Why Is Everything Wrong With Bathroom Construction.

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I can't just stand around doing nothing, and since I can't sit or lay down, I figured what the heck, why not have a look at what were dealing with so I can start planning accordingly.

Digging out foundation 2016-08-26 003.jpg

Everything looks relatively intact as far as the concrete foundation goes, but before I go any further I want to go in the basement and make sure the supports I have under the joists are holding secure, then add additional support so I can jack it up a few inches to get stuff out of the way for putting in my repairs.
I expected to find at least a rudimentary French Drain, but all I found other than gravel was a random chunk of concrete which only impeded drainage if anything.

Digging out foundation 2016-08-26 005.jpg

Looks like I won't need an excavator or Bobcat after all, just more aspirin and coffee.:)

Other than that I spent the first half of the morning inside painting the inside of the back wall with KILZ Up-Shot to fill the gaps I missed or could not reach with the mold killing primer. There was also a corner that was stuffed with pink insulation, but only about a one and a half inch gap to pull it out through, so that took half an hour, and thought the corner was maybe 8"X10"X6' in volume, the insulation I removed from it took up one third of a 55 gallon drum liner.:facepalm: That compressed insulation was likely a negative R-factor of 4 or 5.

I have come to realize that the entire house needs to be dug out, so we'll start with the bathroom and the rest of the section that comprises the "Addition" to what was once just a plain huntin' shack.
 
I was just thinking, more folks build homes/dwellings than build rockets, so certainly someone must be offering free design software similar to what Openrocket is to rocketry???
It sure would be nice to subject my repair to simulated environmental conditions based on the known properties of different materials and their performance traits in different environments.
I'll go look...
 
I don't know about any building type software other than the various CAD programs. But the building codes pretty much cover the entire country. There are various sections that have differing requirements depending on where you are located. Perhaps you can see if you local library has any code books. They're very informative. Our area is covered by the International Residential Code and that book has a lot of detail. A new copy is quite expensive, but I've seen used copies on EBay for around $30.
 
Here's some of the "Common code" that I could find, and due to the nature and placement of the house, with the rock face coming into it, it would never be up to "Code" unless some serious rock demolition was done, and then you may just as well keep on removing hundreds of ton of rock and just build a cave home.
There will never be ten feet of 5% downward grade here. Remember, I just found out my what I thought was a "house" is actually a "Camp", so codes schmodes.
Like I said, I'll try to make my repair as nice as possible.
Anyone who was seriously going to buy this place would just demolish the building entirely and start from scratch, but thanks to the junkyard habitation across the street with a generator going most hours of the day, no one is ever going to buy this place.
The 13.5 acres is nice, if you want to build a Camp farther up the hill near the top of the property, where there is even a beautiful view to behold, but this house is a piece of garbage. I used to want to build up there myself til' the junkyard neighbors set up homestead across the street. It's not even "Worth" doing what I'm doing to it, but I have no other choice having expended every possible option to get the house entirely rebuilt. The USDA rural development Re-fi with the construction funding was going to work out fine, but that can't happen for a "Camp", and that was my last ditch effort to get some help keeping a roof over our heads, so I just have to do what I can now.
My insurance not only would not help, they are dropping my coverage at the end of my current policy, so my mortgage company will pick up the insurance, but it will raise my monthly payment. Unless I have new central heating, a level porch with railings, no water in the basement, a fixed roof and ceiling, fixed bathroom floor and no mold by November 17th, that's just the way it is. I'm only one man, and I'm not sitting on my ass, but realistically it is not looking good in the keep my current policy department, so I've just resigned myself to having to pay the higher price in my mortgage payment until I have fixed all of these things myself.
It WILL get done, and hey, they insured it before when it already was not up to code, so when they see my handiwork, my insurance rate would probably even go down.

https://www.co.stevens.wa.us/landservices/documents/FOUNDATIONSECTION.pdf
 
Last edited:
I've been learning up on masonry now too, and actually have done some brick laying when I was younger, and helped my Mom do some stuff like two years ago I repaired the base of her chimney. When I was making knives I used a few bags to make my forge. I built it right in the front yard, and eventually my yard was looking like a junkyard so I had to demolish it in place. It was reinforced, and took me over a week to make small enough to haul off.:facepalm: I did not think that build through very well.
I used some blocks of white granite that came with the house as part of the general landscaping theme to build up parts of it and to give it it's shape and general outline. There is still a section of it down by one of my sheds, and I'll go see how it is holding up.
I know what I did to build that, and have a general idea of how strong it was, so since I don't have any material to practice with yet, atleast I can analyze my previous foray into masonry work to refresh my sense of how it all works together. I kniw I did some things wrong, as I have recently learned by watching videos, but anyhow, that's the theme for today. Get my head into the masonry state of mind.
I'll be able to get some pic's of the inside of the basement today, and it's pretty rough down there, so that should be fun.
A great deal of construction debris still litters the floor from my joist mending and floor rebuild, and that will have to be first priority upon access, clean-up. It's miserable down there, but until I make sure the supports I put in for the joists are solid and add more, it might not even be safe to continue removing soil and rocks at the foundation.
The weather is supposed to be nice and dry today, and warm, so it is a perfect time to open the basement for clean-up. An assessment of the everything down there can now be more thoroughly conducted, since now I've watched lots of videos and learned many things I never had even thought of before since last time I went down there last week.
Seeing what the current moisture level is now will be interesting too. The ground I had covered the night before last dried out substantially despite the humidity and light rain, and that's what made the removal of the gravel/dirt easy enough for me to accomplish yesterday. Just the night before that when I was trying to did my temporary drainage ditch the ground and gravel were like cement.

Knowing what I know now, I can't help but feel slightly ashamed that I let my dwelling fall into such a state of disrepair, but feeling bad about it is not going to solve anything like fixing it will, so, lesson learned, carry on.:)

On an even brighter note, by the time I'm done, I'll have the prerequisite skill sets to build a real rocketry workshop!!!:clap: I do have plenty of land to build stuff on.

This guy seems competent, and he says I need to get some practice in first, so I'll do that before I go for the actual foundation job:

[video=youtube;piqFaKRHQMo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piqFaKRHQMo[/video]
 
Last edited:
Just remember that the lender-placed insurance won't be as comprehensives as the policy you have now. You might want to look into getting a supplemental policy for your personal property or liability if it isn't covered under the lender policy. Lender-placed insurance typically just covers the dwelling. But having the lender get the insurance is definitely a novel way to cover your property if your existing policy is going to cancel you. It's just usually much more expensive.

But sounds like you have a good plan going forward.
 
Just remember that the lender-placed insurance won't be as comprehensives as the policy you have now. You might want to look into getting a supplemental policy for your personal property or liability if it isn't covered under the lender policy. Lender-placed insurance typically just covers the dwelling. But having the lender get the insurance is definitely a novel way to cover your property if your existing policy is going to cancel you. It's just usually much more expensive.

But sounds like you have a good plan going forward.

Thanks. I have a hard time understanding these things for some reason, but the way you describe it makes sense.
Yes, I'm trying to do everything that is needed to be able to easily just shop around for the most affordable policy, and maybe even bundle my vehicle in with it when I get there to save a little more if possible.
I certainly do not like living like this, but for the longest time I thought and felt that the needed repairs were impossible to do myself, and that only a miracle or the Rural Development refi would help me.
I think the real miracle is that I am not only forced by circumstance to do it myself, but that I am developing a lot of the kind of self confidence I lost when I had to stop working real jobs. I hate not having a job and having to rely on disability for my service connected crap. There's definitely no "Opportunity to move up in the ranks", and I don't get paid overtime for not being able to get any sleep. In civilian jobs my favorite part of the work week was overtime hours, and in the Army it was the hazard pay for deployments.
More than that, I was always either doing something important or something that I wanted to do.
I've begun to want to do all these home improvements, and that really says something for my general state of health regardless of any ailments I may suffer from. I'm definitely in a good way from the terrible position I have gotten myself into.

A big thanks to everyone here who has offered advice and help to steer my right while I deal with this real lifey crap, you folks are the best.

Anyhow, today I got in the basement, where I noticed a new blue wire hanging from the ceiling while I was taking a pic' of this pipe that for some reason pours water on the floor continuously:

basement hell 2016-08-27 005.jpg

Rather than go turn the power off, (like I actually thought about doing for about one fifth of a second), I used a broom handle to poke at it, which knocked it into the puddle causing a bright flash and pop, and just as fast me on the second stair out of fright! What did I think was going to happen, of course the mysterious wire was hot. I got out of there and shut the main power to everything off so I could find out what the heck this wire went to. Another wire is what it went to. One from an old lamp or similar 1970's vintage appliance. This wire, with the prongs on it was in turn plugged into a "Hidden" outlet box in a fiberglass panel thingy in the ceiling in a weird place. Anyhow, the weird out of nowhere new cord was removed and discarded. I don't think anyone did it on purpose, but if it has been there the past 8 years, I can think of numerous times when I've had other plumbing disasters that I should have at least noticed it, if not been shocked by it.???? Very weird, but I had things to do, so power back on after making sure the rest of the electrical circuits were known to me, I found this juncture, which does not look too codey, even to MY un-trained eye.:

basement hell 2016-08-27 004.jpg

I think boxes of this nature are not supposed to expose un-insulated wires and whatnot, but I'm just making a guess.
It was not laying in the water waiting for my dumb ass to poke it with a broomstick, so I moved on to my tasks at hand.

1. Removal of the majority of construction debris, to allow for safe movement and inspection/work on all areas.
Most of the insulation and other miscellaneous debris had taken on water or dampness. While this meant I could live without the tyvek suit, my respirator I use for organic vapors, goggles, gloves, and rubber boots were all donned for safety.
This work was conducted first, as it was cooler in the beginning of the day, so I would not fog the goggles, which has really become a criteria for work for me lately. The things I'm doing pretty much all require eye protection at the very least! I began to look for nicer alternatives on Amazon, and will be adding a set of Dewalt brand goggles, that are anti-fog, to my four current sets. I have the plain jane 3M face shield, and sometimes wear that in conjunction with the goggles and respirator, so that when the goggles start to fog up, I can pull them down around my neck or step into clean and still air to take them off and just work with face shield and respirator. This is usually not a very wise option, as the little bits of crap flying around in the air can still reach your eyes. I had to remove more pink hell today too, but am proud to say that I still suffer no irritation from it thanks to misting it or holding the collection bag right near the point I'm working with it to make all the little pieces that slough off fall into the bag.
I used 3, 55 gallon drum liners in the tiny basement hell, but the second two were of wet or damp materials, meaning if I had filled them to full they would not be able to be lifted topside. All fiberglass insulation will eventually be eradicated from my house in due time. It is a great insulation if installed properly and by competent folks, but in my case it was simply stuffed everywhere as tightly as humanly possible, so all the air was gone and it just became a gigantic wick for water to travel up to the roof. When I'm done, I want this house to physically repel moisture.

Whilst serving time in the basement, I noticed an old repair I'de made before I knew the ways of composites, and there was a drip, so that had to get knocked out quick with BSI 15 minute epoxy with some milled glass and kevlar pulp in it, a 20 ft' winding of a single strand of FG wall repair fabric tape, then a wrap of 9 ounce thayercraft FG cloth followed by one band of 3M 6oz. CF pressed on while the epoxy was still tacky, then pressed and pressed some more by hand until it set up. After that I used a tube of Permatex brand CA to rub into it to make it harder that a rock. I did the final part outside ofcourse, as those fumes must have been very noxious indeed!
Right before I started doing that step, an old friend stopped by with an old rifle of mine and a new red dot sight for it. The rifle was dirty too, so happy day!
Normally, and especially for this friend, I would never charge to clean and boresight a rifle, as I like just having some company every now and again, but he saw my haggard appearance and was impressed at the things I was doing, which he himself was about to take on at his own home, and $20 was made. I went into my old school "Gun Salesman" self so he could enjoy the little tips and tricks I'd learned or developed over the past 22 years, and even showed him how to boresight for himself. I have an eye for it, but that eye was gained through experience and learning the technique from those who already had the eye. He's going shooting tomorrow with family and friends, and they've got a real deal planned out with all sorts of disciplines, so he'll do fine, and be able to offer some tips and tricks to his family and spread the safety gospel. It's cool that his whole family loves to shoot. I have little family, a Dog, a Son, 5 Cats and a Mom.
Anyhow, we said our farewell, both satisfied with out interaction, and I got back at it, finishing the composite repair to the piece that kept breaking in the past. It will never break again, and will likely outlast the house itself.

basement hell 2016-08-27 006.jpgbasement hell 2016-08-27 007.jpg


The insulation on the hot water heater had taken on rot and sagged, so I replaced that with new stuff that my Mom had squirreled away for me in her basement after her recent home renovations, done by professionals, sort of.
Whenever they left sizeable pieces of anything around, my Mom would ask me if I needed it, and whether I did or not, I may someday, so I learned to always say, "Yes, that is awesome! Please store it in a cool dry place!"

I had to move quick, as it was now getting hotter. The insulation was placed using masking tape for speed and ease of fitting, then I went back with the aluminum HVAC tape to secure things, but not tightly.
Slices of blue foam were used to keep the FG from touching wet things and becoming a wick again. This is nicer FG anbyhow, foil garbed for the most part, and yellow instead of pink. I'll clean up my slop job next time I go down there, but had too many other pending appointments with the house to attend too to make it look pretty.
The pallet needs to be replace with a plastic or masonry pedestal with a liner, but I stabilized the situation with some blue foam and some General Electric brand 100% silicone, which won't shrink crak or basically do anything other than what it is intended to do, and it does that well.

basement hell 2016-08-27 008.jpgbasement hell 2016-08-27 014.jpg

Then the steps had a go at me, but I always expected them to pull this crap, so when they did, it was their loss, not mine.
I'm letting them wallow in their failure and self-pity at their vain attempt to discredit my efforts!
My reflexes rival my Cat's and even the arachnids that I sometimes fetch sport upon. Too bad it usually is not a good Idea to flinch or jerk to and fro in a violent fashion. I'de be all sorts of motion and speed if I could, as I once was.
I will be the only one doing the "Smiting" around here thank you very much!
Like the errant electrical anomaly, they were an expected hazard, so when I did notice them, I could atleast look like the fool in the safety PSAs rather than actually get hurt for real. I'm already hurt for real, so a slip from a ladder or an occasional shock from electricity is not really worth trying to smite me with.

basement hell 2016-08-27 011.jpg

I had even positioned my landing pad and brought the camera come to think of it, as evidenced in the photo...
That's how you stay "One Step Ahead", by staying all of them ahead. Makes sense now.
The stairs will undoubtedly break next at the highest step, out of spite and an expectation of complacency or triumph from me, neither of which will be yielded.
I will burn the remaining door and staircase tomorrow as matter of course for the good of all.
What terrible pieces of crap they are and represent. If I want to access my basement, I don't ned to be Sir Edmund Hillary for goodness sakes.
(just in case you missed the historical reference,:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Hillary)
My reinforcement of the joists, meant to only be that, is holding position, but it's inadequacy is tantamount on my mind tonight, since I know I need to create an adjustable platform that mates to the rock face and is capable of maintaining a stationary axis point, while allowing three jacks to be placed into any given geometry required.
I'm basically going to require a heavy duty tool stand that can be fastened to four walls of questionable structural integrity, a back up bracing system for that tool-stand, and then the guts to eploy such a jig to manuever the mass around and above me.
I've jacked an addition to a house once with a friend, and we used 12 ton bottle jacks, but like most odd jobs, I was just there to do as told, and really did not care about the tech involved just the money.
Thankfully, I do remember that we first had to make sure that things like pide and wiring were not going to get bound up or wrenched free, so I get the safety and inspection part, but what I forget is how we mounted, or if we even mounted securely the jacks to the joists. I'll have to do some learning up on the whole entire thing, but my head is totally in the game and in it to win it now.

I am liking the Composite repairs for ease of use, compared to doing it the "Code Way"
That said, they are no good for the actual engineering unless you can afford lots and lots of composites.
I saved time, money and a trip with my FG/KP/CF wrap on that pipe. It will think 5 times before it ever changes it's tolerances again.
 
Last edited:
Plus a Big One on this post! And keep in mind that a construction site can be a very dangerous place especially if one is working alone. Falls, cuts and electrical shocks are all too frequent and without a partner medical treatment may not be readily available. Press ahead but be careful.

Ted

Dave, before you return to that wet basement hell, kill the juice! And if you don't have a circuit tester, get one! And a cover for that 4 x 4 junction box. The water spewing out of that black insulation jacket could be the source of many problems. If you shut off all the water to the various fixtures in your house and the water meter continues to spin, you have a water leak.
 
Last edited:
Dave, before you return to that wet basement hell, kill the juice! And if you don't have a circuit tester, get one! And a cover for that 4 x 4 junction box. The water spewing out of that black insulation jacket could be the source of many problems. If you shut off all the water to the various fixtures in your house and the water meter continues to spin, you have a water leak.

The painful truth is that I have the hot wire tester, and have been complacent, in both its use, and purpose.
Trust me, I'm living it up right now, and would sure hate to bite it from a stupid mistake that I can learn from and move on, but your statement is so very valid and timely!
Safety is tantamount to success, and should be held in equal regard!
I may stumble sometimes in the safety department, and those times have cost me more than I knew I had to give, so yeah, safety first all the way for me.
I need to wear cleats or shoes to walk on ice, but if I had only been wearing them all along, I would not then need them.

The original Idea was crap. I can hardly comprehend the reason I even considered it.
Anyhow, I started reading more and doing more research, and realized how in over my head I was once again, so that meant just deciding to go ahead and do it, like we used to do in the Nineties!

Repairs 2016-07-30 001.jpg
 
Last edited:
The bare wire in that box looks to be the ground wire. Most 12 or 14 gauge wires commonly used in homes aka 12-2 and 14-2 ( xx-2 means two conductors, one hot conductor (black typically), one neutral conductor (white typically) and not noted in the nomenclature is the third bare wire for ground). Some packages of wire will say for example 12-2 with ground. Looks like the ground lost its wire nut too! As stated earlier please kill the power, it would be a bummer to loose a fellow rocketeer.
 
TopRamen. I really think this could be turned into a reality show on HGTV. Not kidding. Title could be Something like "Backwoods Repairs", or "Zero Budget Builder."
 
The bare wire look like the ground as others have stated. Not sure if they are ground to anything along their routes.

There is a shutoff for that water pipe into the basement. It also looks attached to that blue box (water pump?). I would see were the water is coming from before shutting it off (you don't want it to backup). Guessing it might be a circular flow equivalent of a fountain: well water -> pipes -> basement -> back to well. Otherwise, so form of drain or gutter system?
 
TopRamen. I really think this could be turned into a reality show on HGTV. Not kidding. Title could be Something like "Backwoods Repairs", or "Zero Budget Builder."

So far this is a text version of sorts. I've seen worse on TV - which is why I dropped cable 2 years ago.
 
So far this is a text version of sorts. I've seen worse on TV - which is why I dropped cable 2 years ago.

I got rid of my TV and cable too! Best thing I ever did!

I am reality now!!!

This stupid hose got smart with me today and got the modern day methods applied to it.
I also realized that since it is a simple machine, it would do me good to try to make one of my own, to see if I can.
I can use the internals from a normal off the shelf hose nozzle/sprayer, but make the receiver from composite. A good practice go to test out some new tech.:) It would give me some motivation to get the bandsaw up and running, as that would be needed to fabricate the templates.
I see no reason that a hose handle should not be made from molded and machined composite materials held together with modified epoxies.
I don't have time to start that project, but it will be put on my list of projects I really need to do when I get the time.

Thread tape did'nt work, and it still had want for wetting my shoes, so 100% silicone by G.E. was used and let to cure overnight, that hydraulic excavation could resume this morning. The foundation looks pretty solid, and so that's a relief.
It will be getting the reinforcement I envisioned, and I have come to terms with the "how high/large in volume can and does my enhancement need to be, and what will be necessary afterward in terms of follow on carpentry to reassemble the affected area.
The fact that it is load bearing concrete has to factor into my time frame as well, as it would be ideal to allow the concrete to set up properly and not try to rush anything at all as far as the putting the weight on it goes. I will use blocks, so the height will be a settled mater, but it already in a damp area, so keeping it open for the concrete to dry properly seems important, though I may just be overthinking things, as folks usually talk about adding water to make it wetter. I really like the idea of that when it comes to making the joints like that guy in the video. I did not do that on my forge, and the remaining chunk of rubble shows that where the rock portions meet the concrete portions and have separated cleanly. Proper adhesion was never achieved in the first place, so we definitely will not make that mistake on the foundation.

Stupid hose 2016-08-28 001.jpg
 
Last edited:
I got rid of my TV and cable too! Best thing I ever did!
I am reality now!!!

It could be a YouTube channel at least. Maybe get enough followers to defer you expenses a bit. You could have guest commentary from Pat_B, Tmacklin, etc. Really do it right!
 
It could be a YouTube channel at least. Maybe get enough followers to defer you expenses a bit. You could have guest commentary from Pat_B, Tmacklin, etc. Really do it right!

True. People get paid to play video games and do YouTube videos. Not exactly sure how the getting paid part works though.
 
The bare wire in that box looks to be the ground wire. Most 12 or 14 gauge wires commonly used in homes aka 12-2 and 14-2 ( xx-2 means two conductors, one hot conductor (black typically), one neutral conductor (white typically) and not noted in the nomenclature is the third bare wire for ground). Some packages of wire will say for example 12-2 with ground. Looks like the ground lost its wire nut too! As stated earlier please kill the power, it would be a bummer to loose a fellow rocketeer.


Thanks!
I'm not going to revisit the basement with the main power on in the future, as a preventative measure.
I'm all about risk assessment and evaluation, so no more poking at things with sticks.
"Power off first/Flashlights required for basement access" will be a sign that I post in that area.
Can't have complacency ruin my day.
 
It could be a YouTube channel at least. Maybe get enough followers to defer you expenses a bit. You could have guest commentary from Pat_B, Tmacklin, etc. Really do it right!

I'm far to modest for anything like that. I'm a rather private person, and really don't want the whole world looking at me being me. On a different forum I used to frequent, a weird girl from down south got a crush on me and drove all the way up here to try to hook up with me and it was really awkward. I try to limit my social exposure online to the rocketry forum, even if it is to talk about my bathroom project, since I tend to use some rocketry tech here and there.
When I get my foam gun I'm going to try to make something that goes on the tip that can add things to the foam, like carbon fibers or shreds of Kevlar and Kevlar pulp. Or both at the same time.
 
Turns out the past two days of motion have meant that today I need to take it easy and do some research and threat assessments.
Site management and safety protocols need to be established and written down, and I'll have to come up with a briefing for any possible visitors that may enter my property to visit or to show me how to do things.
I can't afford to have anyone get hurt on my property, and there are plenty of no trespassing signs up already to comply with Fish & Wildlife legal standards, but people do occasionally happen, so I need to manage my site in an according manner.
No heavy lifting for me today, just research, take some notes, and then write up a list of rules and standard procedures to follow.

I'll have to get a roll of caution tape, or ask someone for like 30 feet of it that I can just move to wear ever I'm working.

We used to do risk assessments all the time in the Army, and we were very effective at what we did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjaSUBfv1NU
 
Last edited:
I'm far to modest for anything like that. I'm a rather private person, and really don't want the whole world looking at me being me. On a different forum I used to frequent, a weird girl from down south got a crush on me and drove all the way up here to try to hook up with me and it was really awkward. I try to limit my social exposure online to the rocketry forum, even if it is to talk about my bathroom project, since I tend to use some rocketry tech here and there.
When I get my foam gun I'm going to try to make something that goes on the tip that can add things to the foam, like carbon fibers or shreds of Kevlar and Kevlar pulp. Or both at the same time.

But does the weird girl know anything about construction? :cyclops:
 
I am also going to determine if the foundation is level, and if I can establish drainage properly, meaning I would possibly not need to do the concrete work. That would help the situation greatly. I know I can simply protect the existing foundation from the encroaching soil easier than making it higher, so I'm going to have to think about the engineering aspect of safely draining that area. I don't want it going right on top of my septic system, and the gutters will need to be installed too to take most of the load...
 
This does not look right. Certainly not up to code.:

Foundation By Idiots 2016-08-28 001.jpg


At the base there is a random pour of cement, as if they screwed it up when they were pouring the foundation, then just said to hell with it and poured some concrete with pebbles in it all over the mess they made to make it harder for someone to fix later.

Looks like there's no way around having to do some concrete work.:(

On the brighter side of things, I got a section of 4X4 on top of some 5X5 white granite blocks in three places to support the structure much better than just the reinforcements on the joists were doing. I had to jack the thing up nearly an inch to get everything in, then let it down easy and now it is pretty solid til' I can come up with a solution and more reinforcements for the rest of the underneath.
 
Last edited:
Some more pics of my very poorly laid foundation.
I don't know how anyone could screw something up this bad, and then just build right on top of it.
There's no youtube video about this kind of thing.

Foundation Woes 2016-08-28 009.jpgFoundation Woes 2016-08-28 002.jpg


Thankfully, I have a lot of these white granite pieces in various lengths all over the property, so I can use some of them to rest the whole mess on for now while I plan my next move.

Foundation Woes 2016-08-28 001.jpg
 
Top, I don't think you could slip this by the building inspectors anywhere...even in Kabul, Afghanistan! What a mess.

Remodeling is much like open heart surgery in that you really don't know what you're getting into until you open up the chest cavity. I hope you can get this thing buttoned up before the winter sets in and find some manpower to help you out.
 
Dave, before you return to that wet basement hell, kill the juice! And if you don't have a circuit tester, get one! And a cover for that 4 x 4 junction box. The water spewing out of that black insulation jacket could be the source of many problems. If you shut off all the water to the various fixtures in your house and the water meter continues to spin, you have a water leak.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, that hose goes to a second well apparently from what I can remember, and I don't have a water meter, so I can't check that part. The water from the line that is hooked up goes right into the pump, then the pressure tank and then on into the house fixtures. I have a third actual well that I let the neighbor use as long as they maintain it, and that one is not even piped to the house, but it was just the arrangement the folks who lived here previously and the folks before have always had. There's a little hand dug rock lined well in the backyard too. It's a regular fountain in my yard.
I looked at my neighbors water feature today when I took my Dog for her morning walk, and it was barren. I then noticed this new black piping running through their yard, snaking it's way down to the drainage ditch at the side of the road.
They must have had an issue too, but had it resolved professionally. I'll bet that fancy looking piping is expensive, but since I have no idea, it warrants further research. I am friendly with those neighbors, so I stop and say hi when I walk past, and I'll be sure to ask them what they did there with the drainage and why. They too have the same cold water springs behind there house too, but they have cut the forest back about 150 feet further than my yard.
I just need to know how to plug it properly, and what will happen when I do. I was afraid that if I simply plug the line, and then the plug or line is compromised, there may be a flood of backed up water from up the hill at well #2. Would it be safer and a better idea to dig all the way down to it, remove it, then add it to the new drainage channel? That would be a pain, but I don't want something like an accidental flood of my own creation happening scenario occurring, so what to do?:confused:
 
I did make one video, but with the intention of using it as an analytical tool, to judge whether there was any flex or motion in the overall structure. I could not really tell if I was the one wrenching on something if it is moving other things or not, so I decided to make a video to watch immediately after so as to be able to safely continue. Everything was braced up pretty well by this point, but I did'nt want to miss something.
I was only able to actually get maybe half an inch at most of additional clearance with the jacks I had available to me. My 12 ton bottle jack was old and died a year ago, and I have since not replaced it. I'll need a new one and more than likely three or four, but they are relatively inexpensive, and there's also garage sales and fleamarkets.
This is the last bit of sill plate, or "sole plate" as they call it in the South.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoI9kZ9yBo&feature=youtu.be
 
I looked at your video linked at post number 116, which led me to this video on your YouTube channel. It appears to me that the land slopes downhill from right to left in this view. If this is the house you are in the process of repairing, you definitely have a problem of drainage, as rain water and snow melt could easily overflow the concrete foundation wall (grade beam) and enter your basement/crawlspace area. Is my understanding correct?

[video=youtube;h6UHCGY775c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6UHCGY775c[/video]
 
I looked at your video linked at post number 116, which led me to this video on your YouTube channel. It appears to me that the land slopes downhill from right to left in this view. If this is the house you are in the process of repairing, you definitely have a problem of drainage, as rain water and snow melt could easily overflow the concrete foundation wall (grade beam) and enter your basement/crawlspace area. Is my understanding correct?

[video=youtube;h6UHCGY775c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6UHCGY775c[/video]


Yes! The bathroom I'm working on is right there to the right of that rear door. The land just comes l=piling on down the mountainside, and builds up and spills onto the sole plate. There was no drainage, but if there is going to be, it will have to be rugged, as it will be fighting the mountain, not just the water. I'm going to need some radical engineering methods to divert that much mass around the foundation.
The front half of the house is just up on cinderblocks, so it can be adjusted easily, I hope.
I have ideas, but they all require more than one individual to accomplish, not to mention the machinery involved.
I'm broke, so we'll have to improvise and come up with the best "Alternative".
I can kill all the vegetation myself, but I don't want to get wiped off the mountiain by a mud tsunami, so it still needs to go somewhere.
I realize I'm fighting an uphill battle, obvious pun, but I don't have many options but to fight and win, so that's just what's gotta' get done somehow. I'm atleast starting to be able to visualize everything well enough to see the soil, plant matter and water as one entity, so it can be simulated comprehensively in my mind.
It's obvious that the best option is to move or get a house on proper foundation built, but those cards are not in this deck, so solutions are all that matter.

I cleaned up some of the site today, and fixed those steps to the basement, but then I was done for physically, which meant I could do some light duty knife making and start that Big Daddy Kit that I'de been meaning to give the carbon fiber to:).:

Big Daddy Carbon 2016-08-29 001.jpg
 
Looks like you need to make a roadway sized ditch to the right, and put in a half pipe like skateboarders use to direct everything down and away from the house.

Knowing how deep the water is running to get a drainage ditch low enough could be tricky. If you have a spring running against the house, not sure what you can do.
 
I suppose that if someone were willing to do the work, a channel of singular nature could be established at the top most spring outlet. The one up top is pretty impressive, just like the area near it where I once wanted to build a little cabin.
If I could route that to pour the next 150yrds to my back yard, I could harness that pressure and force to possibly utilize a form of hydraulic excavation, similar to what I did to my foundation by using my garden hose. My broke body was not up for the entire challenge of digging all that crap out, but I'm not stupid.
I knew it would not be good for a lot of material displacement, but from having dug lots and lots of holes in my life, I know that it is always when you are "Almost There!" that you hit your breaking point, and wish you had a garden hose at the very least.
If I need to evacuate soil and water from a tinier space, I use my pump sprayer and so on and so forth.
 
Back
Top