Portland Real Estate Blog

Since there were only four of us for Thanksgiving dinner this year, we decided that we’d have dinner out rather than having the traditional dinner and mess to clean up at home. Wildwood is only four blocks from here but fairly heavy rain caused us to climb in the car. Stepping out of the front door, we could clearly hear the din of sirens from multiple vehicles. Whatever was going on wasn’t being taken lightly. Pulling out from NW Northrup, I had planned on turning right towards Overton but saw a fire truck heading down Lovejoy towards our remodel project and future home. Like insects drawn to bright lights, I turned left towards Lovejoy. The street was completely closed between 24th and 25th: fire trucks and emergency vehicles everywhere. We pulled around the block to the Alano Club parking lot to find a ladder truck with its ladder resting on our roof and about half a dozen firefighters scrambling around the roof!

More Pictures Here! Sorry- link will be repaired.

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www.Portlandmaps.com has always been a great resource. It just got better. They city has added all of the oil tank permits that they have on file. It is the far right option on the screen on the property tab under “storage tank.”

Just keep in mind that if there is no record of a permit doesn’t mean there wasn’t an oil tank installed. It is another resource, not a definitive answer to if there is or was a tank on the property.

DEQ also has a lot of information on oil tanks.

“It won’t take that much (of our) time.” We’re hiring people to remodel the house so they should be able to take care of each of their specialties and things will just take happen by themselves. Don’t be fooled.

Hundreds of personal hour later, progress is happening but perhaps not at the pace we would have liked. Each trade has questions (that need answering sooner rather than later) and in order to prevent them from tripping over each other, scheduling is important. We’re fortunate that the house is big enough that if the plumber needs one room, the electrician can work in another but both big and small projects require coordination- especially when you are paying by the hour.

Moral of the story: you can certainly be your own general contractor but be prepared for what is involved. We hire professional for professional results. Getting those results on your own are certainly possible but be prepared to be taking on another fulltime job.