The Icky Basement...

The Basement Files

Here it is - as promised and of course looked forward to - a picture of the glorious basement.  Now keep in mind this gem of a cellar gave us some serious pause when considering the purchase of the home.
Let me describe what you are viewing here:

• The stairs at a less than ideal angle with cinder block landing and wooden "gang plank" to keep you out of the wetness
• At the front is a fallen down chimney which rests upon a stone slab tableau.  One side of the stone is being held up with crumbled material - not sure what.
• The dark spots on the floor are wetness
• The plumbing above the washer is new - it was updated when the septic system went in.  I wish I had a picture of the previous configuration.  The plumber said he would like to take a picture of it to "show his class".  That is never a good sign...

Posts under beam

Here is a close-up of the stairs.  T added two support columns under the (undersized) beam.  The beam is too small and failing to hold up the house which is causing the stairs and kitchen floor to sink.

T borrowed a special drill from a friend so he can drill through the concrete floor (thankfully in this case the concrete is not very thick) and dig new footers for new stair supports.

We hired a contractor to come re-support the beam and jack up the sinking house and rebuild the stairs.  We gave him a check for supplies in February and haven't seen him since...  Also not a good sign.  T has taken to calling him every day to try and get a time frame out of him.  You think you can throw money at someone and get the job done - but that is so not the case!

More pics of T's cement work coming soon...I think those pictures are in his camera.