Up In The Air, Part 10

Just when we thought that our contractor had run away to Iowa - he had - and would be seen no more, he showed up! We have had some progress on our house project, and although there's much still to do, we can see an end.

The last of the concrete block is in and the windows are in, so the basement is sealed. Ah, but no: there's some trim and insulation and exterior finish that needs to be put in, as I can see daylight along the seams between block and wood . I'm not sure Larry knows that, but he will be shown. A good deal of dirt needs to be returned so that the grade can be established, sloping away from the house, and window wells can be set.

We still have no front porch, but the new entry at the back door now has a door and window and can be closed. Since the old storm door from the back is gone, this is a good thing; the new door has no screen but the window in the entry does. We will have a kind of vestibule. Of course, Wendy hates the thought of a white door, and Larry hung a white door. All our other windows and our other storm door are dark brown, but he apparently missed that detail; the new window doesn't even match the new door but is almond, almost the color that he'll need to paint the new clapboard when he hangs it on the back entry area. And it has the little trim that makes the glass nine-pane, which none of our other windows are; we can't even saw that out, as it's embedded between the panes of glass ("No dusting!").

Then, on Thursday, they were re-doing beams in the basement, and the sewerage pipe from our back toilet was in the way, so they broke it off. That's not all bad: the plumber is coming tomorrow, and will be re-doing much of the water supply and drain/sewer pipe, as well as replacing the back toilet. But it might have been better had they told Wendy, who was home at the time. It's just fortunate that we sometimes let the first whiz sit ("first yellow, let it be mellow; second or brown, flush it down"), or the guys would have gotten a shower they deserved but would not have enjoyed. The plumber does face a bit of a challenge... then there was the hole where that pipe entered the main house sewerage pipe. What about the upstairs toilet, the sink, the shower, the dishwasher? Wouldn't all of that water come spewing backwards out of that hole? Did you know that you could stuff such a hole, cover it with a plastic bag, tape the bag to the pipe, and things would be OK? Ah, but no: it held for a couple days, but has started to drip, and there's no knowing whether it will hold or blow with the next few flushes. Another hazmat challenge for the plumber, I'll bet.

The washer, dryer, freezer and furnace are back in the basement. Although none are connected, they can be. The plumber is to bring the new water heater and a laundry sink, and make the appropriate new hookups, and we may be back in the home laundry business as soon as Tuesday. Since each trip to the laundromat has cost about $9, that will be nice.

Still to be determined: where the central air conditioner will sit and where it will be connected through the wall to the heating system, the ducting for which is also still to be determined. Also, the dryer vent and the furnace vent duct (the PVC pipe out the side of the basement that has replaced chimneys in many homes) need to be situated, and the plumber needs to run a pipe or two outside for hose hookups. So our foundation and/or sill will need to be breached in a few spots.

Then, the building of the front porch is to occur Monday. Wendy will be watching that like a hawk: she has made it clear to the contractor that it must look good, not half-assed. Good round trim, not 2x4s, finished-quality skirting, full steps, animal-proof screening, quality ceiling, etc., and the porch should convey the same look as the old one did, which suited the house. I think this will be the piece that determines our level of satisfaction, although I'll be watching things like dampness in the basement, sags and cracks in the house beyond those we've already had, etc.

The new basement steps are interesting. The flight is longer, since the new basement is over a foot taller, and the incline is slightly less steep, a good thing. This means, however, that there is slightly less headroom where the stairs nip under the first floor: I need to duck a bit, and I'm well under six feet tall. There's also less room at the bottom, just enough space to turn. The back of each step is open, which I believe will be enough to keep the dog out of the basement. We can return the cat's feeding to about the fourth step.

It will take awhile to develop the new basement habits. If the space proves congenial, I may take our couple pieces of workout stuff down there. I mostly ignore the equipment anyway, and Wendy absolutely hates one piece, so the idea of a basement gym space seems like a winner, as we can then spread out the seating in our back room. I can also have the option of getting some exercise while I wait for the last rinse and spin. We will need to get a few more sections of shelving and other storage fixturing, as we had some crappy old wood built-ins that left with the rest of the old basement. And I think that some things may not go back down at all but head for a thrift sale, or Goodwill, or the dump. It looks like some of our sill storage along the stairs has survived, and we may even end up with more; this has served as canned-goods pantry space and a holding area for beverages. I think we'll take our time settling in: we won't do anything until we know the job is done, and then proceed slowly, letting the space tell us what will work.

The next update will probably come after the plumber is done and the porch is up.