I will never claim even a modicum of talent when it comes to home repairs. Most of my successes are despite my innate lack of real ability in the area. That doesn’t mean I don’t try and that sometimes leads to real keystone cops moments. Yesterday was a good case in point although I think I handled the situation with an unusual amount of restraint. One of the vagaries of living on a house on a hill is that one corner of the basement is prone to leaking when the rains are especially heavy because of the terrain. I know this problem predates my ownership because there were obvious attempts by the prior owner to fill every single crack along the offending wall space. I did a couple things outside, like putting in a long pipe to the re-route the gutter run off in that corner. That has reduced it some but there is still some very minor leakage.
My
plan for the past two years was to remove the step down from the bulkhead door
as that seemed to be where all the water was coming in. I finally got around to
that yesterday and it turned out to be a much bigger job than I anticipated. I
thought I only had to remove the step to gain access to the wall and then repair
any cracks I found underneath. Removing the step turned into a true Sisyphean
labor. No matter how many, very long nails I removed the step refused to budge.
I removed the door framing but that didn’t help. Completely sweat soaked at
this point, I finally figured out the step was actually integral to the whole
door entryway and couldn’t be removed.
The Project Step as I was Beginning
It
is usually at this point that brute force and ignorance takes over for me. I tried
to be a tad more elegant this time and decided to use a circular saw to cut through the step for as
far as I was able to get nails out. That worked like a charm but revealed an
even bigger problem. There was no wall to repair! The step frame extended back
into the bulkhead for about three feet. After removing two steps form the bulkhead
entrance to gain access to the other end, I found the source of the leaks. The “brilliant”
construction had this door frame sitting on the ground with no weather proofing
and easy access for any rain water to flow under the board. I therefore used
the cement I was going to seal the wall cracks with to create a water block
between the board and the ground. We’ll see if it works and my engineer son is
probably shaking his head as he reads this at the sheer ineptitude of my plan
but I was the guy on the scene and had to make a decision. 
Accessed via Circular Saw
I
was mildly proud of myself that everything went back together and actually felt
sturdier than when I began. This is the part of the story where the blind
squirrel finding a nut leaps to mind. You’ll notice there is no granddaughter stories
today. The FBR has entered one of her phases where she still calls but then
refuses to talk so we end up talking with our daughter, which is not a bad
thing, but I miss playing silly games with the FBR. Do they have to grow up so
fast? I think she may be nervous about her upcoming start of kindergarten which
we learned yesterday was delayed until the 13th for a variety of
reasons. 
The Aftermath
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RECURRING CHARACTERS
BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first
granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best
Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since
high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great
Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten
whom I reunited with after many years; Pittsburgh
College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in
Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard
deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two
close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd musquetera
(musketeer); Riggins - also known as
the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals
– female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife
accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member, Favorite Panamanian - the
wife (of course); First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her
single days in Brooklyn
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