I love when I present ideas to the family and they DON’T think I’m crazy. Ok, well, maybe they think I’m crazy . . but at least they humor me and go along with my ideas!
If you are newer to my blog, a few years ago we had a flood in the basement. It was quite a bummer because the finished basement was one of the things that drew us to this house when we bought it. We had to remove all the finishing from down there after we drained Lake Basement. What we found was not good.
There had been water in that basement for a long time that we couldn’t see. So much so, that mold had eaten thru an entire 2×4. And that was just one area. We had a basement drainage system installed; as we found out the previous “system” did very little with no actual sump pump to remove the water. Even the lift station that was present for the basement bathroom had issues. And even after our basement system was installed, the moisture reading was still pretty high.
Over time I kind of gave up on the basement. It just didn’t seem like we could win. Every time we tried to fix something, we found another problem. Last summer we added some concrete, as we found some rock garden areas were really just allowing water to pool in areas that eventually lead the water to go beneath a slab addition and back to the basement. That got us looking at the addition with a crawl space, where we found more problems.
This summer we went to fix the front porch, as it was falling apart. Also on the repair slate were the beautiful flower gardens next to the house that have long since been falling back towards the house; allowing yet more water to sit against the foundation. Our “fix” of the front porch has become another huge project, as we found old concrete stairs under the wood porch and had to change our plans yet again. We haven’t even quite agreed on the extent of our changed plans as we found some wiring that gave my electrician dad nightmares . . seriously, I texted him a picture and he called me as he was grabbing his keys to head over here.
We already had next-year plans to work on the two remaining sides of the house. And I just had one of those “I’m Done Waiting” moments! I announced (in a pleading manner), that I think we should do it all before winter. Fall is going to be crazy. Four children, each with a fall sport in a different level. But I’m tired of hating the basement. And I’m tired of giving up on our house.
SO, we will be digging up even more of the beautiful brick patio which pools the water against the foundation. We will be moving the field rocks sprinkled with beautiful perennial flowers that again, pool the water back to the house. And we will FINALLY be able to love a dry basement again. It will be a good winter project to put a little life back down there. Especially with our Operation Take Back the House still in process! It just seems silly to have this huge house operation and ignore such a potentially good space! So we are adding to our to-do list!
Tonight I am thankful for a family that hasn’t said “no” to my ideas that may steal what little time of peace we have on the calendar! I am thankful that they can share the vision of having a functional area again where mold won’t show it’s ugly face again!!
Bug's Bright Side 