13-may. three day weekend planned. tom & troy heading to kansas for the weekend to see troy's family so tom was able to loan me his car for the weekend. south shore train service not running sat/sun due to track repairs (first weekend of season for scheduled repairs).
arrived @ the house around midnight, car loaded up w/the lillberg sofa i found on craigslist. living room now has some permanent seating.
i was anxious to see the house & see if the rainstorm on wed night had caused any damage. when i opened the basement door i could see the floor was still damp & was worried. it looks like the rain had come in from the bad foundation wall, may have been an inch or two of standing water. the water heater pilot was out & the insulation on the underside (closest to the floor) was damp, so the water had reached high enough to get that wet. luckily, the pilot re-lit & the water heater wasn't actually damaged. i will need to either have the water heater raised a little on bricks or create a barrier around the water heater to keep the area around it dry. there was dirt on the floor that had washed in from outside as well.
the worst part though was the foundation. i had marked a 2x4 beam that is split & still attached to the wall w/a straight line across the split, this way if there was any movement in the wall & beam, i would know. since january there hadn't been any movement, until now. it looks like there was about 1/4" of movement in the wall from the rain.
also, about 1/3 of the bags of concrete mix i bought to fortify the wall were lost due to the water (all the bags directly on the floor, stacked 3 bags high).
friday morning i went outside to check the exterior of the house. the ground adjacent to the bowed foundation sank a little more after the rain. i decided not to wait any longer & regrade the low spot to direct water away from the house. my only immediate option was to buy 40lb bags of top soil to fill in the depression ... by the end of the weekend i had nearly 100 bags in place. i covered the soil w/tarp & bricks until it settles (may need to add more to make sure the grade is away from the house). i was worried though the extra weight on the foundation may do some more damage ...
friday i started making the form to pour concrete in the basement to fortify the compromised foundation wall. i started by pouring a 2 foot by 2 foot footer along the base of the wall. next step will be to build up from the base with a 1 foot thick wall 2-3 feet high, reinforced w/rebar (set into the base as well). basically making a new support wall of steel reinforced concrete up against the existing foundation wall. hopefully this will halt the movement. if it works well, i may extend the repair further along the wall (currently doing on 4 foot section), hopefully it holds the wall until i can have the entire wall replaced in the future.
so basically the entire weekend was spent alternating between adding dirt outside the house to raise the ground level to direct water away from the house & pouring concrete in the basement to hold the foundation in place ...
also picked up a new pedestal sink & tonge-and-groove paneling/siding for the bathroom (4 foot length to cover lower portion of walls that are damaged) ... that all will have to wait though until the foundation repair is complete.
friday afternoon i mowed the lawn w/new reel mower (they don't work that great), will be nice when i can relandscape the yard. luckily there isn't much grass to mow.
saturday afternoon headed to michigan for grandmother's 75th birthday party in jerome. was nice to see my family, though i couldn't stay the night because i had to get back to work on the house.
on sunday ran to lowes for last trip of supplies for foundation repair (more wood for form work & also more dirt.
left around 4pm & had tom's car back in his parking garage by 5.30!
17 May 2010
10 May 2010
being lazy
took the 17.58 train to MCI friday evening, without incident. stopped into the DG & FD stores after i arrived. skipped the liquor store though, wasn't really in mood for a beer.
weekend trip was shorter than norm, took the 17.30 train back to chicago saturday evening. decided i needed to have a bar night (or two as it turned out).
friday night i washed dishes for the first time ... having a dishwashing machine @ home certainly has spoiled me some. but i survived. went to bed early friday eve (23.00), high winds in the area though kept waking me. power went out in middle of night (02.00) and was restored around 07.00. had to reset the lighting timers.
saturday afternoon i did minimal work around the house. started stripping the wallpaper border in the front bedroom (need to remove backing, but its 2/3 done now). also put closet/attic door back on hinges in the back bedroom (switched original door with bathroom door). this was probably the least amount of work i've done on a weekend there yet.
figured i would allow myself a light weekend, especially since next weekend i will have tom's car to make trip to michigan for birthday party for grandma. will also be making trips to lowes/menards for supplies ...
weekend trip was shorter than norm, took the 17.30 train back to chicago saturday evening. decided i needed to have a bar night (or two as it turned out).
friday night i washed dishes for the first time ... having a dishwashing machine @ home certainly has spoiled me some. but i survived. went to bed early friday eve (23.00), high winds in the area though kept waking me. power went out in middle of night (02.00) and was restored around 07.00. had to reset the lighting timers.
saturday afternoon i did minimal work around the house. started stripping the wallpaper border in the front bedroom (need to remove backing, but its 2/3 done now). also put closet/attic door back on hinges in the back bedroom (switched original door with bathroom door). this was probably the least amount of work i've done on a weekend there yet.
figured i would allow myself a light weekend, especially since next weekend i will have tom's car to make trip to michigan for birthday party for grandma. will also be making trips to lowes/menards for supplies ...
03 May 2010
train wreck
30-apr. took the 17.32 train again from randolph. it seems to be my friday routine right now. the ride generally passes fairly quickly, i have my ipod to listen to & keep a book in my bag as well. this trip though turned somewhat exciting after we left the 11th street stop in michigan city & were about half-way to the 2nd stop (my stop at carroll Ave). as we crossed michigan boulevard, the train suddenly started stopping & the horn was blaring non-stop. in a matter of seconds, we all realised there was a vehicle in the path of the train & we were about to impact it. as the train continued to slow & the horn sounded, we looked out the windows to try to see what we were heading into. luckily the train just clipped the back of a car blocking the tracks. there was a slight bump felt and then the train came to a (slightly) abrupt halt. we sat there for a few seconds before the conductor came on the PA and told us we had just clipped the car, the police were right there and that we would be proceeding on shortly. the train proceeded within five minutes.
after arriving, i dropped my bags off at the house and headed to the dollar stores to check out the latest wares. i made a quick stop @ MCD for a shamrock shake (the availability "for a limited time" seems to be a lot longer than years past). i proceeded on to family dollar & then to the dollar general ... there wasn't anything new this week so i left empty handed. i even decided against stopping @ virk's for a can of beer for later ... figured i usually forget about it until the end of the night anyway.
friday night i continued on with painting the kitchen & bath. the kitchen is nearing completion, just a bit more touching up in corners. the smoke stained foam green is now history ... though i left a ring of it under the ceiling light fixture since i didn't remove that to paint (it will be there as a haunting reminder whenever the fixture is removed).
the new medicine cabinet fit the old spot perfectly, there was about 2 inches of space at the top, the plaster covered part of it, but it was uneven in depth so i improvised w/a piece of wood trim to fill the gap for now. the wall is in such poor shape to begin with (pockmarked & pitted), i think i may buy some textured wallpaper to cover it & paint that. this will all be removed anyway once the bathroom is gutted for rehab (in a few years). but for now, it will do.
slept in saturday & was intent on doing nothing all day ... but then i decided to take the rain-free day as opportunity to caulk the new gutters (they had some leaks @ the joints). after i finished the caulking, i continued on with removing the furring strips from the sides of the house on the upper portions (requiring the ladder). i nearly worked up the nerve to hop on the roof of the back porch to remove the furring strips from the rear attic portion, but then decided that fun will wait, possibly until i replace the attic window (currently still boarded up). the roof is pitched & i don't care for heights.
as i was working my way around the exterior on the ladder, jackie from next door was on her porch w/a friend talking & we spoke briefly. her friend wondered if i was looking to rent the house out (2nd person to enquire), but i said i was not presently looking to rent it out. i did leave the option out there for the future though.
after i finished up with removing the furring strips i decided to remove the indoor/outdoor carpeting from the front porch. once the carpet was removed, there was an equal amount of dirt left behind on the floor. i had to open storm windows on the porch to let fresh air in to clear the dust in the air. will eventually repaint the floor, but need to check under the boards to see the condition of the framing as the floor boards in the far corner seem to be a little bouncy ... the corner post (brick pier) is crumbling & there may be some insect or water damage underneath.
saturday night continued on with another round of painting in the kitchen & bath, nearly done w/both rooms. once this is done, i'll continue w/painting the living & dining rooms & the front bedroom. the back bedroom is covered in wallpaper so will need to remove that before i paint.
in 2 weeks (mid-may), plan to start work on the temporary foundation repairs in the basement. still need to buy a sledgehammer & some rebar for the project. plan is to create some temporary bracing for the wall. also have some lumber to build a temporary loadbearing wall, in case the foundation wall collapses before replacement can be done. the cement mix is in the basement ready to be set into forms & the lumber for the load bearing wall is in the living room (will need to get it out of living room eventually b4 i can paint room).
sunday spent the morning/early afternoon cleaning up the house & planted some bulbs in the front yard along front of the house. took the 15.40 train back to chicago & then hit big chick's for a few beers.
after arriving, i dropped my bags off at the house and headed to the dollar stores to check out the latest wares. i made a quick stop @ MCD for a shamrock shake (the availability "for a limited time" seems to be a lot longer than years past). i proceeded on to family dollar & then to the dollar general ... there wasn't anything new this week so i left empty handed. i even decided against stopping @ virk's for a can of beer for later ... figured i usually forget about it until the end of the night anyway.
friday night i continued on with painting the kitchen & bath. the kitchen is nearing completion, just a bit more touching up in corners. the smoke stained foam green is now history ... though i left a ring of it under the ceiling light fixture since i didn't remove that to paint (it will be there as a haunting reminder whenever the fixture is removed).
the new medicine cabinet fit the old spot perfectly, there was about 2 inches of space at the top, the plaster covered part of it, but it was uneven in depth so i improvised w/a piece of wood trim to fill the gap for now. the wall is in such poor shape to begin with (pockmarked & pitted), i think i may buy some textured wallpaper to cover it & paint that. this will all be removed anyway once the bathroom is gutted for rehab (in a few years). but for now, it will do.
slept in saturday & was intent on doing nothing all day ... but then i decided to take the rain-free day as opportunity to caulk the new gutters (they had some leaks @ the joints). after i finished the caulking, i continued on with removing the furring strips from the sides of the house on the upper portions (requiring the ladder). i nearly worked up the nerve to hop on the roof of the back porch to remove the furring strips from the rear attic portion, but then decided that fun will wait, possibly until i replace the attic window (currently still boarded up). the roof is pitched & i don't care for heights.
as i was working my way around the exterior on the ladder, jackie from next door was on her porch w/a friend talking & we spoke briefly. her friend wondered if i was looking to rent the house out (2nd person to enquire), but i said i was not presently looking to rent it out. i did leave the option out there for the future though.
after i finished up with removing the furring strips i decided to remove the indoor/outdoor carpeting from the front porch. once the carpet was removed, there was an equal amount of dirt left behind on the floor. i had to open storm windows on the porch to let fresh air in to clear the dust in the air. will eventually repaint the floor, but need to check under the boards to see the condition of the framing as the floor boards in the far corner seem to be a little bouncy ... the corner post (brick pier) is crumbling & there may be some insect or water damage underneath.
saturday night continued on with another round of painting in the kitchen & bath, nearly done w/both rooms. once this is done, i'll continue w/painting the living & dining rooms & the front bedroom. the back bedroom is covered in wallpaper so will need to remove that before i paint.
in 2 weeks (mid-may), plan to start work on the temporary foundation repairs in the basement. still need to buy a sledgehammer & some rebar for the project. plan is to create some temporary bracing for the wall. also have some lumber to build a temporary loadbearing wall, in case the foundation wall collapses before replacement can be done. the cement mix is in the basement ready to be set into forms & the lumber for the load bearing wall is in the living room (will need to get it out of living room eventually b4 i can paint room).
sunday spent the morning/early afternoon cleaning up the house & planted some bulbs in the front yard along front of the house. took the 15.40 train back to chicago & then hit big chick's for a few beers.
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