The Basement Saga

So, all of my loyal blogging friends and Facebookers know that I have had some issues with my basement over the past few months. Brief recap was that I found moldy drywall providing a haven to termites (live ones) in the fall, the result of a crushed drainpipe backing up and running water into the basement.

The time has come to start putting the mess back together. I took advantage of the fact that the basement was going to be a mess and decided to pull off all the beadboard that really dated the room. Well, it proved to be the gift that kept on giving - when I pulled off the first piece, I found this:


Suspicious looking on a good day. Clearly, the drywall had been wet at some point - not shocking, given that there is no plastic for insulating purposes and the insulation they are using is STYROFOAM. The studs are 1x 4 (as opposed to 2 x 4 - proper code) and are not mounted to the basement floor, only to the floor joist above (in short, the whole wall moves in its current state) Freakin awesome. So after pulling off the rest of the beadboard, this was the only "suspicious" looking spot. Treatment? Pull off bottom half of the drywall in this wall. All appears to be ok behind it.

So then it is on to ripping the rest of the drywall down in the basement. Initially, we had ripped off to where we thought the termites had eaten. Clearly, you can see we were wrong. This is after we discovered mold in the drywall we tore out from under the window. The window leaking is no longer an issue, because there is glass block there now. I came in from carrying up a load of trash and this is what my brother showed me. NASTY. So, we had to go buy a wire brush to get all that nastiness off the wall. We also found cracks in the wall, which we closed up with silicone. It was determined a coat of Drylock was necessary, as depicted below.

Drylock is unlike any other type of paint I have ever worked with. Thick, sandy, gritty and gross...and some teenage sniffing freak's dream. Joe and I were definitely ready to leave that room when we were done. It gets all over you too...got all over one of my favorite pairs of pants, so I got a link ball scraper to try and get it out. Sort of helped...and I took a lot of flack from it from my dad, who told me to go buy a new pair of pants. I informed he I liked these and would find a way to make them appropriate to wear in public again.

Funny aside...Joe was pounding nails out of the concrete, when I heard him say "Oh, expletive"...just as I felt something fly by my head. I chuckled out loud just thinking about it. He was not amused and said "Nicole, it is only funny because it did not hit you" - DUH????

This is a small piece of the mess in my unfinished basement. Those of you that have the pleasure of knowing me know that I can't stand a mess and have displayed OCD tendencies to avoid them. You all understand why I CANT STAND THIS....

End result of my brother's hard work last weekend. Properly framed and insulated. He framed, I insulated. It would take some effort to demo this...he properly drilled the base into the concrete.

And finally, to where we are today. Its amazing what proper insulation does to the temperature down there. The HVAC does not go in the basement, so the temperature moves with the weather. Already, you can feel the difference when you walk in that room....

I have to thank my dad and brother - esp my brother. Joe showed up at my house at noon on Saturday and left at halftime of the second football game. He worked his little heart out and really wants to make sure it was done right. My dad helped him drywall today, and my mom will have her turn on the action when she helps paint all the trim, chair rail and crown molding in the office. The ceiling in the office makes the crown molding a necessity. The chair rail in the living room area is also necessary - I had to apply a pretty heavy coat of paint to get it even at the beadboard. I am sanding away as much as I can, but chair rail will definitely take care of the problem. Carpet to match the upstairs will be the last part of this project.

This project has turned into WAY more than I wanted. I was very frustrated last week to find the additional termite damage....I work so hard to maintain my house, replace things as necessary, give it tender loving care and then to find that was a little upsetting. To all you DIY'ers out there - know when to hire out.

So...what have we learned from all this? Next house, I will pay a little more of a premium for a house that has been updated. I will still have plenty of opportunities to use my girl tools, but this pushed me over the home improvement edge...I will keep everyone informed as we continue to progress!!!