Thinking About Refinishing Our Basement This Spring . . .

My basement is a mess. It started off as a fairly nice finished basement, one of the reasons we chose this home over some others, but my enjoyment of the finished basement was short-lived.

Within one year the basement had flooded 2 times resulting in the need to rip up the rug. Within the first 4 years the basement had flooded 6 times, pretty much ruining the concept of making it nice again. The previous owners clearly finished the basement just for the sale, but that is another story . . .

As you can imagine, a flooding basement creates severe damage to your belongings and we weren't spared one iota. In addition to the damaged rug, pad, tack strips, and sheetrock that needed to be hauled away, we lost much of the furniture. Anything that was unfinished wood or worse yet particleboard was ruined.

I needed to get all the ruined stuff out of my home. Wet and moldy carpet and furniture is not only lost money, but it is a severe health hazard. At the time I had infants and toddlers in the house, so removal was a top priority.

I ended up manually removing everything and throwing it in a dumpster. Many items I needed to take apart and even cut into pieces to remove them. The project was laborious and exhausting. In hindsight, I should have called any one of the removal companies in my area. I am simply too out of shape for that kind of work. Why not have well-trained and equipped people do it for you?

I also suffer from allergies, I cannot imagine how much the mold affected my health during that time. The homeowner’s association did end up installing a drain right outside our home. We haven't flooded since and I'm considering refinishing the basement this Spring. Our family of 5 could really use the extra living space.  However, if we ever have the misfortune of flooding again, I am calling a removal company!

For Better or For Worse: Rain Rain Go Away!

It's been raining for four days straight here in Massachusetts. After the second day, we started to wait for signs of flooding in the basement. It was inevitable since flooding has been a hot topic on the local news.

So finally it happened. The water started seeping in. We had purchased a utility pump last year after experiencing something similar. We wanted to be prepared. What we were not prepared for was having a part break on the pump that nobody seems to sell. Aren't Lowe's and Home Depot suppose to carry everything?

To top it all off, everyone was sold out of utility pumps (Lowe's, Home Depot, Sears, . . . ) so we couldn't even replace the one that was not functioning. So my poor husband has had to use a wet/dry vac to keep up with the incoming water. To avoid having to carry all that water up the basement stairs, through the house, and out the door to empty it, he had to stand outside the basement window with the vacuum, emptying it every few minutes when it filled up. All the while, it was still raining on him.

I felt so badly for him. Even though it was not cold enough to snow, it was still cold and raw outside. He did his best to dress warmly, but could not wear gloves because they would have gotten soaked in a matter of seconds. I am so worried he is going to get sick.

I just wanted the world to know what a trooper my husband is for standing outside soaking wet in the dark. I know I would be completely miserable, bored, and lonely. I'll have to think of something extra nice to do for him after a day and a half of his sticking it out for the sake of our home.