Come along with us as we renovate our 1946 home. This week’s home renovation update is about the progress on the foundation.
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Catch up on our home renovation updates here:
Update #1
Update #2
Update #3
Update #4
Update #5
It’s been a while since my last home renovation update, but that’s not because we haven’t been working hard at it. We had to take a few days off when my Papa passed away. Also my husband is working on a huge project at work and cannot take any more days off. Now that the sun is setting earlier there’s not a lot of time left when he gets home.
Needless to say we’re still on the foundation part of our home renovation. This part has been the longest, most frustrating, worst part so far. There is so much involved that I never even thought about when we first started this process.
After cleaning off the side of the foundation, which took a lot of time, the cracks had to be filled in and patched up, rubber cement had to go on the whole side, and foam boards had to be put up.
Related: Check out this great article by Holly at Cat Care Solutions on How to Keep Your Cats Calm During Home Improvements.
Our foundation had lots of cracks, some small and some rather long and deep. They had to be patched up by first putting insulating foam sealant in the cracks, then after a few days of drying that had to be scraped off level to the foundation.
Next a layer of liquid rubber foundation sealant was put over the crack and then geo-textile was placed over that like a bandage.
Once all of this was dry and set, a thick layer of the rubber foundation sealant was put on the entire foundation wall. This had to be done to the front side as well as the side, however not as high up on the side.
When the rubber foundation sealant was set and dry foam boards were added to the side of the house.
Since our foundation is crazy bumpy at the bottom, my husband made his own tool to trace lines along the bottom of the foundation onto a piece of cardboard.
After the line was drawn, he placed the cardboard down on top of the foam boards and poked holes through both pieces along the line he drew on the cardboard piece.
When he removed the cardboard piece you could see the holes on the foam board. He then connected the dots and drew the line on the foam board.
At this point I couldn’t help singing “Connect the Dots” by Pee Wee Herman. (If you’ve never seen Pee Wee’s Playhouse then you didn’t have a proper childhood.) I’m pretty sure I drive my husband crazy sometimes.
After the dots and line were in place it was time to cut the bottom off. He cut right along the line he drew, then trimmed up the edge that was cut.
This stuff is so messy! The little pieces flew all over the place, making it look like it was snowing. Which would have been nice considering how hot and humid it has been during this whole process.
Now the cut foam board fit perfectly against the bottom of our crazy bumpy foundation.
After the boards were up and in place, we had to put 3 strands of elastic bands over the boards and around the house to keep them from falling over. They are so light that even a slight breeze keeps blowing them away from the house.
Before figuring out the bands, we had one long rope all the way around. Unfortunately the rope started sagging overnight and all the boards were falling over. Lesson learned.
The next step in this home renovation process is to lay landscaping fabric down so we can put in a drainage system. This stuff is super long and smells so gross!
We dragged the fabric up the hill beside our house so we could lay it out flat and fold it in half just to get it into the trench along our house.
We finally got the whole piece in, then the fun started.
This piece seriously took two days to deal with. Once we got to the corner it started bunching up and no matter what we did it would not lay flat. We ended up having to cut it just to make it work.
The fabric has to go up on both sides so that when the gravel is put in, the rest of the fabric can be folded over top. (Then the dirt goes over that.) Yet another thing that caused so much frustration.
We managed to get the fabric up along the dirt side by sticking steel landscape fabric pins through the fabric into the dirt. But now the other side had to go up on the foam boards. (You can see the black elastic bands holding up the boards here.)
My husband put tacks along the top of the fabric to hold it into the foam boards. This helped a little, but he ended up having to buy some super strong tape as extra support.
We have wooden boards propped up against the foam boards to keep them in place.
Our next step is to lay down a layer of gravel, then pipes for our drainage system. On top of that will be another layer of gravel, which we hope to have a cement truck bring since the chute will make it a lot easier. The last layer will be the dirt.
After all of this the foundation will need to be repainted and grass will be planted. I cannot wait to have my yard back!
I wanted to give you guys another little glimpse at what I’ve been busy working on. Many of you know that I have an Etsy shop, however I have let a lot of my items expire from the shop. I plan to let them all expire and I will no longer be listing on Etsy. They keep going up on their fees and the rules keep changing so I’m pretty fed up with them. I’ve been doing research on other places to sell handmade items, but they’re not that much different.
Since I do not want to pay another site to list my items on, I have decided to create my own store using WooCommerce. This is seriously taking me forever as it’s so much to learn! I have a few items on there now, but it’s probably not going to be official until next year.
As of right now my store contains some of the crochet items I’ve worked on over the past year. I plan to keep adding more items and hopefully branch out with more items later on. This is a work in progress and it’s definitely not an easy one.
Can you tell we don’t do anything the easy way around here?
Here is a link to the store if you would like to take a look: The Shop at Blessings by Me. I welcome any suggestions and feedback!
I want to take a minute to thank everyone of you for your support! It is so very appreciated! More than you’ll ever know!
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See, i told you on my last blog post that anything we want to get done is a real pain in the bottom to do! For you the house and the store. Either way...it’s going to be worth all the pain! I love following the journey of the house and will look forward to your store.
You're exactly right, too!! I guess if it was easy the end result wouldn't be as meaningful. ? Thank you so much for your support!!
I admire your effort in the renovation. In our country, it’s so expensive to have a renovation like that.
Thank you! It's expensive here, too if we let someone else do it. That's why we're doing everything ourselves that we can possibly do so we can save money. It may take a little longer, but that's ok. :D
So sorry to read about your papa. You are doing a great job at that house. I bet you guys are so tired too. Wait till everything is done, you will get some rest and get to enjoy all that hard work of building a home. I am also trying to figure out how to get a shop going, not easy , there is so much out there and we still need to make the products to put into the shops. Not enough hours in the day. Love your shop.
Thank you! Yes we are exhausted, but ready to be done. The foundation has been the most frustrating part so far. I agree! We definitely need more hours in the day. Creating your own shop with WooCommerce might be easy to some, but I have so much learning to do. There's so much to it and I'm not exactly the best at figuring this stuff out. Thank you for checking out my shop! :)
This sounds so laborious and frustrating! I couldn’t do it, I’d give up halfway through!
Good for you and the hubby for powering through!
Thank you! It is craziness! The motivation to keep going is a new house. ?
You and your husband are working hard. The details of this particular part of the renovation illustrates the complexity of these tasks.
Thank you for seeing that! It has been very tedious at times since our house is so old and nothing is level or straight. It's been a crazy process. ?
How do you know what to do with the renovation?
We watch a lot of YouTube videos and do a ton of research. We also talk to others who have done what we're doing. ?
Really? I've learned to crochet from Youtube, too.,
I love YouTube for teaching. It has taught me how to crochet and loom knit, too. :D
So sorry about the loss of your papa. I have no idea how you're doing this renovation, all I can say is that you guys are amazing and I hope you're using gargles to protect your eyes when working with material that is flying around. Your new website for your shop looks beautiful, beautifully laid out. <3
Thank you! ? Oh yes, we make sure to stay protected. We don't have time for injuries. ? Thank you for the reminder! Thank you for your feedback on my shop. I really appreciate it!! ?
I can certainly understand what you are dealing with in your renovations, I have done this before myself and it is a lot of work and time consuming! You are doing a great job though, congratulations on that. I hope your week goes smoothly!???
It can be so frustrating at times, too, but I have to remember that it all has to be done and at least it's moving forward. Thank you for your kind words and motivation! :)
And it is so worthwhile, just that feeling of getting it all accomplished is a great thing. Have a great day Michelle!????
First off, I'm laughing at the Pee Wee Herman comment! ? Have to keep your sanity somehow during renovations, don't we?
Most of all though, THANK YOU my friend for linking to my article. You are so sweet! ? That means a whole lot more than I can say.
Y'all have been so hard at work. Good grief. It is unbelievable how deeply involved some aspects of home repair can get. What you think will simple and straightforward turns into a months long process. (sigh) You are really doing an amazing job on that foundation though. Whoever buys your home is getting a great value! Mention this in the listing for sure! :D
My heart still goes out to you for the loss of your Papa. My heart was touched when I read your words about him on Twitter.
Your site looks fantastic by the way Michelle! I love the changes you've made. Design comes very naturally to you. I know more and more success is heading your way. ♥ Thanks for being you!
If I didn't laugh about something through all of this I would go insane! :D
You're so very welcome! I've been thinking about that article a lot while going through all this. Our cats are not happy now that we're starting to do some of the inside work. :(
It has been a lot of hard work and trying times. I'll definitely be putting all of this in the listing. Maybe a link to my blog, too so they can actually see that it really happened! LOL :D
Thank you for your kind words. And thank you for noticing my site changes. I was getting so upset with my last theme that I didn't even want to blog any more! So glad I found something I love. :)
Thank you for all of your support! You've become such a special friend. :)
I completely understand exactly what you mean! Home renovations can make us certifiable. Especially when dealing with older homes (as both of us are!)
You have a fantastic idea about putting a link to your blog in the listing, LOL! There's no denying the proof then! I love it. You should do it :D
I am sorry your last theme was driving you crazy. I get it. It really does make you hesitant to keep moving forward. ? Blogging can be tough. It's fun and rewarding but also a huge challenge in a lot of ways. It's not for sissies, haha!
Here lately - I've been going through the 'reconsideration phase' myself and possibly thinking of switching gears and/or directions. You know that feeling - when something just doesn't seem right. Self doubt can be a real pain! Ya know?
It is my pleasure to support you. You have also become a very special friend and I am grateful for all of your support too! ❤ Sending you and your loved ones my very best.
That is a lot of work but it looks like a great job!