tuesday stuff

[swingchickie]

got another estimate on the whole bathroom situation last night. it was very interesting. this guy gave me two options... the one that the previous company had suggested, as well as the option i had had in mind to begin with. and his recommendation was actually for the one i had wanted, because logistically the first option would trash my bathroom in the process. unlike the previous guy, he said my bathroom isn't an "emergency situation", it's bad but not as awful as other homes he'd seen. AND... he recommended that i not get the two trees removed. which surprised me. he said that if he seals up the outside of the house, the roots won't be able to get in, and so there's no point in taking the trees out. so his advice will save me $1500 on tree removal, as well as about $1000 on the actual bathroom. now i just have to figure out where i'm going to come up with $3000 to actually get the thing done. ugh.

work has been, surprise surprise, nuts. i have several projects that are all starting to occur at the same time, and i'm juggling like crazy. but i refuse to let myself get in the situation i was in last winter, running 7 days a week on 5 hours of sleep and working the rest of the time. that ran me into the ground. at the very least, i'm forcing myself to go out dancing once a week. i already have a slew of things on my calendar for october (yay!), so darnit, I'M GOING TO HAVE FUN EVEN IF IT KILLS ME.

oh, and could someone bring the sun back? it's not there when i get up in the morning, and i'm not real happy about it. this full-spectrum light box thing helps keep me awake, but i kinda like the sun better. kthxbye.

Comments

[viellen]

oh, and could someone bring the sun back? it's not there when i get up in the morning

Dude, tell me about it. I keep waking up before my alarm clock and smiling in the dark at the thought of it probably being around 4am (which means two more hours of sleep for me)...only to realize it's 5:59 and my alarm clock is about to go off. Motherfucking shorter days!

Beware the foundation sealor!

[lawbabeak.livejournal.com]

Easy/cheaper solutions have a nasty way of being short-term solutions. Unless your basement is being sealed with titanium, if there are still trees trying to grow in that direction, they WILL eventually make their way back in.

I had a very nice contractor talk to me about a dig-down, patch job with sealor/water barrier. It >sounded< good. The work did not >look< good, but I wanted to believe. mghicks and/or boutell can tell you about my subsequent adventures sandbagging my basement and/or put you in email contact with me to compare contractors.

Re: Beware the foundation sealor!

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

actually, this solution (the procedure itself) was a bit more expensive than solution #1, but logistically better to do. (and it would save me $$$ on the tree removal.) he said it should last for at least 10 years... and that the tree shouldn't try to grow back in, because keeping wayer out of the foundation will mean the roots search elsewhere for water.

did your contractor just seal/patch things up, or did they also run a pipe along the foundation to direct the water away?...

Re: Beware the foundation sealor!

[lawbabeak.livejournal.com]

Part of the basement has a French drain around the inside (that would be the pipe that redirects water, in my case into a sump pump). We're close enough to underground water sources that a similar drain outside wouldn't take care of all our problems.

The outside of the fieldstone foundation was patched, sealed with a god-awful-smelling black goo, and then further water blocked with big pink sheets of something or other.

Check with your tree guy about your basement guy's theory of how roots grow. The French drain will channel excess water away from the foundation, but the ground will still be damp. Maybe your guy estimates it'll last ten years because that's how long he thinks it would take for the roots to grow back from being cut back and work their way into the foundation again.

I don't want to seem like a downer. I've just learned by experience that excessive amounts of pessimism tend to come in handy with household projects.