The foundation of it all

Peanut requested an efficient home and a functional kitchen, so our 1948 home could use some work. But, before we made any major changes, the foundation wall needed repair (yet one more wall that was supposed to be made “structurally sound” by the flippers).

So, the foundation wall work (see right of house, below) becomes the foundation of it all: can't invest in a home that may collapse!

Our building visionary, Chris of Rising Sun Construction saw a few nice days and led the charge to dig, rebuild, reinforce, and backfill (with gravel rather than WV clay)...  



 
 

First step: remove the soil and stoop from the side yard...and the old lattice...and the little awning...










Below the side door (leads into the kitchen) we found lots of great "ventilation" (the wood = disintegrated). No wonder the kitchen is so cold...

Entertainment for WVU freshman (dorms on left)? Lunch talk for our colleagues across the street at College of Forestry?

 

Valentine’s Day 2012: We love our cats so much we decided to give them better access to the outer world… while replacing part of our wall

A view from the outside that we hope the freshman cannot see…suppose the “trench” would keep them out even if they wanted in.

Feb 19: New foundation wall complete in a few days - no problems and ahead of schedule thanks to super organized and detail-oriented Rising Sun Construction

A little detail worth noting: We have glass bricks in the foundation wall side of basement rooms; they were installed about a year ago. With this recent work, they had to re-install one glass brick window.

Now for a quiz: which mason work do you prefer? 

(a) The “old” window, installed less than a year ago

(b) The new window