Spring Cleaning?

don't think the person who came up with the idea of spring cleaning had basement demolition in mind...

But I did! Ever since Jeff had pneumonia, he has had difficulty breathing easily in the house. It got much worse a couple weeks ago after a heavy rain and a partial blockage caused our main drain to back up. The plumbers came and fixed the problem, rerouted some plumbing, and left a mess. After standing in the basement for literally hours, checking out their work and watching them work, I started to notice some interesting things...like mold and mildew where I hadn't noticed it before.
Let me give you some history here...The former owner of our house decided to "finish" the basement. First off, the basement has obviously had some water issues in the past since there is a drain system built around the perimeter to collect and drain any water that wicks in through the foundation walls. The house is also built on "soil" that is nearly all clay...serious, heavy duty clay that does not allow much water to pass through it. It just holds the water. Why anyone would think that "finishing" a basement prone to moisture is a good idea, is beyond me...but what do I know...LOL!!!!
So anyway, the "finished" portion of the basement consists of a raised wooden platform covering the floor and a frame wall, built about 6 inches from the exterior walls and stuffed (fully) with fiberglass insulation. The walls are then covered with plastic as a (sad) vapor barrier, and finally finished (used loosely) with ugly, old, brown paneling. Some of the walls have drywall instead of paneling. Have you ever stuck the bottom of a piece of drywall in water, just to see what would happen? I'll tell you...the drywall acts as a wick, drawing the water up into it. Mold and mildew are NOT my friends! So here are a few pictures I took...they are arranged as before and after shots...




Before












After












Before













After














Before
















After


















Also After


























This last picture is of the mess on the curb after we were done. Fortunately, the city I live in collects trash like this without requiring a special pick up. They have a huge claw they use to pick up whatever debris you leave on the curb. The only downside is that they usually take a chunk of lawn with the trash. It is however, a small price to pay for the convenience! Unfortunately this picture is a little dark. I forgot to take it until I was sitting here writing this post. My desk overlooks the front of the house, so I opened the window and snapped a photo. I had to lighten it severely, so if it gets blown up too big, it is super grainy. Anywho...that's my basement sitting on my front curb.
There is still a long way still to go, but it is so nice to have gotten rid of as much as I have.