Taking on Water

Knitting taking a backseat so that we could stop taking on water.

Our garage has been damp since we’ve moved in…literally the frame of the man door rotted from the dampness. We thought we had fixed the problem once when we got a new roof and gutters but the problem continued. It seemed like we were still taking on water.

This past week, my husband and I decided on the final details for a few yard projects that might help with the flow of water and direct it away of the house…so we can stop taking on water for good. I’ve hated the railroad ties that our former home owner used to line all of the flower beds and as part of this deal, my husband conceded to ripping them up.

What we found was a bit shocking. I expected to be happier without the railroad ties, but I didn’t expect to end up being this happy.

What lies beneath…the source of said water

My husband and father were pulling up some of the ties while I hung out with my nieces inside. When they got to about the middle of the house, they stopped cold and called for me to come look. When our former home owner put in the ties, or had them put in, they didn’t pay attention to where the pipe for our gutters ran…and pierced it straight through from top to bottom with a stake.

They did some further digging and found that the french drain from our back yard also connected with this pipe further up. So with every rain, we were getting some of the water from our gutters, and then in the days following, the water from the yard draining and running straight over this hole…and seeping down around our foundation.

So we knew what the problem was, but now we had to fix it. Thank God for YouTube tutorials and helpful Home Depot Employees. We typically go to Lowe’s because it’s closer but they were out of the pieces we needed to cut and install a new section of pipe. So we ran to Home Depot, got the stuff and advice we needed…and then ended up going back to Home Depot because we messed up our first attempt.

But we fixed it! And right before it started to drizzle as well.

No longer Taking on Water

So our house is no longer taking on water thanks to a surprise problem solving day – and it was a day. We grabbed Chipotle for dinner (which was another fiasco as they totally under served me and I was too hangry to fight with a 16 year old about portions for a pregnant woman), grabbed showers and fell into bed. Knitting took a back seat that day.

That said though, I’m making up for it and making progress on a couple of projects, and toying with some new pattern ideas in my head…while my husband builds a new bed in our yard.