A Voyage of Discovery in New Homeownership

Our house is old. 1890 to be exact, though she was remodeled somewhere in the early 1990s, so her interior is clean but the old touches (wood floors, cornices, and reproductions of the original stained glass) remain, reflecting her former glory.

One thing we didn't like about what the previous owners did with the house was the work on the mostly-finished basement. In WNY, it's not typical to have a sump pump, and basements are not necessarily sealed as they might be in newer construction. They are damp and usually, humid. Our basement is remarkably dry, considering, and the previous owners elected to put up drywall and wall-to-wall carpeting to make a more livable space. In theory, it's a lovely idea. In practice, we discovered just what a bad idea it was a month nearly to the day from our move-in.

The drain in the basement, located just outside the utility room at the intersection of carpet, drywall, and a closet, backed up. Badly. With not-pretty water.

Ew.

Of course, it was a Thursday evening when this happened, so we called the Roto-Rooter guys to help get the ick out and try to prevent further floods. They came, cleaned up, and then we began the process with insurance to repair the damage.

Thankfully, we were able to get remediation started the next week, and the muck was gone in a few days.

I guess you could say that we have gotten a head start on a basement remodel?