Digging, digging & more digging

As an interior designer I sometimes forget just how important the outside of a home can be. . . but I have certainly learned over the past few months.  A while ago I did not have a clue what drain tile was and now when I hear the word I want to lay in bed and crawl under the covers becuase it means going outside into this chilly weather and diggin!

Basically we had some trouble with water in our basement this past spring.  In Fargo the water table is so high it is extremely hard to escape seeing some wet areas in your basement especially if you live in an older home.  Drain tile is a tube with holes in it and it helps to direct the water to our sump pump and keep it from pushing against the walls of our home and seeping in. 

So we started digging.  All of the concrete around our home had to be hammered out and below Matt is cutting through the rebar that held everything nice and tight against the house.  We dug for a long time. . . the smartest thing we did this fall was to put in drain tile. . . the dumbest thing we did this fall was dig it by hand!

If you are wondering where I am .... I was taking photos, making lunch & lemonade!  Although I did help a bunch and help with a lot of the concrete work. . . but who else was going to feed our hungry workers?!

We dug down to the bottom of the footings so about 6'-6" deep around our entire house.  Thor worked so hard along with all of our wonderful friends & family that came and helped us!  My dad dug nearly the whole left side of the home out in 1 day!!  He really showed all of the younger guys how it is done!  When we completed digging our house looked like this. . .

Pretty scarey hu?  Actually our neighbors were really cool about it and were glad to see that it was finally getting done!  Everyone in Fargo knows what a problem water can be with all of the flooding so it is certainly not looked down upon.  Of course, it looks better now!

After digging we decided to put in 2 large windows in the basement - 1 on each side to let more light in and for fire saftey.  Once those were installed we set the drain tile & waterproofed the walls with this thick gooey material.  Guess who did that? - Me!  I am sad to say that I had to throw away 2 whole outfits because they were caked in tar & we still find tar around the house.  I wonder if we will ever really get it all cleaned up!  The other day it was stuck to the bottom of one of my fry pans! ah!

Waterproofing membrane is on & pea gravel is in - time to backfill!

Below is the lovely plank that we walked to get into our home!

Now we have most everything backfilled & Bailey can finally run around in the yard again.  By half way through the project he had figured out that he just had to go down into the trench and he could pop out right in the front yard and go for a little tour of north fargo so we had to keep him inside most of the time!  That little rebel!

We had talked to our neighbors and friends and people have spent nearly $15,000.00 to have someone come and put in drain tile. . . we bought 5 shovels (& borrowed some too), rented jack hammers, rented a pressure washer, bought the drain tile, pea gravel, waterproofing & other materials and used good old muscle & sweat to get this job done!  We saved significantly!

Thank you for everyone who helped us on this project!  We have a wonderful friend, Dan who has also guided us through this process and our family & friends who have come out to help us dig & work on the home!

Woo hoo! Time to get to my favorite part....the inside!!!