Tales Of A Basement Remodel

All remodels come with their delays and unexpected expenses. We have been fortunate to only have a few minor items added to the latter category. And really, in comparison to some remodel stories I've heard (Adam's parent's whole-house remodel was supposed to be a 9 month project and ended up taking 2 years!), we've really had a smooth go of it. But we had a few bumps and some funny side effects that I wanted to make sure and record.

Tale #1: This is a picture of our rough in. The pipe on the left now houses a toilet and pumps waste from our home. The hole on the right is the water source for the shower and sink and should have had pipes and plumbing connected up to it in the first few days of the project. Why did it not? Because our plumber was in jail the day he was supposed to come plumb the house. YES. Jail!!!! Sweet, right? We were reassured by our contractor, Sonney, who is the brother of said plumber, that the reason this man found himself in jail is because of a dispute with his ex-wife, not burglary, assault or worse. At the time, Sonney told us if his brother didn't show by a certain day we'd call in a different plumber. I was desperately hoping that the plumber wouldn't show up! But he did, and I just made myself (and the boys with me) scarce for the day until Adam got home. And he was only a little scary. :)Tale #2: On another note, an interesting side effect that we did not foresee from the remodel was Ruby's descent into a total state of freak-out. Our poor pup! She was completely terrified by the sound of the nail gun, constantly banging hammer, table saw, and all the other noises of construction. She followed us around more than ever, like an appendage instead of a shadow, and just seemed totally on edge.

I first noticed it one day while Josh was at preschool and Tommy and Luke were napping. I was watching a TV show up in my bedroom. Ruby was frantically pacing the floor beside the bed, then she'd dart down and try to squish her way under the bed. Then she would jump up and put her front feet on the bed, something she knows is a big no-no, and has never done before. I thought there was a mouse or something she was trying to alert me to so I kept checking under the bed and all around the room, but there was nothing! Finally I figured it out, it was the noise! Awwww. She also tried to hide under the desk on numerous occasions and kept unplugging all the computer cords. Poor chicken dog. She was so happy when work would end for the day and she could just relax. I am sure having it all done has given her a peace of heart that only a true fraidy cat (or dog) can know.
Tale #3: The last story I have for you comes from a little accident caused by the window well. I guess it was kind of my fault because I was being wishy washy about what kind of window well I wanted. I thought a nice terraced one that kind of stepped down to the window would be lovely, but it would also take up a huge chunk of the space around the window and cost a lot so I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. We finally decided on just the boring old metal white kind, but it doesn't take up too much space and looks just fine.

While I was taking my own sweet time making up my mind, Adam had been industrious and dug a HUGE hole out around the window. One day we had one of our typical summer rain storms. The rain suddenly dumps down in buckets, lightning flashes, thunder rolls, hail balls come flying and then bam! It's over. It wasn't until the next day that we noticed one of the "jobs" of the window well. It's not just something to allow light into your below ground spaces, it's not just there to make emergency escape from said below ground spaces possible. It's also for drainage. Did you know that? We didn't! Oops.

Apparently, without the dirt and wooden wall there to hold back the flood, the mud and water from the storm had rolled like a tidal wave into the hole, crashed up against the window and began to fill. We figure it got about 6 inches up the window when, the window, which could only take so much pressure, began to leak. Thankfully the window didn't break, but we had quite the mess to clean up in the morning! There was water all over the bedroom floor under the window and some had leaked out under the wall into the rec room, stopping only when it encountered the edge of the toy box.

The blessing was that Sonney had not yet put on the window sill wood. We got it all dried out and vacuumed up the dirt that had filtered in and you couldn't tell it had ever happened once the paint was on and the stains from the mud down the wall were gone. But it was quite the shock to see that morning we discovered it. Needless to say, that's when I decided on the metal window well and we had it ordered and in place within three days!

So yes, our 3 weeks stretched into 7, and our budget stretched along with it! We had a few bumps in the road, but we are so glad it's finished and are completely pleased with the results!