As you know, we just moved into a new house in the country. We’re loving living here. The house, however, has a bit of a sense of humor.
In a heavy rain, water comes in the basement. Not a flood by any means, but about a third of the floor ends up with water running across it. The previous owners left some elbows and tubing, the kind used to extend rain gutter downspouts. In installed them the other day, just in time for the next rain. At midnight, after it had been raining several hours, the basement was dry. I was encouraged. I woke up the next morning and looked in the basement – it was as worse as ever. The extended downspouts only delayed the inevitable.
I could practically hear the house pointing and laughing.
We’re going to take a DIY approach and copy this product: DryTrak Basement Drainage System. We’ll have to do a little excavation for a sump pump, which the house does not currently have, but it should be a fun project. I’ll have to buy a rotary hammer. Bummer, I know.
Next funny: There’s a woodstove in the basement. The thing has to be at least 75 years sold, by the looks of it. The flue goes out the back, makes an immediate 90 degree upward bend, rises about two feet, then makes another 90 degree bend to travel about four feet horizontally and connect with the chimney. That second bend had a crack in it and needed to be replaced. The previous owners of the house had bought a new elbow but had never installed it. Still had the barcode sticker from Lowe’s on it. Well, I installed it yesterday. The new one broke in the exact same spot as the old one.
The short vertical section of flue is about two inches too tall, putting too much stress on the joints in the second bend. So, I have to get another new bend and shorten the vertical section of flue a little.
Yep, the house is having some good laughs at my expense.
