One Sixty: A footing under the house is worth 2 in the bush

A footing under the house is worth 2 in the bush

I visited the house yesterday after a few days of too-tired-to-drive-by-on-my-way-home-from-work syndrome. Footings are poured. Up until this time, I had a totally different image of what footings were. I was thinking they were just corner peices. In fact, footings outline the entire foundation, ie, the shape of the house. Which, looking at it that way now, makes more sense.

They hadn't taken away the forms yet, and to be honest, the concrete still looked moist. We've had a lot of rain over the last week though, so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it. We're supposed to have a dry weekend, so maybe they'll be back on monday to start on the rest of the pour.

Meanwhile, Mike did rent a chipper for this weekend, so hopefully we'll be able to get rid of all that brush we took down last weekend, plus dead stuff in our hole of a back yard.

That gets me thinking about our fill again - I mean, maybe if I send those Andersons a nice card with $300 for their troubles, they would let us put the dirt from the escavation down there. It's all clean sand and rocks, after all, and could in no possible way that I could imagine, hurt the old lady's well. I know they're just mad at us for cutting trees and brush on their property accidentally - and I guess, rightfully so. But if they have any heart at all... or greed. They'll accept an apology and money and let us put the dirt down there.

I hate to be disliked. I've put it off so far because I dread talking to them. I dread them saying something else horrible, mean, and offensive to me.

Blog Story

My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.

And here we still are... renovating away.

This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.

We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.

New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.

We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.

Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.

Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.

And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!

In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!

In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.

And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.