Dealing with the flood damage in the basement
(posted from home)
(This post covers 23 – 30 September, 2011)
------------------------------
Friday, 30 September-
This morning we took the utility-trailer load of trash to the landfill. Our local waste-recycling company had posted direction to take flood-related trash directly to the landfill rather than to the incinerator and there's currently a bit of a price break to do so-- $48 a ton rather than $55 a ton.
The process was very easy. Drive onto the scale upon entering the yard, pull up to the small-loads dock and throw your stuff into large trailers behind (and below) the dock, pull onto the scale on the way out, and pay your fee. We were pleasantly surprised to only have to pay $27-- I had assumed there'd be a minimum fee of $48. That at least helps defray the cost of gas a bit.
I played a bit more with Zinio and ordered another South Africa travel magazine-- this one 'Getaway'. It's less oriented toward four-wheel drive adventures than 'Leisure Wheels'.
---------------------------
Thursday, 29 September -
This morning we have yet another morning of hard rain. Nevertheless the dehumidifiers have been slowly pulling down the humidity level from 93 per cent. Today it's at 50 per cent. My moisture meter has also shown me that the wood contacting the floor (the wall 'plates') is indeed drying out.
This morning Labashi had some things to do and I decided to see if I could get Zinio working. Zinio is a digital magazine website. I first learned about it when looking through a copy of 'Leisure Wheels' magazine in our Johannesburg guesthouse. ('Leisure Wheels' is a 4x4 adventure-touring magazine for Southern Africa). I wanted to subscribe but didn't want (and didn't want to pay for) a paper version. Zinio solves this problem by putting up the magazine online in a digital form and providing the tools to read it both online and offline.
I ordered 'Leisure Wheels' ($12.88 for a year) and created my account. But, (surprise, surprise!), I couldn't read the magazine. I contacted Zinio tech support and they sent me a checklist which resolved the problem. I had told my browser not to accept third-party Flash content and that was preventing the reader from starting.
I read about half of the October issue of Leisure Wheels by lunchtime and then felt guilty for not doing any work in the basement. But I did love reading about touring Lesotho in winter and the new HiLux pickup.
That afternoon I painted the walls with Drylok waterproofer (the original latex version). The actual painting only took an hour and looks good. Now if it just sticks.
----------------------------
Wednesday, 28 September -
Today was yet another rainy day. Labashi and I went into York to look for a better storage solution for the basement. We need a solution that allows us to dry out the basement without having to empty it out first.
After spending the day looking at options, we've decided on wire racks with locking casters. We already have a dozen or so 'wing boxes' and lidded storage boxes to put on the wire shelves. And since the wire shelves can be adjusted up and down in one-inch increments, I think we can come up with a fairly efficient and somewhat-portable setup.
I'm also considering keeping the storage unit long term. Perhaps we'll try a hybrid solution.... keep the hardly-ever-used-but-can't-part-with-it stuff (like family history artifacts, photos, and documents) in the fire-resistant storage unit and gear we need more often (plumbing, electrical, carpenter, and painting tools and supplies) here. We'll see.
Back home I worked on the basement wall to prepare it for a coat of drylok waterproofer. I had dryloked the walls about 15 years ago and we now have six or eight dinner-plate-size blisters of drylok separated from the underlying layer of block and an original coating of drylok. I pried off the blisters and wire-brushed the wall under them to prep.
That evening we watched the extras from the 'Expedition Africa' DVD and then two episodes of 'Damages', Season Two.
-----------------------------
Tuesday, 27 September -
We're finally feeling we're getting ahead of the basement problem. The air purifier is doing its job and we're pulling down the humidity level to dry-feeling levels.
We spent the morning loading the trailer in the rain. We also took advantage of having the utility trailer to also start cleaning out our barn.
------------------------------
Monday, 26 September -
I've finally realized we just aren't going to be able to deal with all the trash using our regular garbage service. I drove back to Chambersburg today, this time to borrow Maypo's utility trailer. This will allow us to load all the trash on the trailer and take it to the incinerator or landfill. That way we can clear the patio rather than try to set out six bags at a time (our limit) for the next two months.
Once back home I – guess what? – hauled more stuff to the storage unit. It's chock-a-block now.
That evening we finished 'Expedition Africa'.
-----------------------------
Sunday, 25 September -
This morning I made a run to Chambersburg to pick up the high-capacity dehumidifier we had in the house we've been working on. I was happy to find the house in good shape and to find the basement completely dry-- just as we had left it--- despite all the recent rain.
Earlier this year I had ordered the dehumidifier from Amazon with the idea that we'd use it in the Chambersburg house until we sell it then I'd replace our antique dehumidifier at home with the new one. But we can't wait now--- we must have much more capacity for our basement problem. I ordered another from Amazon and will use the antique and the Cburg one for now, will perhaps use all three once the latest arrives (depending on how much progress we're making), and in a week or so, get one down to Chambersburg.
I had started early on my drive to Chambersburg so was back by lunch time. While Labashi continued cleaning and sanitizing, I continued hauling to the storage unit.
We finished the Expedition Africa disk and started the final one tonight,
------------------------------
Saturday, 24 September -
Today we rented a storage unit and began hauling and stacking. We needed to get everything that hadn't been soaked out of the way just to have room to work. We put a few things in our guest room but we're wading in water as we do this and don't want to ruin the carpet in the guest room. We had both Mocha Joe and Labashi's car kept busy with the moving. As we'd get one filled up and the other partially filled I'd take the full one over to unload while Labashi finished filling the other. Our 10x10 storage unit seemed to fill up very quickly with the dry stuff while our patio overflowed with the wet and/or ruined goods and boxes.
Late in the day we showered and changed and took Mom and Dad out to dinner. We needed a break and hadn't seen them since returning. We picked them up and drove to Carlisle to one of their favorites-- Cafe Bruges. They like the 'moules et frites' (mussels and double-cooked french fries) and the Belgian beers there. I'm not much of a beer drinker but have found several we look forward to there.
Today was part of parent's weekend at Dickinson College and the restaurant got very noisy and crowded-- a bit too much for us by the end of the meal. Fortunately we have the flexibility to come here when it's not so busy next time.
------------------------------
Friday, 23 September-
This morning we started the process of getting the water out of the basement. I first tried the manual bilge pump from the fishing boat but the water's so shallow (about an inch to an inch and a half deep) it doesn't do much before the pump is mostly sucking air. Oddly, I found a dust-pan did much better. This one has a handle that allows you to stand while sweeping dust into it and that was just the ticket for a relatively good low-energy 'pump'. I could 'shovel water' much more easily than I could work the bilge pump.
I used a five-gallon bucket and filled it with about four gallons of water each time. I then took that to the nearby utility sink.
That afternoon we began pulling out soaked boxes of stuff. We had accumulated a lot of empty boxes we were going to use to ship anything we sell on Ebay (one of Labashi's projects) and many of those were ruined. We also had boxes of miscellaneous goods left over from moving Mom and Dad from Michigan last year so Labashi was very worried about those. The bottom boxes were of course completely soaked and then the next up on the stack would be partially soaked and a bit moldy, then the higher levels would be okay.
That evening we watched some more 'Expedition Africa' episodes.
**** END OF POST *********
(posted from home)
(This post covers 23 – 30 September, 2011)
------------------------------
Friday, 30 September-
This morning we took the utility-trailer load of trash to the landfill. Our local waste-recycling company had posted direction to take flood-related trash directly to the landfill rather than to the incinerator and there's currently a bit of a price break to do so-- $48 a ton rather than $55 a ton.
The process was very easy. Drive onto the scale upon entering the yard, pull up to the small-loads dock and throw your stuff into large trailers behind (and below) the dock, pull onto the scale on the way out, and pay your fee. We were pleasantly surprised to only have to pay $27-- I had assumed there'd be a minimum fee of $48. That at least helps defray the cost of gas a bit.
I played a bit more with Zinio and ordered another South Africa travel magazine-- this one 'Getaway'. It's less oriented toward four-wheel drive adventures than 'Leisure Wheels'.
---------------------------
Thursday, 29 September -
This morning we have yet another morning of hard rain. Nevertheless the dehumidifiers have been slowly pulling down the humidity level from 93 per cent. Today it's at 50 per cent. My moisture meter has also shown me that the wood contacting the floor (the wall 'plates') is indeed drying out.
This morning Labashi had some things to do and I decided to see if I could get Zinio working. Zinio is a digital magazine website. I first learned about it when looking through a copy of 'Leisure Wheels' magazine in our Johannesburg guesthouse. ('Leisure Wheels' is a 4x4 adventure-touring magazine for Southern Africa). I wanted to subscribe but didn't want (and didn't want to pay for) a paper version. Zinio solves this problem by putting up the magazine online in a digital form and providing the tools to read it both online and offline.
I ordered 'Leisure Wheels' ($12.88 for a year) and created my account. But, (surprise, surprise!), I couldn't read the magazine. I contacted Zinio tech support and they sent me a checklist which resolved the problem. I had told my browser not to accept third-party Flash content and that was preventing the reader from starting.
I read about half of the October issue of Leisure Wheels by lunchtime and then felt guilty for not doing any work in the basement. But I did love reading about touring Lesotho in winter and the new HiLux pickup.
That afternoon I painted the walls with Drylok waterproofer (the original latex version). The actual painting only took an hour and looks good. Now if it just sticks.
----------------------------
Wednesday, 28 September -
Today was yet another rainy day. Labashi and I went into York to look for a better storage solution for the basement. We need a solution that allows us to dry out the basement without having to empty it out first.
After spending the day looking at options, we've decided on wire racks with locking casters. We already have a dozen or so 'wing boxes' and lidded storage boxes to put on the wire shelves. And since the wire shelves can be adjusted up and down in one-inch increments, I think we can come up with a fairly efficient and somewhat-portable setup.
I'm also considering keeping the storage unit long term. Perhaps we'll try a hybrid solution.... keep the hardly-ever-used-but-can't-part-with-it stuff (like family history artifacts, photos, and documents) in the fire-resistant storage unit and gear we need more often (plumbing, electrical, carpenter, and painting tools and supplies) here. We'll see.
Back home I worked on the basement wall to prepare it for a coat of drylok waterproofer. I had dryloked the walls about 15 years ago and we now have six or eight dinner-plate-size blisters of drylok separated from the underlying layer of block and an original coating of drylok. I pried off the blisters and wire-brushed the wall under them to prep.
That evening we watched the extras from the 'Expedition Africa' DVD and then two episodes of 'Damages', Season Two.
-----------------------------
Tuesday, 27 September -
We're finally feeling we're getting ahead of the basement problem. The air purifier is doing its job and we're pulling down the humidity level to dry-feeling levels.
We spent the morning loading the trailer in the rain. We also took advantage of having the utility trailer to also start cleaning out our barn.
------------------------------
Monday, 26 September -
I've finally realized we just aren't going to be able to deal with all the trash using our regular garbage service. I drove back to Chambersburg today, this time to borrow Maypo's utility trailer. This will allow us to load all the trash on the trailer and take it to the incinerator or landfill. That way we can clear the patio rather than try to set out six bags at a time (our limit) for the next two months.
Once back home I – guess what? – hauled more stuff to the storage unit. It's chock-a-block now.
That evening we finished 'Expedition Africa'.
-----------------------------
Sunday, 25 September -
This morning I made a run to Chambersburg to pick up the high-capacity dehumidifier we had in the house we've been working on. I was happy to find the house in good shape and to find the basement completely dry-- just as we had left it--- despite all the recent rain.
Earlier this year I had ordered the dehumidifier from Amazon with the idea that we'd use it in the Chambersburg house until we sell it then I'd replace our antique dehumidifier at home with the new one. But we can't wait now--- we must have much more capacity for our basement problem. I ordered another from Amazon and will use the antique and the Cburg one for now, will perhaps use all three once the latest arrives (depending on how much progress we're making), and in a week or so, get one down to Chambersburg.
I had started early on my drive to Chambersburg so was back by lunch time. While Labashi continued cleaning and sanitizing, I continued hauling to the storage unit.
We finished the Expedition Africa disk and started the final one tonight,
------------------------------
Saturday, 24 September -
Today we rented a storage unit and began hauling and stacking. We needed to get everything that hadn't been soaked out of the way just to have room to work. We put a few things in our guest room but we're wading in water as we do this and don't want to ruin the carpet in the guest room. We had both Mocha Joe and Labashi's car kept busy with the moving. As we'd get one filled up and the other partially filled I'd take the full one over to unload while Labashi finished filling the other. Our 10x10 storage unit seemed to fill up very quickly with the dry stuff while our patio overflowed with the wet and/or ruined goods and boxes.
Late in the day we showered and changed and took Mom and Dad out to dinner. We needed a break and hadn't seen them since returning. We picked them up and drove to Carlisle to one of their favorites-- Cafe Bruges. They like the 'moules et frites' (mussels and double-cooked french fries) and the Belgian beers there. I'm not much of a beer drinker but have found several we look forward to there.
Today was part of parent's weekend at Dickinson College and the restaurant got very noisy and crowded-- a bit too much for us by the end of the meal. Fortunately we have the flexibility to come here when it's not so busy next time.
------------------------------
Friday, 23 September-
This morning we started the process of getting the water out of the basement. I first tried the manual bilge pump from the fishing boat but the water's so shallow (about an inch to an inch and a half deep) it doesn't do much before the pump is mostly sucking air. Oddly, I found a dust-pan did much better. This one has a handle that allows you to stand while sweeping dust into it and that was just the ticket for a relatively good low-energy 'pump'. I could 'shovel water' much more easily than I could work the bilge pump.
I used a five-gallon bucket and filled it with about four gallons of water each time. I then took that to the nearby utility sink.
That afternoon we began pulling out soaked boxes of stuff. We had accumulated a lot of empty boxes we were going to use to ship anything we sell on Ebay (one of Labashi's projects) and many of those were ruined. We also had boxes of miscellaneous goods left over from moving Mom and Dad from Michigan last year so Labashi was very worried about those. The bottom boxes were of course completely soaked and then the next up on the stack would be partially soaked and a bit moldy, then the higher levels would be okay.
That evening we watched some more 'Expedition Africa' episodes.
**** END OF POST *********
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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