Basement Almost Done!

Though things are going really well overall, I've finally hit my first small snags. None of them will probably amount to a delay anyway and I'm surprised it's taken so long to come up. I was supposed to have electricity by today so I called to find out what the problem was and they said, "We don't have you scheduled for anything...." so I complained as nicely as I could muster and they promise it will be done in one week. Since Lynea is visiting for a week starting Sunday, I don't think I'd need it till then anyway. Then I tried to order floor joists from Home Depot and they said they'd call me back with an estimate which didn't happen. I checked in today and it sounds like I can get that straightened out in the morning. The only other thing is the people who were supposed to assign my address and install a sign post were late, but when I called to gripe they were out the next day. I should have an address in a couple weeks, they say.

For any bad luck that has arisen, my good luck has been 100-fold! Firstly, the Burns Brothers have been working many hours to get my basement in. With just a little luck and cooperation from the weather, we'll have it all done tomorrow. So much was done today, but it rained really hard in the evening so they decided to wait till tomorrow to pour the concrete slab for the basement floor.

Today Isaac and Lige finished the basement walls and Nathan used an industrial sprayer to apply an oil-based sealer to the walls to inhibit moisture from entering the building. I had a dump-truck load of sand delivered and we spread that all over the floor and packed it down to prepare for concrete. We dug a pit and installed a sump below the level of the floor surface and plumbed in a floor drain and a drain for a washing machine too. The sump has a pump in it that will lift the water from the basement out to the septic tank (if I can ever afford to install a septic system...).

I dug a hole under the concrete footing and we installed a four inch pipe that will later house the water line coming from the well to my utility room. We also installed a pipe called a drain tile around the bottom of the entire basement and it's supposed to catch any water that may drain down so it doesn't get under or into the basement. The drain tile is also plumbed under the footing into the sump so any water collected can be lifted out.

While Lige and I leveled the sand on the floor, Isaac glued insulation to the exterior of the basement walls. Nathan used their Bobcat to push dirt back into the ditch as Isaac progressed. Back-filling will not only hold the insulation panels in place, but will give me a place to stand while I install the floor joists.

Lige and Isaac finishing my wall this morning


Lige using a chisel to cut a block in half so it can be used in the window jamb.


Nathan painting on the sealant. Notice the top two courses don't have any sealant on them as those ones will be above ground away from the moisture in the soil.


Nathan back-filling after the insulation is in place.


Isaac applying the last of the insulation panels.


Here is what the floor looks like this evening. The gray circle is the top of the sump. It goes about two feet into the ground. The big pipe on the right is where the water line will come in and the smaller pipe in the middle is the drain for the washing machine. The small gray dot on the right is the floor drain (in case I ever have a plumbing problem like Paul did!). Where the two ditches are I am going to build walls in the basement which will help carry the floor joists. Also, my stairs will come down between them. As you can see, the furthest wall spans nearly the entire room. That smaller section in back will be a utility room, seven by eighteen feet and the stairs will come down in there. The room will house my water pressure tank, hot water heater, washer and dryer. The sump will end up under the stairs. I should see if I can upload my floor plan drawings soon!


The previous couple days were fun too, but not quite the dramatic progression of today.
Joe, Ivy, and Lily came to Becida and I took them out to see Lake Osawa which is partially owned by my cousins. They have a lot of land at the lake's edge. Right after we went there, Joe and company headed west. At last check-in, Joe was in Yellowstone and had just seen my old fire crew, Lewis and Clark Hotshots, drive by. Small world; they are based in Montana!


This was my last chance to relax with Lily. Actually, maybe ever, since she kind of knows how to talk now.



Was it only yesterday??? Man, it seems like forever ago, my new friend Bryan gave me some logs, just like he said he would. I hitched Paul's trailer to my truck and headed over right after Bryan called. He had just felled a bunch of pine trees and was getting good money for them by the truckload. But just to help me out, he gave me three pine logs 18 feet long apiece. Paul's trailer looked overloaded and I've never seen my pick-up squat so low. It was probably a couple thousand pound load; the trees were fresh, green, wet, and heavy! They are probably more than 18 inches at the bases and Bryan says that is plenty big to bear the load of my loft, so I hope to mill them down into large timbers to use throughout the house. I'm most excited to have one exposed on the face of my loft floor!




Although I needed some things in Bemidji, I headed right to Sid's house where the sawmill is. Constable Bob said he'll help me get them cut up in the next couple days. On the drive over towing the logs, I had to be really careful with acceleration, braking, cornering, and my speed in general. The trailer-full of logs had so much inertia that if it began to sway a bit, it wanted to keep right on snaking down the road with increasing distance left to right. I made my way along like a pokey little puppy and arrived at Sid's without incident. I can't wait to get these things cut up and installed in my cabin!!