You are probably thinking to yourself, "he is still posting about this dang flood?" Yes, yes I am.
It has been a pretty big event in the lives of @mrsbozz and myself, so what better way to cope with it than to write about it.
After losing our luggage, shoes, Christmas supplies and other various items, @mrsbozz declared an edict that after everything was back together, everything sitting on the floor would require stilts.
Not wanting to deal with losing stuff again, I was actually on the same page as her with this one. Many of our items are already stored above floor level, but those that aren't, something different needed to happen.
Without much hesitation, I decided to start with the area under our stairs. Because it is closed off, it gives us a good place to stash things like luggage, the vacuum, and holiday decorations.
It is right across the hall from the furnace and sump room though, so it was probably one of the first areas to flood. I started thinking about a way to build shelves or platforms that would keep our items about six inches or so off the floor.
I went over to my buddy's house and as we were sitting by his fireplace drinking I mentioned my plans for building a platform. He immediately brought up the fact that the area under the stairs doesn't have carpet or flooring.
He said that the cement would wick moisture into whatever wood I used, so I needed to make sure I used some Cedar. Apparently, pressure treated lumber would be a no-go because of off-gassing or something like that.
I made a note of his advice knowing that upgrading to cedar lumber would probably increase the cost of my project.
Last Saturday, @mrsbozz and I had to run to the grocery store so I suggested we take the truck because I needed to hit the lumber yard for wood and supplies to make the platforms as well as a couple of other projects.
As we were walking in, I saw some cement blocks sitting outside the store for $2 a piece or so and my plans immediately shifted.
Instead of spending a bunch of time and money for shelves that pretty much no one was ever going to see, I decided to go the easy route and just do this.
We purchased a total of 5 blocks for about $1.50 a piece and three 2 inch x 6 inch x 8 foot boards and made some really nice risers for all of our tubs and stuff.
I probably should have trimmed these two boards down a little bit, but it had been a long day and I didn't feel like cleaning up all of the sawdust from the floor. It had been a tight fit to even get them in the right position to begin with.
I had cut one of the 2 x 6's in half earlier to run across the back wall of the storage space.
There is a good chance I will end up pulling those two boards out at some point in the future and cut them down to the right size because it is really bugging me that they are too long.
In the end, I am really happy with the way things turned out. Reducing our time and costs on this project will allow me to spend more time on the coat rack that @mrsbozz wants me to build for the upstairs closet and the rebuild of her craft desk that needs to be done.
From now on, our Christmas supplies will be safe and secure from any flooding that hopefully doesn't happen. In fact, I might even add another set of boards and blocks to give us more storage area under the steps.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
Good job my man
Thank you!
Looks good.
We always make sure that ONLY Tupperware type containers are on the floor. They last forever and will keep everything dry inside.
After or last move we’ve got rid of all cardboard storage boxes, with the exception of those for empty wine bottles, and after a couple of minor water incidents haven’t lost anything. The water never goes over 6” int he basement and the containers are high enough to keep everything out.
They have the added advantage of having a waterproof lid, so if the Ayer comes from above were covered there too.
Good point! We are moving everything to Rubbermaid tubs as well. It will be pretty rare if anything is just sitting out in the open anymore besides the furniture and stuff since it is a finished basement. We had some of my old Legos that were in a tub with a crack in it, so those got wet, but dried out just fine!
Reminds me of my college bookshelf. A lot. It was ugly as sin, but it held books like it was purpose built.
I get the "I'll probably go back in and cut those boards..." I'm the same way.
Hey, great to hear from you! Yeah, I was going to get some big blocks and slide some 4x4's through them, but @mrsbozz said no way I am paying $12 a piece for four 4x4's :) I might just take the handsaw under the stairs and do it on the fly rather than trying to finagle them in and out of there again.
I thought tech's were useless at DIY, or maybe that's just me?
Could be. I grew up helping my dad and my friend who now has his own handy man business, so I learned some things along the way. The thing that holds me back the most now is not having a table saw or router.
I'm sure I have had shelves on bricks before. I like simple solutions and if nobody will see it then looks are irrelevant.
Good points!
Nice work! Floods suck. Home ownership seems to be a constant balance between fixing things and trying to relax and actually just enjoy the house. lol! We've been doing renovations for 6 years and it's been a big learning curve. Now anytime I see someone doing any kind of work on their house, I'm like, YAY for you!!!
Thanks, I appreciate it! Good luck with the continued renovations!
A good way to solve this with minimal effort, bak home in NZ wecall this sort of setup Student bookshelves as I alot of Uni Students would do somehtign simila to to make bookshelves for minimal costs, but i think there best when hidden away as yours are going to be
I guess it only makes sense that so many people would choose to go this route vs buying or building and expensive alternative.
When I first came to NYC, and planned ot only stay for a year my furniture for the first two years wwas a Futon, and a table made from the boxes my computer and TV came in supported with duct tape LOL
dude it's fine that you are still posting about the flood. I'm sure it was and still is a pretty traumatizing experience. Hopefully whatever caused it in the first place is something that doesn't start happening with any sort of regularity.
Yeah, I need to save up some money and then I am going to have a different pump installed as well as a backup one. I think because my water has so many minerals in it that I am going to need to get on a regular schedule of replacing the pumps. I have read that often deposits build up on them and corrode the switch which leads to failure...
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