Spring springs surprises
I moved into this house over a decade ago. In those years, despite torrential downpours, crazy snow melts and other twists and turns offered up by Mother Nature, we have had no issues with water in the basement. This year has been different.
Last fall, Heather asked herself, "How can I get some moisture into the front flower bed on a regular basis?" The bed sits underneath the four or five foot overhang of the roof and seldom gets any rain, unless the wind is blowing directly from the south, a rare occurrence in this part of the world.
"Why don't I redirect the water from the eavestroughing directly into the bed?" she asked.
So, just before freeze-up she jerry-rigged the downspout to empty its flowing treasures right into the middle of the thirsty flower bed. When the accumulated snows made an early, yet temporary departure this February, all that water found a path to the foundation and made it's way down to the frost line where it discover a route, albeit tiny, into the basement and on to our floor. We moved the downspout, soaked up the moisture, and all was well, or so we thought.
Today I discovered another pool of water in a different spot in the basement, directly below our back door. Unable to handle the volume of water being created by the hot sun beating down on the two feet of snow on the roof, the eaves have been overflowing, right on to our back stoop, which inclines ever so slightly toward the house.
The lesson to be learned is never to take water for granted. It can find its way into the smallest of cracks and gather where you least suspect it. And even though you've lived in a place for a long time, surprises are still to be expected when it comes to a house and how it interacts with the seasons.
April 14, 2010 - 189.2 pounds, 29.7% body fat
Last fall, Heather asked herself, "How can I get some moisture into the front flower bed on a regular basis?" The bed sits underneath the four or five foot overhang of the roof and seldom gets any rain, unless the wind is blowing directly from the south, a rare occurrence in this part of the world.
"Why don't I redirect the water from the eavestroughing directly into the bed?" she asked.
So, just before freeze-up she jerry-rigged the downspout to empty its flowing treasures right into the middle of the thirsty flower bed. When the accumulated snows made an early, yet temporary departure this February, all that water found a path to the foundation and made it's way down to the frost line where it discover a route, albeit tiny, into the basement and on to our floor. We moved the downspout, soaked up the moisture, and all was well, or so we thought.
Today I discovered another pool of water in a different spot in the basement, directly below our back door. Unable to handle the volume of water being created by the hot sun beating down on the two feet of snow on the roof, the eaves have been overflowing, right on to our back stoop, which inclines ever so slightly toward the house.
The lesson to be learned is never to take water for granted. It can find its way into the smallest of cracks and gather where you least suspect it. And even though you've lived in a place for a long time, surprises are still to be expected when it comes to a house and how it interacts with the seasons.
April 14, 2010 - 189.2 pounds, 29.7% body fat
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