Sunday, January 01, 2012

The First Project of 2012

Happy New Year everyone.  I figure I've already wasted about 10 hours of the New Year so I better get started on my first house project.  What better way to start the new year than to dig up portions of the basement slab and have new plumbing and sewer backup mitigation measures put into place? 

We have dealt with flooding for two consecutive years now and it is time to do something about it.  The down-side is that this will cost an insane amount of money and will have no impact on the overall look of the Tiny Bungalow.  Yeah, we won't have sewage in the basement anymore but I can think of about a hundred other places in the house where this kind of investment will make a dramatic improvement. 

The project starts with cleaning out the basement and making way for the work.  After the last project which, by the way, is not complete, I threw all of my supplies in the basement to make the upstairs presentable for guests.  Since before Thanksgiving, there has been little change.  I need to clean it up. 
I will get the added benefit of having all of my tools put away in the correct spot so that I can start the next project on the right foot.  Then again, since I rarely have the tools in their "right spot", it is more likely that I will be even more confused and have a harder time starting a project because I can't find anything. 
The plumbers arrive on Tuesday and are supposed to be done by Friday.  They have a solid estimate and a defined scope.  We'll see how that holds up once they start digging. 

3 comments:

Fargo said...

Good luck! It's frustrating having to spend a lot of money on things that won't have a visible impact most of the time.

This year we spent $$ on replacing gutters, downspouts, soffit and fascia, and having foundation sealing and some repointing done. The gutters and downspouts gave us an immediate difference in controlling water flow so that there's less exterior flooding and less standing water near the foundation.

We also see the difference now because the old leaky gutters and downspouts created some persistent icy spots on stairs and paths in cold weather. I sure don't miss those.

The foundation work is in the same category as your current project. We only see the difference when there's heavy rain. But we really do appreciate that lack of basement moisture, which was a lot less severe than yours. I'm sure you'll be appreciating the effects of your project next spring and summer.

sarah said...

Ha! This is all so familiar (even down to the shop vac - we have the same exact one) - we end up with our crap in all the wrong places seemingly constantly. Always on the list: organize tools! We're running out of places to be disorganized now that the basement is getting done - that's been a big challenge.

Anonymous said...

Here's hoping to no poo in your basement for 2012 :) ~jeanette