Basement Restoration Week 2: The mouse got his cookie!

[mpompey]

Highlights

• Installed Water/ Flood Alarm
• Pulled up 3/4 of tacking strips in the room
• Decided to get a new basement floor.

Well, someone gave the mouse a cookie, because now I'm getting a new floor poured in the basement.

Turns out the slope that I thought was to a drain, was in fact due to the dirt settling underneath the floor. The previous owners used some self-leveling concrete to mitigate the slope, and decided to forgoe installing a new floor, and threw some cheap/ ugly carpet over it. Luckily for me, I have a friend that owns his own masonry/concrete business.

Also,my basement floor provides no structural support to the house and my foundation walls are fine. So I guess the whole washing machine malfunction was a good thing. Although it would have been unlikely, I guess its possible that one day the cement would have cracked while we were in the theater.

I installed the $20 flood/water alarm in the laundry unit. Imagine, had I had this, I wouldn't have to shell out over $4000 to get the room back to where it was. Sounds like a good trade doesn't it. I plan on installing one of those laundry power units that will automatically shut off power and the water supply to the washer if there is a flood or washer malfunction. Until then, this loud little unit will suffice.

Until next time, watching something good for me. Since it'll probably be December before my theater is back together.

 

[Davemcc]

It never ends, does it. I keep saying I hate home ownership even though deep down I know it's the right thing to do in the long run. But the repairs, maintenance, etc. just drive me crazy.

I think you're doing the right thing instead of cheaping out with a half-fast solution. While they're under the floor, be sure to have a look at the tile and any plumbing/drainage work that could be done.

 

[mpompey]

I understand completely. I used to rent. Although I never had to worried about repairs, it was a restrictive freedom though. Couldn't paint without permission, couldn't really make it my own. This being my first house and an older house at that, I just need to realize that it's like owning a classic Mustang. Sure, it looks great, but expect to be under the hood regularly.

Thanks for the encouragement, I swear I must have given myself an ulcer thinking about whether this is the right thing to do or not; would I see a return, how could I not do it, ways around it, etc. It took my wife, who is not a theatre junkie in the least to tell me "Just fix it already." And that was pretty much that.