The Basement Saga, pt 1

 I have been avoiding this project like the plague.  It's dirty, it's nasty, and it's a pain in the arse job that's not going to be a pretty color or well decorated when I'm done.  All it has to do is not allow water to enter when it rains.  After I patch all the holes, we will finally be able to discover if the flooding is caused by (a) excessive water leaking into the crumbling mortar of the partial basement walls that comes through the ground, (b) surface run-off when the ground gets too saturated.  If it ceases to flood after I do all this work (which I doubt it will), it could mean that the problem is not the drainage easement that dumps onto our property; the owner of the easement will still need to eventually connect the pipes and bring it up to code though.  For now, I would just like to not see miniature waterfalls springing out of the wall when it rains.

This is the worst of the walls of the basement, I thought I'd start here to maintain the structural integrity.

The middle of that wall complete with old sound equipment

The corner of the wall.  Notice how much red clay powder gets deposited every time it floods.

I believe that this big ass crack is an entry point for water.

The first bit of patching I did today.

 I think eventually, if this helps significantly, I will do a skim coat over all of this with regular cement just to "lock things in place."

The area I finished today.  All gaping holes have been filled.  There area  few areas where the outer coating of concrete has come away to reveal the bricks, but I don't believe they are entry points for water.

The portion for tomorrow afternoon...

 Oh and the best part of this, all the items seen in the photos above (which is not the entire contents of the basement) need to be shipped off to the dump.  Ooh goody!

Just some snippits of my to-do list

Finish painting the red trim around the door.

Replace the missing piece of trim.  Also, patch and paint the front porch.

Finish painting the shingles white.  Reattach the vent screens and the shingle that broke.

Pull weeds; rake pine needles; put Tiki torches away.

Curtains and fire

I finally found a use for the black curtains from the studio.

I'm actually surprised at how well they worked with the room, but I'll take it!

Cat feeding station is still a disaster, but necessary because of the Charlie dog and the raccoons.

Lookin' good I think

Oh yeah, our new fireplace is awesome!

So I got bored

With flash!

As you can see the patching is barely visible now and it looks so clean

Looking good so far

About half done

Such a shocking difference between Snowcap white and beige/antique white/ick

I had planned to do half...but got out of control

The last little section.  I started loosing steam around here

Nice shot of how the cabinet piece blends into the wall and ceiling

So much better

Only one little section left and all I can think about is paleo eggplant lasagna

Almost done

Yay!  She's done!

I love the way it looks now

Sometimes you just feel like playing with concrete

I got bored and decided to fix this a little bit.  I scraped all the moss off and removed the loose pieces.

Patched up and resurfaced

Just have to do the other step and the sides now

Evening Paint Job

After talking with my Mom, I got motivated to paint some more this evening.

I filled in the spots I had left blank.  I'll be getting the ladder out tomorrow.

I couldn't stop once I got going.  It's seriously addicting to watch the nasty colors get covered up.

I did the necessary gardening to expose what I needed to.  I've got one more layer of tiles to paint.  Eventually I'm thinking I'll plant some shade loving flowers or herbs here maybe just to make it prettier.

It looks so normal now.

Where I left off tonight...

...and what I have left before I reach the end of the house.

Some of the rafters

Ugh.  It looks worse than it really is.

Hopefully I'll be able to reach most of this section with the ladder and won't have to wait for Derrick to finish it up.

Those plastic pipes will be going away hopefully.

So much better!

I found a piece of tile in the dirt where I was painting.  Could it be?

It is!  It is!  I can attach that back where it goes now and then find the other little pieces.

Starting out early

I started working early today.

Painted the pipes and moved on past the kitchen window.  Sadly the ropes on the right hand side must stay until the sump pump can have a proper hole dug.

...and I moved on toward the next window

Painting the wires and pipes makes a big difference.

I can't believe how dingy this side of the house is.

Of course there would be gardening work require to paint this side.  ugh, sawing through gigantic vine things is not fun.

This water spigit is not functional at all.  I'll be removing it and all the plastic tubing that runs to it.  There's a faucet at the end of this side of the house that is also not functional.  They both run on ditch water, which is not the water source we use.

Vines, roots, and Mark's Ex's son's sculptures.  Sigh.

It looks good though, yes?