My Wet Basement

Hi. My Name's Justin. Welcome to my first blog post! I hope you'll bear with me as I learn the ropes around here. This will be a long post, to set the stage. Future posts should be more concise. I promise!

Anyway...

As the masthead says, I became the proud owner of a beautiful, wet basement the other day. I discovered it quite by accident one morning, proving conclusively that I'm not an unlucky guy. As I sat down to a bowl of Raisin Bran and a Globe and Mail I heard a faint grinding/gurgling sound.

Tip #1: Don't ignore your house's sounds!

We've owned our house (our first) for almost two years now, and in that time I've become hypersensitive to all the little groans, creaks, and taps that it makes. The house breathes, you see. It has a daytime character. It has a nighttime character. I'd swear it's alive. I used to be fearful of these sounds, hunting them down until I found the source. Now, after finding most of them harmless, I've come to appreciate them. They let me know the house is operating normally. Ducts expanding and contracting with the daily temperature swings. Normal ground settling over time. New noises become cause for investigation, not concern.

The gurgling was coming from the back of the house. I immediately suspected running water. I ran outside on the back deck to find water spraying from the base of a hose tap (or hose bib, as I later learned), running down the outside of the house wall. I verified the valve was shut and my heart sank. I ran inside and down to the basement, and confirmed my worst fear.
Water was streaming in a slow trickle down the basement wall, pooling at the base, and running across the basement floor toward, in a manner, the drain. Luckily it appeared to be in the early stages, as there was not much water. Despite this fortunate fact, I was still terrified. The water had come down the wall behind the insulation and vapour barrier. One word: Mold!

Thoughts of emergency plumbers charging usurious rates, not being present while the job was done, poor workmanship, all raced through my mind. Of course I have the highest respect for the home-building trades, and I expect (read: know) the job would be of higher quality were it done by a professional. But in the end, I'd be in the same position I was in the day before. Helpless.

I resolved to do the work on my own. I would learn the tools, techniques, and tricks required, and better myself in the process.

Over the coming series of posts, you'll see the process I took getting this job done. Up-close photos, description of tools, repair techniques, and even finishing touches will all be presented. Mistakes too! I made a few, and it cost me some dough. I might as well help you avoid the same trouble.

Hopefully homeowners facing similar problems, or even just those looking for inspiration to tackle a job DIY style, will come here to learn. More importantly I hope people more knowledgeable than me (not hard to achieve) will post suggestions for those who follow.

Once the wet basement series is finished I'll continue posting here with other home maintenance jobs as they come up. I'll spotlight some of the things I've already done during the past two years as well.

Cheers, and enjoy the ride!
Justin