Hobby Farm Honeymoon

It was February and a chance to continue inside work. What a difference the new electrical wiring made in the basement. Now it was time to do the next phase which was to seal off the upper part of the basement walls with sheets of foam. Larry & Todd worked together one weekend on this detail. Then Todd installed hanging shelves he brought from his previous house. The basement had been stacked high with their belongings since the move, and it really helped to organize everything with the floor to ceiling shelves. Todd also built two work bench areas; one for him and a place for Larry to keep his tools.  

Before Todd could continue all the way around the basement room, he had to deal with that old shower. Larry had previously taken out the moldy drywall, and now Todd removed the cinder block walls and installed a new sump basin where the drain existed. This required ten 5 gallon buckets of sand, from a pile left by the previous owner, to fill in the area around the basin, and he was thankful that he had to carry them down the steps instead of up. He then covered the remaining opening around the basin with concrete, and placed a sump basin cover over the top so the opening was completely sealed. It not only solved the water problem, but greatly improved the appearance. Very professional.

• Remembering our first experience with a basement that was wet, moldy, and full of appliances, furniture, and junk, this old basement no longer smelled putrid, but like one might expect. After Larry & Josh installed guttering that first summer, our water problem was solved, and now that the shower situation was corrected, the floor was not damp nor in need of a dehumidifier. Instead, we have a nice-sized usable room. 

 * Reference: The first day