Now that I have time to take a breath, I'll share what will surely be one of my most memorable 4th of July activities.
Headed off to buidling site of new home at 7AM, arrived at 7:15. Brought power paint sprayer (rented) paint, all the tools needed to turn dreary concrete basement walls into cheery reflective white.
Storm clouds on the horizon, rain drops falling as tools are being unloaded. All set up to go at 7:30 time to plug in a light; no power. (Only three outlets are supposedly "hot".) Look outside, streetlight is still on, even though sunrise was at 5 AM.
Neighbors are up, grilling at edge of garage (so as not to get wet). Got power? Nope. Just went off. Great! Give them home phone number ask for call when power is back on. So much for getting the work done before it gets hot.
Power comes back on at 2:15 that afternoon. We're back at the site working outside. Neighbor comes over to let us know. We paint. Done with the day's task at 6 PM. It was hot.
Check back the next morning. Something seems wrong. Bottom of wall doesn't look so white. No time, off to lake for R&R with relatives.
Return the next afternoon. Top of walls dry, bottom is damp. Paint ran off on floor. (Floor is to be tile.) Clean up paint mess, no fun. Rain starts, heavy rain. Look at sump. Pump not running, sump filling up. Pull on float, pump starts, soon is unable to keep up. Start bailing. Must carry water up ladder to outside.
After many many trips, neighbor (other side) sees problem, comes over with "spare" downspout, attaches to outlet of sump pump to get water away from foundation. (Final backfilling is not done, house has a moat, pump is recirculating water. Can't stop bailing or we lose the battle.) Neighbor has phone to call our plumber. He comes right away, extends pipe. (Wish our builder had used him!)
Monday: tired, sore, annoyed, but thankful that all is well. Almost. Still have to paint bottom of walls. This time with a brush.
