All posts by ihatehardware.

Just Another Manic Sunday

I spent the entire day helping Aliya with her Sage project and working on the new teachers’ wish list bulletin board for preschool.  Aliya’s project was about cats, and today we had to print out all of her research and stick the blurbs onto a display board along with a bunch of photos.  It came out nice but her whining really tires me out.

The wish list board is a bunch of bushes with the wishes on leaves (photo to follow) along with a sun, clouds complete with rain, and a rainbow.  I was hoping to finish today but I still have to write out the teachers’ wishes and stick them onto the bushes.  Oh well, tomorrow’s a new day.

Tonight we took the kids to Ben & Jerry’s to celebrate the lack of water in the basement along with the rest of the days’ accomplishments.  A group of young people came in and ordered a Vermonster (20 scoops of ice cream, brownies, cookies, bananas, 4 toppings, hot fudge, and whipped cream – 14,000 calories and 500 grams of fat – 8 pounds – $40) so Adlani spent the entire time obsessing about how he could afford to buy a Vermonster because he’s been saving his money.

When we were finishing up, a policeman came in and Norah yelled, “EL POLICIA ESTA AQUI!!”  I was so proud.  She then looked at Adlani playing with a toy and yelled, “MOMMY SAID TO LEAVE ALL THE SHIT IN THE CAR!!”

I did NOT say “shit” and I have witnesses.  I don’t know where she gets this stuff.  Must be from Ben.

.

She’s Taking on Water, Captain!!

In the 10 years we’ve lived in our house, we’ve had water in the basement a few times.  Our house was built in 1927 and moved from a location on route 30 in the 50’s, so it has a block foundation.  There are hairline cracks in the floor, so when the ground water gets too high, the hydrostatic pressure forces water in through those cracks (and any other little pinholes it can find).

Sealing the cracks doesn’t solve the problem – we would have to install a drain system around the basement walls and since the water hasn’t been a problem, we haven’t taken the plunge.  We may have to rethink that decision.

We had a few solid days of torrential rain, and even on the last day the basement was still dry.  That night, the groundwater level must have reached the height of the basement floor, so we were in the basement until 3 a.m. trying to keep the water level below the furnace.  All the stores are sold out of pumps, so we were sucking the water up with a Shop-Vac, 12 gallons at a time.  I posted on Facebook that we needed to borrow a pump, and by the time I woke up the next morning, we had two!  The power of social media.

The first pump was designed to be submersible, so it kept overheating and shutting off.  We ended up with the pump in a bucket, and we basically bailed and vacuumed all of the water in the basement (30′ x 30′ x 3″ – do the math) into the bucket or Shop-Vac to be pumped out.  The problem is that if the water finds its way to the storm drains or the sewer system, those systems are already full so the water eventually ends up back under our house coming through the cracks.

We got the other pump last night and it’s the type that sucks water right off the floor, so we ran that for a few hours last night and this morning.  At least we’re not bailing or vacuuming, but it’s a losing battle because until the ground water level recedes, it’s going to keep coming back.

Honestly, I’m thinking Adlani’s idea might be a good one – leave the water in the basement so we can play down there with boats.