At the end of June I’d finally had it with our basement cage [aka my workshop] flooding every time it rained. I discovered that the gutter on the corner of the house above the leak was pointing straight down at the foundation so I crafted a gutter extender:
Since then we’ve had ZERO leaks! But I also wanted to seal the cracks and holes in the wall so that next time we get a really big storm the cage won’t leak as badly. I started by filling the cracks & holes with hydraulic cement:
Then I painted on a coat of Drylok masonry waterproofer:
And patched the few remaining cracks & holes with silicone masonry sealant:
Last week after work I painted on the 2nd coat of Drylok masonry waterproofer, but I ran out about a foot from the bottom:
I decided instead of driving to Home Depot I’d just order a new quart [#affiliate] on Amazon and have it waiting for me Saturday morning when I got up. It was waiting for me, but when I opened the box the bubble pop bag was full of paint! The can sprang a leak during shipment:
Amazingly hardly any got on the inside of the box:
The only way to get a refund from Amazon is to return the can. Obviously I’m not going to return a leaking can of paint, so I poured the remaining paint into an empty can [including the mess inside the bubble pop bag], then sealed the empty can & bubble pop bag inside 2 Ziplocs and packaged them up for shipping tomorrow. Then finished painting the wall:
I let it dry overnight then set the cage back up this afternoon:
The wall being white will make it easier to keep an eye on the leaky corner:
Hooray!!!!!!!
Here’s some random photos from the past week:
My Gold Dust Dracaena plants have grown some cool orange balls. Probably why their nickname is “Florida beauty”:
Some absolutely INSANE blueberry/lemon meringue pie I had last weekend at Jim’s auntie’s retirement community dining room – O M G:
The kitty bike parked at a restaurant last week [for our annual office picnic]. There were no spots left so I made my own:
My friend Barbara’s golden doodle “Buddy” enjoying the AC in her office:
The beaver heading into the fish ladder outside our house:
My new 17″ Dell Inspiron 7000 laptop – I love it!!!:
My neighbor’s door [they live in the condo on the 2nd & 3rd floor front of our house] which I finally painted black:
I painted ours black 2 years ago, after it was replaced. Theirs was replaced a few months ago, and it’s been on my “to do” list ever since.
I added some raspberry to the chameleon mural this afternoon:
And this evening there was a concert across the street from our house, so we wandered over and listened for a while. It was the Merrimack Valley Concert Band performing hits from the past 2 centuries:
I am delightend that your work has been successful.
Liebe Grüsse
Danke, Daniela! I am glad it is over. And so far, no leaks!
You are crazy productive. Kudos. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Thanks, Jo, as are you!
You did a very thorough job in the basement. That should take care of the flooding. Seems like you had a productive week! I’ve been partying too much ad working too little this summer!
Ha ha ha! You’ve been busy too 🙂
Great job on eliminating the leak in your basement – so much work but well worth it. And re your random pictures – I had dracaenas for years, but never, ever had any of them grow anything like those cool orange balls. Fascinating!
Your chameleon already looks amazing – I can’t wait to see the finished mural.
And the photo of Buddy cracked me up – SO funny!
My dracaenas never did that until last year when the momma one sported 1 green ball which turned bright orange. This year she has 2 and one of her babies has 2 – they love the light in the bedroom! Buddy is awesome, a very silly boy. He always makes me laugh. The chameleon is about halfway done, once I do another coat of raspberry, then I’ll start the detail work.