Basement's ups and downs

The basement may still look like a mess but the decluttering is progressing.

I took Monday and Tuesday off this week to work on decluttering the basement.  I did get the table cleaned off only to fill it back up so I could start sorting and arranging my tools.  Last summer my father gave me most of his tools to take home from Alaska.  I needed to buy another standing tool chest to store them in.  I spent Sunday going through them and sorting them by use.  I also need to sort through the many different types of nails and screws it would help to know what I have instead buying something I already have.  I got a good start before calling it a day. 

Sunday evening I emptied the freezer and stored all the food on the 3-season porch for the night.  I unplugged the freezer and allowed it to defrost over night.  Monday morning I moved the freezer back against the wall dividing the finished and unfinished basement.  Then I wiped the freezer down and started to organize it.  Almost all my vegetables come from my garden and I freeze my vegetables in one pint bags.  I fill 2-gallon bags with the same vegetables since it is easier to pull out larger bags than pint size bags when looking for something.  I was able to consolidated bags and place older dated items near the top to be used first.

After I finished arranging the freezer I could finely change the furnace filter. I have an Aprilaire air filter which only needs to be changed once a year. It normally gets changed each September before I turn it on. I never expected to have the freezer still in front of the furnace when I moved it early last spring to paint the floor. I should have known better since it always takes longer than expected to finish a job. Once I finished that I moved my router out of my sewing/craft room back into the unfinished section. Next the stationary bike was move out of that room to its old area next to the furnace. I am not sure if the bike will stay there but I am no longer tripping over it in the sewing room.

Polished Light Fixture

The dirty panned light fixture.
















While moving everything around I found three light fixtures I have been storing in the basement.  Last year, I had two fixtures rewired, a pan light for the dining room and bathroom light.  I kept putting off the installing them since I am leery about working with electricity.  The pan light fixture needed to be cleaned, I found time to do it and it looks great.  The third fixture I got as a Christmas gift from my Dad and planned on installing it in the hallway.  I made a decision that if I plan to straighten out the basement I need to take the time and finish many of my UFO (unfinished objects) so I can free up space.  What an original idea, HUH!


Cleaning up the leaking water along the north wall.

Tuesday was a day with many ups and downs. I went downstairs to start working and noticed a small puddle of water leaking from the basement dividing wall. I walked around into the sewing room and found a large puddle of water coming from the middle of the north wall. The puddle was less than a 1/4 inch deep but it covered a large area. I was lucky since I put my picture framing supplies on plastic grids so nothing was ruined. I did need to move everything out of the area so I could mop up the water with old sheets and towels. The leak was behind the drywall and I been trying to fix leaking in the sewing room by changing the landscaping around the house in hope that I would not have to tear out the drywall. That will be a big job. We had over an inch of rain from Monday night to Tuesday afternoon. The water did not flowing from the leak until late Tuesday night.

The broken down sprout.

After I mopped up the water and laid down dry towel to soak up anymore water coming in, I walked around the foundation trying to figure where the water was coming from. I found the lower section of the northwest down sprout fell off allowing the water to soaking next to the foundation allowing it to find it ways into my basement. I use sheet metal screws to hold it in place. I hope this will sweep the water away from the foundation now. This spring I will need to remove the decorative stones and back fill the area with more soil tilling it away from the house. If that does not stop the leakage I will then need to pull down the drywall and fill the foundation cracks with hydraulic cement. Past changes in landscaping on the south side have stopped the leakage problems on that side of the house.

After but I still trying to get the light on the right to work.

Bathroom before









Later I installed two of the light fixtures. I did the bathroom light checked the to be sure it work and then put in the hallway light. Later in the day the bathroom light stopped working and every since I been trouble shooting the problem with no luck. I decided the dining room light could wait until my brother comes for a visit because I do not think I can move the heavy ceiling fan from the ceiling and then replace it with the pan light fixture.

Hallway Before

My new Hallway Light.

Tomorrow I will be back in the basement working again and checking the wiring in hope of finding the problem.