-based finishes can take eight or more hours. To avoid additional scuffs and scratches, affix felt pads to furniture legs before setting them back in place.

If you couldn't tell by now, the consensus is that it's typically better to hire a professional, especially if your floors are in bad shape or have a lot of historical value. If you decide to go at it yourself, don't skip steps and, above all, be careful.

HomeWork is written by contributing member professionals of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. If you have a home improvement, remodeling or residential homebuilding question you'd like answered by one of the MBA's more than 2,800 members, write to homework@mbaks.com.

By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

Seattle Metro Area Sees Uptick in Single Family Permits in 2016

King County ended 2016 with a 7 percent increase in single-family permit activity compared to 2015 and a 7 percent decline in multifamily permits, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Meanwhile, Snohomish County saw a 13 percent increase in single family permits and a 2 percent increase in multifamily permits at year's end. Both counties continued to have less than one month's supply of housing inventory for sale during January 2017.

The Builders' Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, U.S. Census Bureau, Office of Financial Management and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Download this month's report:

This week, Shannon talks to Kimberley Martin with Cyneburg Services about the benefits of networking at MBAKS.

Upcoming opportunities to network

Listen: The Dunn Lumber Podcast: How Contractors Can Protect Themselves From Litigation, recorded live November 17 at the Master Builders Association Remodelers Council Dinner.

Scott Noel is an attorney with AMS Law, focused on Washington State Safety Act (WISHA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citations. In this podcast, Scott provides insights into avoiding litigation in the first place and how to protect your business once litigation has begun.

Learn more about RC

By Everett Herald

Juli Bacon, owner of JB Consulting Systems and Bacon Maintenance Services in Woodinville, has been sworn in as the 2017 chair of the National Association of Home Builders Professional Women in Building Council. Bacon is also a partner in JJ BizWorks.

Read article

By Chris van Daalen, Anna Robinson, and Leah Missik

Since Built Green’s inception almost twenty years ago, the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild and its members have been collaborating with the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties to transform the built environment toward long-term sustainability and that partnership is only improving with time. From the first 5-star Built Green certified home in Seattle (built by Guild founding member Jon Alexander) to ongoing work on the Code Innovations Database, the Guild and Built Green have a long history of successful collaboration.

Eric and his wife, Alex, in front of their net zero energy Built Green home.

On April 29–30, the Guild will host the Northwest Green Home Tour for the seventh time, which will feature many Built Green homes in Seattle and the surrounding area. Eric Thomas, the Membership Programs Manager at the MBA, Built Green homeowner, former Built Green Executive Committee member, and former Tour organizer, cherishes the Tour and its impact. According to Eric, “the Northwest Green Home Tour is a chance for the local green building community—from builders to architects to homeowners—to come together for one weekend to give their Seattle-area neighbors an up-close look at our region’s healthiest, most efficient homes. In my experience, nearly everyone taking the tour or showing a home on it comes away inspired by the beauty and innovation on display. Being involved with the tour as a tour-goer, a volunteer, a homeowner, and eventually an organizer, has been a transformative experience for me.”

This month, the Guild and the MBA/Built Green are teaming up to train builders and other professionals on how to effectively combine energy efficiency with indoor air quality at the Healthy Home Training for Building Professionals course from February 16–April 6, 2017. Instructors are national and regional field experts and the course material will give participants a better understanding of building science and indoor air quality benefits to best meet customers’ needs. The collaboration between the Guild and the MBA/Built Green not only enables this important class, but helps it reach a broader audience.

The Clearwater Commons Community, which is a featured case study in the Code Innovations Database.

In addition to collaboration on tours and trainings, the Guild and Built Green have worked together to document precedent-setting breakthroughs in the green building realm. An example is “zHome First Rainwater Harvesting for Indoor Use in Issaquah,” a case study in the Code Innovations Database written by Leah Missik and Chris van Daalen, that describes one of Built Green’s demonstration projects, zHome, in the Issaquah Highlands. Other groundbreaking Built Green projects in the Database include Positive Impact Development at Clearwater Commons, the Solar-Powered Grow Community and the Dwell Emerald Star Home in Ballard. Database authors are now expanding this effort to document green advances: in addition to describing successful projects, they will also document policy profiles and incentives adopted in some communities that should be adapted and implemented broadly. As experts in the field of green building, both Built Green and the Guild feel a responsibility to share proven practices and policies to a broader audience. As local governments adopt these and similar policies and increase incentives for builders, there are more opportunities for those in the green building sector to partner on projects with far-reaching benefits. Many of these projects would not have been possible without the policies such as Priority Green, which Built Green helped to establish.

Chris has seen the impact these incentives can have on the growth of green building. “In 2009, Guild President and Built Green Executive Committee member Ben Kaufmann of Greenworks Realty was the first to publish data showing the competitive advantages of Built Green certified homes. Since then, the program has grown from a thin slice of the market, to 2016 which saw 58% of new single-family homes in Seattle be Built Green certified. This phenomenal success is in part due to successful incentives in Seattle that other cities can learn from to transform markets around the region. I’m excited to work with Leah to share these policy innovations as we advocate for our industry and expand our impact!”

Another example of important policy adoption is the City of Shoreline’s adaptation of the City of Seattle’s “Living Building Pilot Ordinance,” which was first adopted in 2009. This ordinance has been built upon by the City of Shoreline to establish a Deep Green Incentive Program (DGIP) ordinance, which will be considered by the City Council on March 27. “This is a tremendous opportunity for us to make progress toward our carbon reductions goals by reducing our footprint in the built environment,” Miranda Redinger, Senior Planner for City of Shoreline, explains. “We’ve done a lot of work in the transportation sector through light rail station planning, but if the areas that redevelop do not use green building, we will have lost our chance.” Shoreline’s proposal expands on Seattle’s precedent to include incentives for Built Green 5-Star and Emerald Star projects. Leah and Chris will publish a policy profile on the Shoreline DGIP as soon as the Council approves it, so it can serve as fodder for other cities that are considering similar actions. Another great incentive example is the Housing Design Demonstration Program on Bainbridge Island that rewards amazing projects like the Grow Community with additional density and code departures in exchange for high-performance building.

Kudos to leaders in both groups that have leveraged their unique qualities to harness the power of partnership! With Built Green and the Guild’s history of collaboration, and the strength of the regional market for sustainable homes and buildings, the future is looking really green!

We encourage you to invite your staff, subcontractors, homeowner clients, as well as friends and business partners to enjoy the evening with you. We especially encourage you to make sure your T-REX recipients attend. This is an opportunity for all to show their appreciation and support for the exceptional group of remodelers who are part of the oldest Remodelers Council in the nation.

I look forward to celebrating with you on May 13!

Your 2017 REX/T-REX Chair,

Luellen Smith
Rhino Wine Cellars & Cooling Systems

The MBA held its annual Hill Day in Olympia last Wednesday, February 8, providing an opportunity for members to advocate for our top-priority housing issues. Twenty-five members and Government Affairs staff met with over 30 King and Snohomish county-based legislators throughout the day.

Members discussed our core issues with senators and representatives, including the need to restore vested development rights, improve the process for measuring buildable land supply, find a path forward for permit-exempt wells in the wake of the Supreme Court's Hirst decision, and support workforce development.

MBA members also shared with legislators our new housing attainability piece, describing steps needed to bring housing supply more in line with our region's strong demand.

During the lunch break, Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (34th District) met with the MBA to provide a legislative update. Fitzgibbon is sponsoring a bill, HB 1862, backed by the MBA, that would allow final subdivision plat approvals to be conducted administratively.

Thanks to all our members who participated and helped make sure our association's voice is heard in Olympia!

High-Quality, American-Built Skylights and Other Products

Established in 1982, CrystaLite is a Northwest manufacturer of high-quality skylights, roof glazing, sun rooms, and railing systems for residential, commercial, and industrial markets. Based in Everett, Washington, CrystaLite has additional distribution and sales locations in Spokane and Salem, Oregon, and employs 60 total employees. Materials are sourced in America and all products are manufactured in the Pacific Northwest. The company sells its products across the United States.

Lots of Hats

Cathy Hieb is Controller and Secretary/Treasurer of CrystaLite, but assumes other roles. "My background is in finance. I started 13 years ago as the company Controller and have just recently assumed the corporate responsibility as Secretary/Treasurer. I handle the company finances, like quarterly/monthly reporting, financial statements, payroll, AR, and AP. But I wear a lot of other hats. I'm also personal secretary to the President and Vice President."

Big Cost Savings From the MBA Trust

CrystaLite has been a member of the MBA Health Trust for 12 years. "Cost savings is the big advantage to being in the Trust," Cathy says. "These days, keeping health insurance costs down but still providing employees what they need is a challenge. We pay 100 percent of our employees' premiums and that's something we want to continue to do if it's affordable."

Significant Savings Compared to Other Plans

Cathy says CrystaLite goes out for bid every year for health insurance but always finds the best options with the MBA. "We've even had other insurance companies approach us for our business and then tell us that the MBA Health Trust is way better, the savings are so significant, that we should just stay with them. Only once did we go to another plan, but then we came back to the Trust."

The MBA Trust Gives Crystalite Plan Flexibility

CrystaLite employees have the choice between two plan options, depending on their personal needs and circumstances. "About seven years ago, the high-deductible HSA program came on the scene and we were the first company to jump on board," Cathy relates. "We offer our employees two programs: a traditional plan for those who use more doctor visits and the high-deductible health-savings account for those who just want to make sure they have catastrophic coverage. Now we have 90 percent on the HSA program. You can still see any doctor you want and all the major hospitals in Seattle are covered. The HSA plan is affordable for us but still offers major benefits for our employees when they really need it."

Strong Broker Relationship

"Our administrator is EPK," says Cathy. "They're very good. They know our company very well and what our goals are. If I have a question, they are giving me answers right on the first phone call. Adding or terminating employees is accomplished pretty much the same day. They are really good at that."