Guess what will be showing up at our house this morning?
Jackhammers!
Yep. Jackhammers. Also, saws, big drills, and miscellaneous equipment that will be kicking up all manner of dust and debris. Accompanying all those dust-producing tools will be eight regular workers along with fifteen additional workers who are in training to learn how to use the company’s lasers.
The good news is that the jackhammers (and the drills and workmen) are not in the living area. Instead, they will be setting up operations in the basement where at least eight of them will be working every day this week.
And just what is it that could occupy all those fellas and tools for eight days?
Well, I would try to explain it all but since I don’t even understand it myself I figured the wisest thing would be to turn it over to Steve. Take it away, Steve!
Our home was constructed in 1965 when a 2 X 4 really was 2” X 4” instead of 1.5” X 3.5.” During that era many homes in Charlotte had full basements as ours does; the home is built into the side of a hill with two garages and a family room around the back.
Over the years, the basement has had some leakage and mold issues as well as cracking in the walls. And this week, the time has come to address those problems.
Our first step was to remove a real grandfather of an oak tree because the roots were threatening to push through the south basement wall and were causing stairstep cracks in brick wall above ground.
The company coming today will work on a few more things.
These horizontal cracks in the basement wall are considered to be Stage One in the failure of a basement wall. We have quite a bit of this problem.
Stairstep cracks are a Stage Two failure of the wall. We have a moderate to serious amount of this stage of failure.
Shearing is Stage Three failure. This condition occurs when the cinder blocks at the bottom of the wall begin to move sideways toward the interior of the room. We have a small amount of this problem.
Stage Four failure is when the wall collapses and dirt invades the basement space. We don’t have this problem–thankfully!
This week, the crew will also work on hydrostatic pressure on the walls , water seepage, and mold.
To solve these problems a one foot wide, four foot deep trench will be dug across the entire front of the house. From the basement level a number of twelve foot poles will be driven through the wall and earth ending in the trench. A large plate and a nut will be attached to the pole and then buried. Back in the basement a large plate will be placed over the pole along with a nut which will be tightened to a specific torque to bind the wall to the earth for reinforcement. The side walls will receive a different system which will reinforce the walls using the floor joists of the home as support.
Next a larger and improved French drain will be installed at the base of the basement walls. Then holes will be drilled through the walls to facilitate easy drainage. This will reduce hydrostatic pressure against the wall by allowing the water to penetrate the wall unimpeded. A more robust sump system will then be installed.
Lastly, a heavy-duty moisture barrier will be installed from ceiling to floor all the basement walls in order to contain moisture and mold.
If you finished reading this description without your eyes rolling into the back of your head due to boredom, you’ve done well!
Now you can understand why I had Steve explain it instead of me!
Earlier last week, Steve was downstairs trying to get his dad’s old workbench moved away from the wall.
In his words, “It took about twenty minutes to remove all the nails that were holding the table to the wall. That was followed by my bellowing and grunting with movement only from three legs. Upon inspection, I saw that the fourth leg was cemented to the floor!”
Hmmmm. What to do? What to do?
The obvious solution would be to saw off the leg but if Steve did that, the heavy and ungainly workbench could easily fall to one side. Steve did some pondering of the problem and came up with a patented Steve Solution.
He added another leg to the workbench before he sawed off the one in concrete.
Brilliant thinking, right? He was able to move the workbench the prerequisite six feet from the wall for this week’s work to be done.
To sum it all up, we knew that this work would have to be done when we bought the house; thankfully, Steve’s brothers have each taken a third of the financial load of the job. I tell Steve that it irks me sometimes when we spend large quantities of money on things no one will ever see: the basement wall repair, the new HVAC system, and upgrading the electrical system.
All important things but certainly not very exciting. I guess the next time someone comes to visit, I could always take them out back and show them the HVAC unit. I mean, I want our invisible investments to be appreciated!
In the midst of all the stuff-moving and prep for the job at hand, we discovered a special box that made Steve laugh with delight.
Steve says he remembers writing dozens and dozens of reports in High School using these World Book encyclopedias. I told him we needed to show them to our kids and grands and tell them, “These were Grandpa’s Google!”
Students today have no clue how easy they have it. They pick up their phones and within fifteen seconds they know the dates of the Korean War and who the president was in 1932. Back in the day, when I needed answers for my homework? I had to ride my bike across town to the library. (Through the snow! Uphill! Both ways!)
I’ll close with one photo of loveliness to offset all the photos of grease, grime, and crumbling walls I’ve featured today.
This is the street I drive down when I’m about 30 seconds from home. After a 9-hour hour work day and fighting with the interstate 30-40 minutes after work, pulling into this quiet and peaceful area is pure heaven. I love that our neighborhood is tree-blessed.
Even though my home, at this particular time, is full of workmen and disarray and even though the foundation is a little iffy, I am thankful that the foundation of marriage and family that Steve and I have been building for 42 years still stands strong.
Every day I turn the corner onto our street and breathe a prayer of thanks that I have made it home safely and that the haven of home awaits.
Jackhammers and all.
What about you?
If you are of a certain age, what are your memories of doing homework? Did you have encyclopedias or did you have to go to the library for your information?
Have you ever had to have major work done in your basement? How did everything go?
What was your favorite thing about this past weekend?
We had to do similar to cellar of old house we inherited and to the basement of a house we bought . No fun or glory to those expensive projects. I envy that you are “doing the house right” as they say around here. Also great thst the brothers are contributing to the Reno.
Catherine,
Yes, older houses certainly have charm and character but they come with their sets of issues. And as you said, no fun or glory! (Although I will say that Steve is having fun watching the process.) 🙂
And we are definitely grateful the brothers have split the bill with us on a couple of those big repairs.
I grew up in a big city (Denver) so the library was not so handy. We had the encyclopedias and used them faithfully. Doing homework and looking up things took a LONG time!
We have never had basement problems, thank goodness! We have a good friend who sells those jobs that Steve is describing so I know what you are up against. Ouch. Gotta do it though.
We spent time with family after church just hanging out, enjoying the weather after going out to lunch. A perfectly lazy, wonderful day.
LeeAnne,
I just read that World Book is the only company that still prints encyclopedias; I guess there would still be a market for those who don’t use the internet. But those books were definitely life savers back in the day.
I love lazy Sundays. So restorative.
We had a set of encyclopedias although I can’t recall the name, but it wasn’t world book. Will we get some pictures of the work in progress? It’s not fun being in a house while jackhammers are being used – at least when they’re being used right around the corner! The duplex we rented for 10 years had a leak in the slab foundation (think a foot of concrete, instead of beams or a basement) and the hallway where it was had to be jackhammered up. It was not a fun experience even not being financially responsible for the repairs.
The street leading to your home is absolutely gorgeous!! I can just imagine the sense of calm washing over you as you drive down the street.
Sue Ellen,
No, jackhammers do not lend themselves to a serene environment, do they? I can’t imagine dealing with a leak under a foot of concrete!
Yes, I do love the street to our house. It feels like a slice of heaven after the frantic pace and the concrete chaos just a mile or two away. Very thankful.
Wow, what a week it will be for the Smith household. (You might be glad for a not-at-home job, right now. Chuckle.) I knew you were a wise woman. Another reason? Having Steve explain the basement saga. Sure glad I don’t have to take a quiz on that info. Yes I “read” it, but I’ll admit, I did some what I call word-skimming. 😉
I can relate with remodel trauma, but after your stories, I’m glad we don’t have a basement. Smile.
At your mention of all those workers at your place for a week, my eyebrows shot straight up. Whew. One day down. Yay!
Look forward to hearing the progress next Monday. ♥️
Cheryl,
I am most definitely thankful to not be home this week. Steve said that Tippi is quite unimpressed by it all. She is a serenity-loving doggie. (Although all the workmen LOVE her.)
Yes, you can definitely be grateful (in this sense, at least) that you don’t have a basement. Great for storage; not so great for when the calls come tumbling down.
Glad you remodeling is going well. Can’t wait to hear that you’ve moved in!
My eyes certainly did not roll with the wall descriptions. I read quite empathetically. One never knows when the soil outside there basement might start encroaching on the interior of the lower level. Living in Central Wisconsin with clay our soil gets quite saturated. So all of your description made perfect sense. And it sounds like an amazing plan they are engineering. I wish I could be there to see it all first hand.
And wonderful how you figured out how to move the workbench while giving it a fourth leg. Your Dad Ken would be right proud of you. Many wonderful memories making many things at that workbench.
I will be very happy to have a tour of the new electrical and HVAC systems when we get to Charlotte again. Thanks for sharing about all of the progress there on Shadow Lane.
Love
Randy
Randy,
Do what do we owe the honor of your great presence? A comment from Randy Mantik himself! 🙂
You would absolutely love to be here with Steve this week and follow the progress. And yes, the engineering that goes into a plan like this is amazing. Steve will have plenty of pictures, vids, and explanations to share. He is, of course, as fascinated by it as you are. And yes, Ken would have been proud of the way Steve moved the bench. I just think it’s funny he sunk the let into concrete in the first place!
Looking forward to the day when you guys come back again and you can take the HVAC and electrical box tour. It will be scintillating.
Wish I could remember where I got my info for school work, but have no idea. Believe we did have a small set of encyclopedias. Know we had purchased them after we got married (for some reason).
When we bought our townhome we bought it with the basement unfinished. My husband finished it – made his own scaffolding and I helped carry in the sheetrock. It has a bedroom, bathroom and storage room too. When the inspector came – he was very impressed with it. My husband is like yours, in that they just seem to know what to do with anything and fix anything. We are blessed.
Sharyn,
You helped carry sheetrock? Wow. That stuff is not light! How wonderful to have that extra space down there for overflow belongings and for guests. Kudos to your husband for doing the job so well that the inspector was impressed!
I took great pleasure in reading Steve’s descriptions, though I felt my wallet gasp in pain for you. Hopefully all your home improvements will be done soon so you can enjoy the delight of a safe, sturdy, just-how-you-like-it home.
I flew to California this weekend where my old college roommate and I celebrated the life of our other roommate who passed away giving birth to her first child last month. The day was full of joy and sadness.
Robin,
We appreciate your wallet gasping in commiseration with our wallets. Glad you enjoyed Steve’s description; it’s quite the interesting process.
So glad you and your college roommates could join together to support your friend’s family in that terrible time of grief. The mix of emotions is unimaginable. May God bless that family with peace.
As an avid reader I also loved combing through our Encyclopedia set. Just the other day my son and I were watching a movie set in the 80’s and a taxi picked up a man, the man gave the address and the taxi sped off. My son said how did you guys drive without a GPS system, how did you know where you were going and I said well we had things called maps!!! And speaking of repairs that no one will ever see, I am having my HVAC system replaced tomorrow for the unit in the attic and the outside unit for the price of 5 years worth of vacations. I also just had my garage doors serviced and my toilets fixed….luckily on the 30th I am having a company come to power wash all this lovely pollen off of the driveway, porches and house and having the windows washed so that will at least be a visible improvement!
Dale,
That was a funny question your son asked. Sometimes I wonder the same thing how we dealt with paper maps that were always folded the wrong way. We must have pulled over a lot to find out where we were at any given time.
Oh my. Welcome to the Expensive Repairs No One Can See Club. Ain’t it fun? I’m excited with you, though, that the company is going to come in and make what can be seen all clean and sparkly. Enjoy! (And send them our way when they’re done.)
I really enjoyed Steve’s description on the repairs! It was so interesting to hear about the process and he made it understandable so even my non-technical brain could get the gist! 🤔🙂 And further kudos to Steve for figuring out how to get the workbench moved. I know his dad was giving a proud thumbs up from his heavenly vantage point!
As I too am of a certain age (grumble), I remember having to find information the “hard” way. Even though I appreciate the convenience and ease of having a world of information at my fingertips, sometimes I long for those old days. At least then we enjoyed a modicum of privacy, learned some self reliance and perseverance and could write in cursive, dial a phone and read an analog clock on the wall, for goodness sake. We’ve gained so much and lost so much.
As to your questions, we’ve never had to have major foundation work done, thankfully! And a high point of the weekend was walking through my first greenhouse of the season that had just opened. Seeing all the beautiful plants and flowers was so therapeutic! As soon as I figure out what I want for my containers, I get to go bring some of those beauties home–yay!
Love to you guys!
Deb
Deb,
Yeah, I was going to describe the process myself but I wrote about eight words and ground to a halt. My fingers were willing but my brain was at a standstill. Steve explained it in a good, clear way!
How fun that you got to go to a greenhouse. After a long winter, it must be exciting to walk into a place dedicated to beauty and greenery and flowers of all kinds. I love to think about you puttering around with all your pots and planters. You have a gift!
I have not had basement work done but I had to get a French drain about 8 years ago. I live in a multi unit building. The driveway of the center unit runs along my spare bedroom. I noticed water stains on the bottom of my furniture in there. It was in the first year of buying it so it was still under warranty. They couldn’t tell where the water had come from. About 8 months later, we had a hard rain. I went in the bedroom and my feet squished. Called the builder and they came out the next day. They had to replace my carpet in there and eventually had to sand and refinish my hardwood floors as they thought it was causing the floors to buckle. Fortunately I haven’t had a problem since.
A good friend of mine just had to have similar work to yours done. Like you, she had bought her parents’ house after they passed.
The best part of my weekend was going to Tampa. I got to the east coast of Florida on Wednesday. Saturday my friend I am staying with and I went to Tampa to see former coworkers. One I had not seen in 10 years. Two of them I had seen 5 years ago when I came to Florida. All 3 of them are Hispanic so I had foods I hadn’t had since leaving Tampa in 2014.
My family had encyclopedias. I think we sold them at a yard sale many years ago. I was surprised anyone wanted them.
Phyllis,
Oh, I know you were SOOOO glad your home was still under warranty. I can’t imagine how expensive those repairs would have been. And how great you haven’t had any problems since!
How fun to get together with former coworkers and get to enjoy good food and reminiscing. Those are special times.
Prayers the basement work goes well and rapidly.
We had a similar set of encyclopedias that was used many times. Also went to the library and used the card catalog and reference books to find the needed info. I think once I even used the microfiche! I would love to find an old card catalog to refurbish.
Thankfully we haven’t had to have any major basement work.
We had a busy weekend which is unusual for us. Saturday I had a craft sale till 2 then hurried home to leave for the racetrack an hour away to see our grandson race his first big race. He didn’t crash so maybe my nerves will calm down. Then Sunday after church and a luncheon, we went to a free wind and string concert that was really good. Can’t pick a favorite but loved that we got to do so much.
Patti,
You’ve done something I’ve never done and that is to use a microfiche. (Such a funny word!) I had forgotten about the card catalogs. I used them a little but they always seemed a little mysterious. Now I can go on my library app and just download an e-book in seconds!
A craft sale, a race, church, lunch and wind and string concert. I’d call that a perfect weekend. (And how exciting that your grandson is racing–even though it’s a little hard on your nerves.)