:So the big question is: what do I do about the blog now that BHM is no longer paying me to do it? You had some good thoughts on that.
Actually, the big questions are both that and how do I plan for/budget for the final enormous project(s) on Ye Olde Wreck, which I hope to tackle next spring and summer?
These big questions dovetail. Bear with me a moment.
The back half of Ye Olde Wreck needs a new foundation: replacement of three beams 24 to 38 feet long, all new posts, jacking the floor up four inches, and replacing or sistering some as-yet-unknown number of rotted floor joists. Oh yeah, a little earthquake engineering and bug treatment, too.
It’s also time to address part of the reason the foundation is shot. To wit: drainage. On three sides, the surrounding ground is higher than the foundation and slopes sharply so that runoff goes — guess where? — under the house.
Like so:
This is the worst slope. But elsewhere, where the slope isn’t as drastic, the area affected is wider. We’re talking earth moving, retaining walls, gravel, and possibly French drains.
Foundation and drainage: two beastly, tricky projects that need to be tackled as one.
After that, the house will be fully sound — at last. Years of work remain, but it’s work like siding, deck building, painting, drywalling, minor electrical and plumbing, flooring, and landscaping that can be done in bits and pieces.
Ye Olde Wreck will be a wreck no more. Just an everlasting hobby.
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I’d started to save for the twin monster projects and was paying down house debt from the last couple years of improvements when I got the word about the blog.
Now, I have to stress again that Dave and Annie are talking with me about other work that, if it comes to fruition, will more than make up for the lost blog income. They’ve been great. And of course you guys click those Amazon links and keep me going.
But in the short run, I no longer have a source of income I was counting on. And frankly, even if I still had it, I’m not sure I’d have been able to swing that foundation work.
A couple of years ago when the roof was leaking and part of it eventually collapsed I held a “roof raiser” and you bowled me over with generosity. I’ll never forget the flood of help you poured over me. Maybe that was once in a lifetime. Maybe it’s too much to think it could, or should, happen again.
And right now … I’m not asking. I’m not even close to asking. You can keep your wallets in your pockets and your PayPal accounts untapped.
Here’s what I am going to do about the blog, though: For now, nothing.
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I’m just going to go on blogging as if nothing’s changed. For the next three months, that’ll still mean fairly “lite” blogging because I’m offline at home. But come mid-August, expect almost-daily posts again. With no donation button. No bleg. No whining. Also no moving away from BHM unless Dave kicks me out. Basically … no changes. (Well, not quite true; following the advice of Commentariat members who suggested possible ways to monetize the blog without tapping into BHM’s scarce funds, I’ll definitely be talking with Dave.)
Then, sometime late this year or early next, when I’ve gotten a better idea how much I can earn and save toward the foundation work on my own, I may need to hold a “foundation raising” and turn to you again.
If so, at that point I hope that everybody who benefits from this blog will kick in a little something. Or a big something.
If not, then not. Who knows what the state of the world or the state of anyone’s personal finances will be then, in this crazy time? I remain humbled and grateful for the way you all put a better roof over my head. Always will.
But however life and finances work out, sometime between now and this time next year, I need to put my best efforts into ensuring that this crazy old house gets a solid foundation — one that will stay there until the day I die.
Sounds good. Keep your feet under you. Keep pushing on good things and talking with Dave. Don’t be afraid of new opportunities that might just be temporary paths to better. Don’t operate from fear. Maybe you can’t see it from the weeds, but you’re likely in the catbird seat!
Glad to hear you’re sticking around.
My Amazon link has been set to Claire for years 🙂 I’m gonna use it anyway so it may as well benefit you.
You need someone with some earth moving equipement or house leveling. From your pictures you could jack up the House till it is above the high point in your yard and have house backfilled uderneath till it all level. Or have the yard regraded so that it drains away from your house. Best of Luck.
Thanks guys. 🙂
Michael Simons, the earth-moving equipment is probably in the cards — if I can get somebody with a small enough machine in there. People who’ve looked at the job tells me it lies somewhere in between a Bobcat and minions with shovels and wheelbarrows.
Never thought about jacking the entire house up by (yikes!) several feet, and am not going to do that now because a) the front half of the foundation has already been done and b) I think just scraping away and re-grading the dirt is the easier, less expensive, and ultimately nicer looking course.
But any way you look at it, it’s quite a job. No doubt about it.
I sure feel for you, Claire. The drainage thing is a real challenge, and I’ve had problems with it in so may places I’ve lived. Here, the house actually sits on top of a good hill, but someone managed to mess up the drainage anyway! LOL At some point before I moved in, the driveway that goes around behind the house was covered with a thick layer of large gravel which caused water to drain toward the house, since it raised the level of the driveway JUST enough. Over the years, the gravel has subsided a bit, but a truly heavy rain sends pools of water into my basement. And there isn’t a damned thing I can afford to do about it. I mop up the water, or use the shop vac when it gets bad, and I truly hate to think about the condition of that wall on the outside beneath the soil line. I suspect I’ll find out… if I live that long. 🙂
Anyway, I’m delighted to know that the blog will remain. It’s an important part of my morning each day. 🙂
There are a couple of fairly inexpensive ways to lead runoff away from your foundation, but then I remembered where you live.
My construction/architecture experience has all been on dry land, so I’ll STFU.
Here locally one of our Evangelical ministers and his wife just bought the Comparette Home, built in 1890 and most recently Joe’s Jefferson Street Café. It’s been vacant several years. They’re restoring it as their home. It’s a Texas Historical Landmark, so they’ll have some constraints. At least that’s not something you have to worry about.
http://www.co.kerr.tx.us/historical/pdf/Comparette%20Home%20-%20marker%20fact%20sheet.pdf
OT: A little on Oregon polyticks. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/10/patriot-movement-oregon-militias-donald-trump-election-2016
I was involved in a similar problem with a house of questionable design, in a very remote location, built with no attention to grading. There was pooled and flowing water underneath the newly built home that was quickly developing into a major mold and rot problem.
The foundation itself was sound enough, but water ran through it due to the pitch of the land.
Four adults with shovels and picks were able to expose an entire side of the foundation, treat the wall of the exposed foundation with sealant, apply two thick layers of poly sheeting with adhesive to hold it place, and backfill it, all in one day. Three sides took 3 days. Hard but not particularly long days.
We took the opportunity to install drainage tile and gravel at the base of the foundation, all with hand tools. We just wanted to route the cascade of water around the house, not drain it to some pit.
The house was perfectly dry after.
This was digging in Maine rock and it was tough going. Yours should go at least as fast.
Don’t be afraid to jack the house up. With the right equipment it is easy and relatively cheap. It won’t ruin the good foundation at all. There are house movers everywhere, and they can give you a quote.
It is quite possible that jacking up the house and either moving it temporarily or just raising it enough to make room for machines to come in and crate a proper foundation would save more time and money than you spend on the jacking. Keep that option open.
“Don’t be afraid to jack the house up. With the right equipment it is easy and relatively cheap. It won’t ruin the good foundation at all. There are house movers everywhere, and they can give you a quote.”
Thanks for the voice of experience, s. Yes, the project of earth moving and retaining-wall building will probably be me and a few helpers. Maybe a rented machine, maybe just shovels. Good to hear it can be done relatively easily — and yes, the soils here are a lot more favorable than Maine rock!
As to jacking up the house … not afraid at all of a little minor jacking. I even own four 20-ton bottle jacks from the two previous rounds of foundation work. So not a big deal there.
But no way am I even thinking about having the whole house lifted. It would be overkill in this case, anyhow. But a house about half a mile from me was lifted two feet and set back down on a raised foundation last year, and OMG. It took months, with big out-of-town crews there every day and all kinds of specialized equipment.
Never gonna happen.
My last two rounds of partial foundation replacement and jacking up were done by simple handymen with only modest cost and no inconvenience to me (unlike the people who had to abandon their home for months), and I expect the next round will be the same. It’s still a big project. But doable without pricey specialists.
Claire:
Suggest you look into surface bonded block as a construction/foundation method. I think that might be a very good answer to the situation. Cheap, easy to do, and waterproof to boot.
WRT earth moving, in that area, try to find someone with a small Kubota tractor. I drive mine inside my future basement for backfilling. Very agile and compact, but capable of digging and lifting things that would defy four strong men.
Best regards,
Historian
Historian —
Small Kubota would be great. Around here, resources are limited and you takes what you can gets, but that would be ideal. I’m rather afraid of bringing a machine into some of the narrow spaces right next to the house and am going to at least experiment to see whether this makes sense as a minions-with-shovels job.
Surface-bonded block is indeed interesting.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SolarHomes/DryStackSurfbond.pdf
Seems much easier than mortared concrete block, for sure. However, here in earthquake country a wooden foundation like the one I currently have tends to be more forgiving. Last earthquake we had, the only building in town with substantial damage (substantial as in had to be torn down afterward) was concrete block. No flexibility. Shakes apart.