I have two crews of eye candy working on my house at the moment. One crew is moving stuff into my house (Ryan Moving and Storage, very professional), the other is waterproofing my basement. (Dr. Dry, highly recommended) Some of them are so hot you could bake cookies on them. I’m assuming none of them read liberal political blogs.
It’s very busy around here and it’s been nonstop craziness and hard physical labor since last Friday. Not only that but my 2 weeks absence due to taking care of business in New Jersey means my grass is crazy high. I’m looking forward to a lot of mowing this weekend. The lady who owned this place before me had a thing for hostas and they’re taking over the flower beds. But I found some sweet smelling Lily-of-the-Valley near the house and there’s wisteria growing over the wooden swing in the backyard.
So, while the guys are bringing in the stuff and the other guys are jackhammering my foundation, I’m going to listen to some music and plan for some beer and pizza later. Everybody get up and dance.
Filed under: General | Tagged: basement waterproofing, edward sharpe, moving, Mumford and sons |
The Confluence 
That would make a dead man dance!
Wow, the basement guys are really good. It’s amazing how much they’ve gotten done in just a few hours.
It all sounds very exciting.
“What goes upstairs, alone or in pairs
and over the neighbor’s dog.
It fits on your back, it’s good for a snack,
It’s Log, Log, Log!
It’s Log!, It’s Log!
It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s wood
It’s Log, It’s Log!
It’s better than bad, it’s good!”
To my dresser, going up the stairs.
Wonderful song for a grand day!
This one’s really good if you’re old enough to remember the classic Slinky ads.
Avedon Carol posted this wonderful video of 1927 London Shown in Moving Color:
http://vimeo.com/7638752
(sigh) I don’t know why it didn’t display.
If your Hostas and Lillies of the Valley are just coming up, there might be other hidden treasures yet to arrive.
What is your Dr. Dry going to use for waterproofing material?
First, they dug a trench at the top of the cellar stairs and laid a drainage pipe in a sock on a bed of gravel. Then they directed the outflow to ground away from the foundation. Then they jackhammed a French drain in the basement along one wall and buried a collection basin in the corner and tied it to the exit pipe. Then they tied the French drain to a newly dug speedy drain on the inside of the cellar door. They excavated the old drain at the bottom of the cellar stairs and tied it in to the new French drain system, filled drainage system with gravel and topped with concrete. Then they washed the walls and sprayed a waterproofing masonary paint with extra special mojo materials that stop further leakage and mold growth.
They told me that my basement foundation was actually very well built. The water problem was caused by the slope of my property and years of drain cloggage. Worth every penny. The new sump pump immediately created a steady stream to the sewer from the front of the house. Now I can tackle the rest if the basement without worrying about losing my investment.
Sounds like they did an interesting job. Ask for a copy of the material safety data sheets and product literature for your own future reference.
Next step to keep the basement water out is to check where your gutter downspouts end. A lot of basement water problems are exacerbated poorly designed or missing gutters.
They took care of that too. The sump pump is working vigorously and there’s a steady stream from my gutter to the sewer. I’d take pictures if you’re interested in that sort of thing.
I’m always interested in waterproofing. 70% of all construction related callbacks are waterproofing/roofing related. Since there are less than 2% of us female types involved in that industry, not enough of us have experience with it. You have already learned more than the average bear, by having it done yourself.
Is it me, or does French drain system sound naughty?
Ha. To me the idea always sounds wonderful and rarely done.
Welcome “home” to SWPA where the blue collar covers abs of steel and hunter orange is the next favorite color to the Black and Gold – have you visited PNC Park or checked out the view from the David L Lawrence? I moved back from NJ, Long Island, by way of Georgia and Kentucky but what made it real was the Three Rivers Arts Festival, Orange Barrels and havin’ to wait til Memorial Day to plant tomatoes.
PS: have you hit a deer yet?
No, but I had plenty of opportunities to hit deer in NJ. 😉
It looks like the Penguins made the playoffs- because there are signs EVERYWHERE. The primary must be coming up because there are campaign signs everywhere too. I am registered to vote already (did it last month when I got my driver’s license) but I have no idea who’s who.
Love the Three Rivers Arts Festival and the International Food Festival. That used to be at Renzie park. Don’t know if it still is.
(Dis)Honorable Mention for a Darwin Award: 😛
http://www.stjosephpost.com/2013/05/18/man-celebrates-marksmanship-by-twirling-pistol-shooting-himself-in-the-gut/
The Captain is speechless:
As I always say, it’s hard to figure stupid. About 30,000 of the gun shootings each year are suicides. Wonder how many of the suicides are accidents?
Thjese guys aren’t playing with a full deck.
Two comments on the music front. The Freddy mercury/Queen version of Another One Bites the Dust is fitting at certain times and I play it when something really stupid happens. I higly urge people to try some music from the gentle giant of Hawaii, Israel Kawakawiwo’ole, better known as Iz. Iz was a 750 pounder who played on a ukelele and had a big heart and gentle spirit. Nicely soothing. He is one of the few people to have been laid in state in the Hawaiian capital after he died. The music is basically original Hawaiian folk although it contains some US standards. Try e ale e and over the rainbow to get a sample.
This pose just begs for ’70s porn soundtrack music. 😉
“Hey, lawn boy, I have a bush that needs to be trimmed”
Bawng-chicka-bawng, baw, baw, baw, bawng-chicka-bawng…
Bad, propertius, bad commenter. No biscuit for you. We do not touch the contractors.
I plead travel fatigue and illness. I’ve flown 42 times so far in 2013 and (not coincidentally) have been sick all week.
I think “pose” was a Freudian typo. 😉
Although I’m still musing over the hidden significance of a “French drain”.