Recent Posts
Recent Posts Tagged With 'interior'
Basement not flooding
It is hard to take a picture of what is not there. Since June 10th, we have received 5.38 inches of rain. That is quite a bit for a 9 day period. Our old basement would have looked like this: That is a picture from two years ago before we had the...
How much money did I save using my woodstove this year?
We burn about a cord of firewood in our Jotul F-100 Wood stove every year. Our primary source of heat is the oil fired boiler in the basement, the wood stove is a supplemental or backup source. On those really cold nights, of which we have ha...
New Bunk Bed
William is now a little past two years old and getting too big for his crib. So we decided that we would get a bunk bed for his room. This way, if we have company, they can sleep in Eliza’s room while Eliza sleeps in the top bunk in William...
Putting up a ceiling fan in the Master Bedroom
Jay was nice enough to give me his old ceiling fan that I think he took out of his Kitchen. It sat in the basement for several months until I worked up the motivation to clean it off and put it up. Of those two tasks, the cleaning off was harder. ...
Putting the American Dry Basement System to the test
It was one week ago that AmericanDry Basement System, Inc. finished the water proofing of our basement. Tonight will be a good test of their system, as we have 12-14 inches of snow on the ground, temperatures are expected to rise through the night, w...
Solar power backup for the basement sump pumps
I am working on the design for the sump pump solar powered backup. There are several design criteria that need to be considered. These are: The size of the electrical load. The amount of usage. Length of potential independent operation e.g. power ...
Basement Wet? or Basement Dry?
It has been about four days since the AmericanDry Basement people finished their work here, but it is looking good. Before: After: I am working on the solar/battery back up system plans. There was a battery back up pump system offered with the sy...
How to water proof a basement, Part II
The contractors came back this morning and stayed until the job was finished, which was quite late. Here is what they did today: Placed the ADS drainage pipe in the trenches they made yesterday Placed two drainage basins in opposite corners of the ...
How to water proof a basement from the inside out, Part I
I knew this would take longer than one day, in spite of what the sales man said. The American Dry Basement crew showed up here around 9 am and got right to work. I drained out the solar tank and moved it out of the way, along with the two water fil...
The basement water proofing prep work
I spend a good part of yesterday prepping the basement for the contractors to come and work on it. I had to move everything that was near the walls so they would have room to work. I tried to give them as much room as possible, however, in some a...
Basement contractors
Last night, we met with a sales guy from «American Dry Basement Systems, Inc» regarding our basement water problems. It was a particularly good time, as water is still coming up through the cracks in the floor. He was nearly beside himsel...
Fixing the basement drainage problems
I have spent the last two years or so improving the drainage around our house. I installed gutters and made the drain pipes empty out far away from the foundation. I installed a swale in the backyard to direct water flowing down hill away from the ...
A video to go with the mood
More water than ever in the basement this morning, it seems the sump pump has been running now for about 2 weeks. I can't say when it will stop and I wonder how the fellow from Brooklyn is doing. There is nothing better than a Johny Cash song to sum...
Yet again, Flooding!
This is a little depressing... In spite of all the drainage work I have done around the house over the last two years, we are still getting water in the basement. I am beginning to think that I will have to dig out around the entire foundation and ...
Our new bed
For Christmas this year, I got my wife a picture of a new bed. How romantic I am, what could be better than a picture of a new bed? How about the new bed itself? Well, itself arrived today amid chaos and disorganization. This morning, before I lef...
Checking the Thermal Envelope of my house
Heating season is in full effect around here. It was very cold and windy last night. We had our first fire in the wood stove on Saturday and Sunday. I like having the wood stove going all day, the house really feels warm and comfortable. Some...
Beasties in the kitchen
We have our share of denizens hereabout, namely bears, coyotes, skunks, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, a wood chuck, a snapping turtle, malodorous house ants, wolf spiders, bees, wasps, hornets, garter snakes, a pine snake, salamanders, a stray cat,...
French Drains
Did you know there is a blog about French Drains? Neither did I. You thought that particular drain was named after a country, right? Nope, not according to this source: …a lot of homeowners and contractors alike think they know why it is ca...
Making a French Drain
I don’t know why it is called a “French Drain,” perhaps is is supposed to be “trench drain” which seems apropos. The last part of the yard drainage system is to install a French drain under the deck where the kitchen mee...
