The BASEMENT...

So Matt and I are constantly doing house projects. In fact we probably have about 3 to 4 projects going on at any one time. We love starting them but finishing them is a different story. We've been fighting with our basement since we moved in. We were told that the basement had a small "seeping" problem but was mostly dry. Well that may have been true for the previous owners but that wasn't true for us. One side of the basement was finished with carpet but that got wet and we had to pull everything up in that room. Luckily I worked for a water restoration company during that time and so I got lots of help. But this past spring was the last straw, we got home one night from going out to eat and it was pouring down rain. We were having a serious storm. I told Matt that we really needed to watch the basement because we were getting tons of rain and sure enough the basement started to flood. A few different things were happening at once. Water was coming up through our floors and corners of the walls as well as the storm drain was backing up because the streets were flooded. So Matt got his shop vac and I sucked water while Matt emptied it into the sump pump. He has a 10 gallon shop vac and we probably dumped it 7 or 8 times. (And let me just mention that I was 7 almost 8 months pregnant at this time as well.) So after that we decided that we have to do something about this problem. We can't push it off any longer. So this last week we have been prepping the basement for the "water guard system". Basically it is a drain/gutter system that goes into the floor of your basement and directs the water to the sump pump and then out of the house. Which is exactly our problem. We have a sump pump but the water wasn't getting to it so it was coming through in other places. Well you can't buy the water guard it is patented by Basement Systems so they have to put it in. However, it's about 3 times more expensive if you have them do all the labor. So guess what? We are doing it ourselves! Yep, we (well maybe not me but Matt) will be getting jack hammers and busting up the basement floor around the walls so the water guard can be installed. Oh and we'll be carrying out all the concrete from the basement out as well (this I'm probably going to have to help with). Doesn't this sound like so much fun!? Well fun, maybe not, but definitely saves us a substantial amount of cash. So in 2 weeks all the Dobsch family - Mitch, Donna, Danielle, Matt, Lacey, and mostly likely Justin and Shannon will be busting concrete. Let me know if feel the desire to come and use a jack hammer! Here are some before pictures of the basement. I'll post the after pictures once it is done.