We have been getting some water in our basement during heavy downpours and we think that it is party due to the fact that two of our basement windows sit at exactly ground level, like the picture above. With a wooden frame, these windows probably allow some water to flow around them, and into the house. Part of our “Major Landscape” project is to backfill dirt up against the house in an attempt to keep rain water flowing away from the foundation, instead of toward it.
This Major Landscape project has been ongoing for over a year and continues with the efficiency of an Interstate-highway project: Slowly. We can’t backfill dirt up against windows, so before we could do that, we had to put basement window “wells” around two windows, and then planned to close off two others. The wells are in place and now, finally, the last two windows are filled in with cement block. The final stage will be to back fill dirt up to the house and then plant some greenery and mulch around it all.
There are five remaining basement windows that are only single-pane glass and sit in rotting wooden frames. The plan is to also remove these and replace them with glass block. Not only is glass block more sturdy, but much safer against break-ins. We didn’t want to put glass block in the two windows we filled in with concrete block because they would be behind dirt.
I started Saturday with the full intention of simply kicking back and taking the day as easily as possible. However, Laura encouraged me to get the project going before I headed off to Hong Kong. “Good idea!” I thought.
It started off easy, like it always does, with tearing out one of the windows. The frame was tough, but I got it out. Then the going got rougher when I tried to take out the second frame. I huffed, and I puffed, but the frame would not blow down! I finally got a circular saw and cut that dude in several pieces, being careful not to catch the blade on the concrete the frame was sitting in. Finally the second frame came out and off to Home Depot we went, to get the cinder-blocks and mortar.
We got the wrong kind of block on our first trip, and had to return . . . Then, with the proper tools in hand, we began our project of laying concrete block and mortar. Tackling this was interesting because neither I nor Sweet Pea had done this before. How hard could it be, anyway? I already knew that proper stacking of the block should be staggered, where one block sits not directly above the one below it, but off set by half the width of the block. However, I had decided that doing that would mean cutting the block in half, and with one chisel, wasn’t interested in aesthetics.
The mortar was hard to mix in the wheelbarrow, but we managed. We started using a spade tool to spread the mortar, but we soon realized that we were not skilled enough to get that to do what we wanted, so we resorted to using our hands to spread the mortar in just the right places. Unfortunately, the mortar wouldn’t stick to the sides of the blocks like is should. I guess we mixed it wrong, but when we wanted it to stick to the vertical side of the block, it only fell off when we went to place the block in position. This was very frustrating because with the block in place but with no mortar in the vertical “seem” we had to squeeze and maneuver the mortar into place with our fingers — both painful and time consuming (not to mention not proffering a very professional look).
About half way through the project, I saw a label on the mortar bag that said, “Warning! Irritant — Keep out of eyes and avoid skin contact.” Arrr! Could this get any worse? (It does) I decided not to tell Laura, because the damage was most likely already done and I didn’t want to scare her away — I still needed her help! The final steps were to add one block in sideways, so that the two holes in the block would go through the wall. I needed two holes, one for a dryer vent, and one for a future bathroom vent, and I didn’t want to have to chisel those out later. That block when in behind the water heater, and it was hard to get to it. Wrenching my back, I got it in. Twenty years from now, when I need back surgery for $30,000 will the filled in windows be worth it? Sure.
I then installed the two dryer vent tubes and louvers, and attached the dryer to the vent tube. It is nice to vent the dryer outside now. The hole for the future bathroom vent has a towel in it, to give us some insulation until the bathroom in the basement project is complete.
Finally, we painted the block with water-blocking paint, and put tar, or bull tar, or pitch, or “black mammy” or whatever you want to call it, along the bottom of the windows and along the basement wall and patio outside, to prevent water from finding its way inside.
All in all, it was a fun, but sweaty and stressful project. It’s one of those that needed to be done, but also feels great to have behind us.
Now, remember how I said that it couldn’t get any worse, but does? That night, we both woke up with our hands so dry and stiff, we couldn’t move them! We had to put hand lotion by the bed to keep them moisturized. Even today, as I type this, skin is peeling off my fingers, as the remaining chemicals burn through the skin layers . . . fun times! Next time, I need to take my brother-in-law’s advice and always use latex gloves. I need to buy a box of 100 and use them anytime I’m using caulk, expanding foam that sticks to ANYTHING, glue, paint, or yes, even mortar!
Click the picture above for some pictures of our house projects.
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