Diggin' holes in the ground

Nothing soothes my soul like a job well done. Harder is better, dirty job are a reward. You could say I'm just not right and you would not be wrong ;)
When covid hit, I decided it was time for some seriously back breaking labor. I ordered 20 yards of fill dirt and regraded our courtyard by hand, one wheel barrow at a time. At the same time I installed, under the dirt, about 200' of French Drain so solve a long standing water seepage issue into the garage/workshop.

Fast forward to the final task of re-sealing the South garage wall. Honestly, digging the foundation and sealing it is one dirty job that I was dragging my feet on. It's cold hard work and you will destroy clothing and fuh show need a mani-pedi after to make it all worthwhile ;) Not kidding, you really need to do this.

Anywho, lots of digging to discover what treasures Harry and Harriet homeowner left for me when they built the garage foundation. Yippee, there is no capillary break and it looks like they used silly putty to put the blocks together...and someone was cross-eyed not that there is anything wrong with that. HAHA the prior owner did install a drain...but it was NOT perforated and the bitter end stopped underground, how dumb was that????

The hard'ish part is done so now the wait for sealant to be delivered. Pressure washing the masonry and goo'ing it with sealant will feel like victory.

Once I've got two coats of sealant on the masonry I'll install French drain to clear space and install a new walk. We have an excellent stone and rock supply house nearby and HEY I own a two ton open trailer.

Last, stop buying contractor grade tape measures. Don't be cheap!!!!

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It thought you were making a Peter Gabriel reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0C3DHp36zc

I have an amazing collection of shovels, about half of which stay in our shed in Wyoming.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/81ef325d...f96c85a4e6.gif

“When I was little I’d watch my parents dig holes, every weekend and holiday. When I got bigger, I had to dig, too. Even on Christmas.”

I thought that perhaps you were going to bring back the pig roast pit in your yard.

Are those (what is left of) cinder blocks 4’ underground? Hmmm.

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Originally Posted by j44ke

Are those (what is left of) cinder blocks 4’ underground? Hmmm.

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Yeah you get it. I'm not happy about the foundation. There is no settling and zero cracks so hmmmm it's prob. ok. It was worth the dig to see what it looked like. I'll backfill to the footer and install French drain.

Ooooo I'm so excited about slopping on the sealer :) not really.

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Originally Posted by rwsaunders

I thought that perhaps you were going to bring back the pig roast pit in your yard.

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Next year. I'm fairly sure this will happen again.

As there's no basement, I wouldn't be too concerned; lateral pressure, etc....it's all about the soil bearing pressure in most cases. In terms of waterproofing, there is no below grade space, so you can waterproof the block, but moisture can still work its way under the slab without a moisture barrier. The TREMCO fluid applied products are good, although messy. When new, I like to use the sheet applied products like Bituthene.

https://www.tremcosealants.com/marke...fluid-applied/

https://gcpat.com/en/solutions/produ...-waterproofing

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Originally Posted by rwsaunders

As there's no basement, I wouldn't be too concerned; lateral pressure, etc....it's all about the soil bearing pressure in most cases. In terms of waterproofing, there is no below grade space, so you can waterproof the block, but moisture can still work its way under the slab without a moisture barrier. The TREMCO fluid applied products are good, although messy. When new, I like to use the sheet applied products like Bituthene.

https://www.tremcosealants.com/marke...fluid-applied/

https://gcpat.com/en/solutions/produ...-waterproofing

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Good advice, I'll worry less. Quality sealants are hard to come by in my zipcode however found BASF Masterseal which should do the trick.
What do you recommend for the interior walls and floor? I'll do the dirty work of cleaning the interior walls and sealing them with something. I'd like to call in the professionals to refinish the floor and seal that.

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Originally Posted by Too Tall

Good advice, I'll worry less. Quality sealants are hard to come by in my zipcode however found BASF Masterseal which should do the trick.
What do you recommend for the interior walls and floor? I'll do the dirty work of cleaning the interior walls and sealing them with something. I'd like to call in the professionals to refinish the floor and seal that.

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Forum member Len J runs a business that seals basements and crawlspaces.

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Originally Posted by Too Tall

What do you recommend for the interior walls and floor?

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Do you mean the interior of the garage walls and floor? If so, are the walls CMU (concrete block) or drywall and the floor finished concrete?

And are you getting moisture on the interior walls and coming up through the concrete floor?

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Originally Posted by rwsaunders

Do you mean the interior of the garage walls and floor? If so, are the walls CMU (concrete block) or drywall and the floor finished concrete?

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Walls are concrete block (bare with some old crap-ola). The floor is finished concrete also with some sort of old paint.

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Originally Posted by j44ke

And are you getting moisture on the interior walls and coming up through the concrete floor?

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All the moisture is coming from the footer. Idjit prior owner did a bad job. I've got it dug well below the footer, there was a full day of rain yesterday. The garage is bone dry. Ha ha all the water that usually piles against the footer is in a ditch below the footer sooooooo that is actually reassuring.

This reminds me - have I ever mentioned how much I dislike home ownership and it's various tribulations?

Apparently Josh enjoys this way, way more than I, but golly-gee, aren't there better things to do in life than having to deal with problems like this?

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Originally Posted by Mabouya

This reminds me - have I ever mentioned how much I dislike home ownership and it's various tribulations?

Apparently Josh enjoys this way, way more than I, but golly-gee, aren't there better things to do in life than having to deal with problems like this?

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Are you disliking home ownership, or OLD home ownership?

I’m pretty familiar with old home ownership. I hope to try new home ownership some year soon. No basement, no stairs.

I have a new house and daily problem solving is what I do. Even before you finish building it the earth is trying to claw it back. Perpetually. But there is kind of a surfing zen to it. Find the wave ride the wave wave at the wave as it leaves. I’ve studied the mice, put little tell-tale pieces of wood around to find where they get into the exterior walls, then set traps on the first below freezing nights in the fall and listen to them go slap! during the night. The deer probably have a name for me now. The bluebirds tolerate me. The squirrels and crows keep tabs on me all day long. My wife says did you pick up that pine limb today. I say I am thinking about it still. The property did fine without us before we got here. So I try not to rush into anything.

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Originally Posted by 72gmc

Are you disliking home ownership, or OLD home ownership?

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It's the only kind I've known as "the guy who's responsible for dealing with stuff," but I'm sure new ones have their share of issues too.

1993 house here... I think it's one of the Last Good Ones. House has no major issues, but there are always improvements to consider.

When we moved in, the lawn irrigation hadn't been used in years. I replaced all the zone valves, rotor and spray heads, the controller, and a decent bit of the lines. One of the neighbors walked by, turned their nose up, and said: "You know you can pay people to do that, right??" I laughed, and said "all I have to do is dig a hole, the rest is easy."

I dig your ethos, Josh. I'm on the same page. It's cheap therapy.

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Originally Posted by Drew

1993 house here... I think it's one of the Last Good Ones. House has no major issues, but there are always improvements to consider.

When we moved in, the lawn irrigation hadn't been used in years. I replaced all the zone valves, rotor and spray heads, the controller, and a decent bit of the lines. One of the neighbors walked by, turned their nose up, and said: "You know you can pay people to do that, right??" I laughed, and said "all I have to do is dig a hole, the rest is easy."

I dig your ethos, Josh. I'm on the same page. It's cheap therapy.

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'Zactly.

Like Jorn said, old or new, just a different set of issues that test your fortitude and offer a sense of accomplishment if you’re up to the challenge. The key is to know your limitations or perhaps, know when you’ve exceeded your limitations and call in the pros. Most issues though, can be dealt with by a schmuck like me with a little help from YouTube and Harry at Home Depot, so I say go for it.

I also prefer fixing my own mistakes rather than the mistakes of someone I'm paying to do it.

My projects last summer included a wooden fence, electrical hookup for the travel trailer, and piping into the septic tank. The wooden fence looks good from twenty or so feet away. Posts and cross pieces are wood, so nothing is perfectly straight. The electrical required an extra set of hands when it came time to tie it all in. I ran 4/0 cable from the 200a box at the pole to a 100a box with an RV outlet and a duplex GFCI outlet. The difficulty was in getting the 4/0 into the 200a panel through a piece of conduit. My BIL works at a construction and lumber sales place. He was the second set of hands. The piping to the septic had to have the right amount of fall so I used a long level to make sure I always had a downslope, but not too steep. At the end of the summer, when I disconnected the trailer after flushing all the tanks, the inside of the piping was clear.

Nice Big Bill. In the Spring I have a similar elec. project to run new wire to the RV power pole at our PA campsite. I'll use schedule 40 for the run.

Anywho, daytime temps. are vexing me. Tomorrow and the next day are do or die for the first and second coat of thorseal. Homeless Despot was kind enough to sell French Drain pipe at the usual cutthroat price. I like the solid French Drain pipe vs the flexible stuff since that allows for a more Instagram-worthy documentation ;)

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Originally Posted by Too Tall

Nice Big Bill. In the Spring I have a similar elec. project to run new wire to the RV power pole at our PA campsite. I'll use schedule 40 for the run.

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I buried the 4/0 without conduit. It is about 3' underground. I used conduit where it came out of the ground at the pole and panel. The issue at the panel was 4/0 won't install into a 100A panel. I used splicer reducers and a separate box to reduce to 1/0 for 100A tie in. The 4/0 means I can still have 200A in the future. I sank a grounding rod at the RV panel and everything has a ground back to the 100A panel. Next summer, I'm adding another 30A RV outlet to power up the shop so we can make soap in Wyoming. I have leftover wire and boxes, and some good lessons learned.

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Originally Posted by Drew

One of the neighbors walked by, turned their nose up, and said: "You know you can pay people to do that, right??"

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Of course all the good come-backs are in retrospect, but I might have replied with something like "How much do you charge per hour?"

That just might have put your snooty neighbor in his place.

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Originally Posted by Mabouya

Of course all the good come-backs are in retrospect, but I might have replied with something like "How much do you charge per hour?"

That just might have put your snooty neighbor in his place.

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I use the Huck Finn play ;)

Here's some digging inspiration.

https://youtu.be/hxEGiMKS1jg

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Originally Posted by Mabouya

Of course all the good come-backs are in retrospect, but I might have replied with something like "How much do you charge per hour?"

That just might have put your snooty neighbor in his place.

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Same neighbor walked by 6 years later, and asked who does our landscaping and yard. I said, "You probably can't afford it."

No joke - neighbor does the "rich people laugh" and says "please, who is it?"

Of course, I say, "me. Hourly rate is pretty high."

Conversations have been awkward since, but I think it was a compliment?

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Originally Posted by Drew

Same neighbor walked by 6 years later, and asked who does our landscaping and yard. I said, "You probably can't afford it."

No joke - neighbor does the "rich people laugh" and says "please, who is it?"

Of course, I say, "me. Hourly rate is pretty high."

Conversations have been awkward since, but I think it was a compliment?

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Sweat equity is where it's at.

I get the "do you do a lot of work in the area?" question a couple of times a year when I'm out mulching the beds or blowing leaves. I always respond with a smile that 12 collective years of college tuition and the Democrats are forcing me to do my own yardwork.