Skip to main content

Building basements and battling beavers and bugs

Spring has sprung in Springtown. Last weekend Daniel and I decided we would dig the probes under the walls to see how deep the foundations are. We need this for the drawings and rather than ask Ken and Henry (the builders of the story) to do it, we decided we could wield the spades ourselves.

We dug three exploratory probes at the base of the stone walls and each time we hit a small ledge of concrete. This concrete was very roughly poured and broke up easily. The base of the stone walls was about 6 inches below this concrete and not far below the level of the existing basement. The foundation stones at the base of the wall look like very big stones - must have taken quite an effort to get them all there.












To our horror, when we returned to these holes this weekend they had all filled up with water. Not from the basement but from the ground below. Spring seems to have bought springs with it that spring up everywhere (our basement included) - no wonder they called it Springtown. We hope this is because the ground is still frozen so the 'run off' from the melting snow is building up. If this is the case it should subside quickly. However, if this really is how close we are to the water table it could delay digging trenches and supports. (Drawings below by the excellent Chris Hoppe of Ross Dowland PE).




















The other thing I learned today about Springtime in Springtown is that beavers emerge from the ice hungry as hell. Last week the willow leaning over the pond had two trunks, today just one and a half. The B*?!@$%S had eaten their way through the trunk just above the wire I carefully wrapped round the tree in the fall. Not only do we now have a dead tree but we have a huge detatched tree trunk now in the middle of our pond.

This means war (the battle of the beaver). I immediately called Fred Fleckinger our trusty pest man at Craig Thomas pest control. Next week we take on both the beavers and the bugs.


Comments

  1. I have complete faith in William and Daniel to win the Battle of the Beaver. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. French drains for a Huguenot home peut-ĂȘtre?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, we plan french drains in the basement (as referenced in the posting 'up and down')

    http://dejouxhouse1740.blogspot.com/2010/02/up-and-down.html

    Seems highly appropriate n'est-ce pas

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Paradox farm

If you wander along Springtown Road, past DeJoux House, you will see our mailbox opposite the front door.  It's not especially distinguishable except it is rather large and sits on an old tree stump.  It's a rusty old thing but it seems to have survived the snow plows and drunk drivers of Springtown Road. It has always bothered me that on the side of the mail box you can see the vague outline of the words "Paradox Farm" which was clearly a name that DeJoux House was more recently referred to.  Occasionally when wondering the fields I would stumble across some incongruity and wonder if that was indeed the "paradox" that the farm was named after. Yesterday morning, for some unknown reason, I decided it was time to resolve the paradox.  I sent a quick email to the previous owner June Finer to see if she knew anything of the Paradox Farm ghost on the side of the mailbox. This was her reply: once upon a time we, (myself and russell gilmore---my ex), met a

Inspiration for the future look

Daniel has found some wonderful reference materials for keeping the history and character yet not making it a museum. I love the big kitchen table plan for the kitchen inspired by Lutyens and some "behind the scenes" pictures of victorian kitchens. He also showed me some country houses from Axel Vervoordt that I really love. http://bit.ly/uX1eW Simple, authentic yet modern. We discussed putting a full length plate glass window in the old hay loft window on the end of the house. Wow. I can't wait.

DeJoux House to be published

Reclaimed Doorway  Our house has been watched over the years by a couple, Susan Daley and Steve Gross who create amazing books of old houses and Hudson Valley (each name below is a link to Amazon).  They knew the house and had been watching our progress. As we came close to finishing they reached out and asked if they could photograph the house for a book of cottages: Catskill Country Style Book , Old Houses , Farm House Revival , Homes With A Past , Gardens of Hudson Valley , Time Wearing Out Memory ...to name but a few. All of these books are beautifully produced. I can't wait to see our home in one of them later in 2015/16. I won't reveal all of the amazing photographs that have been taken of our house, you'll have to buy the book to see them all....but here is a little taster. Summer patio Kitchen Stools Front Door Open