An Eerie Feeling...

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Let's face it. ALL old houses have scary stories or creepy spaces!  If a house is old enough, someone or something probably died there.  Dear Mrs. Emma died here.

Our Creepy Space

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And so the story goes....  One of the first things Dwight had to deal with in our old house was our creepy basement, which was full of black murky water...about 4 feet of it.  The stairs down into the darkness had long ago rotted away.  And it had been full for quite a looong while.  Full of water and so much more. Full of the HEAVY 1938 cast iron radiators which were part of the original oil burning central heating system. Full of the HUGE 1970's heating and air system with it's massive duct work which stretched 14 feet across the room from one side all the way to the other. Full of old duct work, broken and full of nastiness.  Full of a large steel double sink from when the basement was used as a laundry.  Full of old cast iron sewer and plumbing pipes and old wiring running chaotically in different directions around the space. Full of shelf after shelf of random stored items, many still sitting in original dissolved boxing.

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  The water level.

Drain the Swamp

So Dwight prepared to "drain our swamp!"  He bought a trash pump with a large hose to suck the water out of the basement and run it into our yard. While he was getting it all set up,  he was leaning over the pump connecting the outlet hose when something or someone hit him on his back.  An eerie feeling for sure, considering he thought he was alone in the house at the time! Alone in a house full of garbage waiting to be hauled to the Big Red Box.

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He turned to find that a door from an old piece of furniture behind him, had taken that exact moment to fall and strike his back on its descent to the floor. I think maybe Mrs. Emma was giving him a pat on the back for all his hard work!

Basement Clean Out

Once all the water was removed, Dwight donned protective gear and a full face mask to enter the basement. He loaded plastic tubs with trash, which he handed up for Grace and me to sort and tote to our dumpster or to the save pile.

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When the living room floor joists were removed to rework that flooring system, Dwight built a ramp from the basement underneath and out through the French doors above to pull the heavy stuff up the ramp - with the help of a rope attached to his truck - and out on to a dolly.  (When you're doing the job alone, you have to use more brains and less muscle!)  Now we have finally removed ALL the garbage from the house. 

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The concrete basement walls have been sprayed and cleaned to remove mold and mildew, and then pressure washed. The living room floor/basement ceiling joists have been completely replaced. And we can move on to the next project....

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  Basement view: Right side before pressure washing and cleaning. Left side after cleaning. Also, notice the new ceiling/living room floor joists.

I know Mrs. Emma would be proud of the work done so far to restore her prize possession. Her precious "Mount Vernon".  

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  Mrs.  Emma's "Mount Vernon."
  South front photo provided by Mrs. Emma's family.

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  North front photo  provided by Mrs. Emma's family.