It begins with a new surprise

This afternoon we met with our new project manager, Rob, who thought they might be able to start on the work Monday. As he consulted with the contractor who is going to lay the foundation for the extension, they got a call that the crew that had been working on another house was finished for the day, so over they came to pull up the brick patio where the new foundation will be.

Then we get our next surprise about what the area was like when the house was built in the 1930s after the contractors get to work. More on that below.

In less than 45 minutes, the pavers were gone and the team began digging out the foundation. Because they uncovered the grates that had been installed to let light into the basement we now have natural light. The grates are likely original because they are the same as those on the east side and north sides of the house. We do not know when an owner covered these on the west side (where storms arrive typically) of the house or why. Given that we have some damage to the foundation near one of the windows (see below), it is possible that an owner thought bricking over the vents would limit water damage. That didn’t work. Those jury-rigged “improvements” are common in the house, particularly in the areas that we are renovating. Seeing the light flood the basement in the late afternoon makes me sad that we didn’t do this sooner, but that feeling is exactly what we are trying to address with this renovation: enjoying an improved house for ourselves, not just potential other owners. The new sunlight, of course, will disappear once they build the new foundation, but it is a little bit of illumination of what it might have looked like inside back in the day. Although the addition will cut that light, it will go far to protect the house from any past or potential damage.

As the contractors started to dig the space for the foundation, they uncovered what appears to be the original concrete sidewalk from the first, main back door (the one on the upper left where you can see a step) to the second back door through which we took the photo above, left. As I have written before, this second back door and the basement bathroom next to what had been the coal bin and furnace, appears to have been built for the help. As they removed the sidewalk and doorstep landings, it is clear that this sidewalk actually extends to the garage door that you see here and thus the brick pavers throughout the back yard were not original, as we had assumed. This is very good news for us because being nearly completely covered in pavers (with a sunken section between the house and the garage) often results in floods. We (mostly me) did not want to pull up the pavers because we thought they were original to the house. They are, at a minimum, quite old. And because our entire backyard will be a relative catastrophe for months, it’s a good time to rethink what the yard could be.

After their day of work, we have a huge pile of dirt topped by blocks of concrete and no way for me, with my bum foot, to use either back door because the stoops are gone for now. Fortunately, we have a front door for egress for the next few days and the new foundation should be ready to cure early next week.

Progress and new information to teach us about the history and how to both honor how the house was intended to be–as well as to reject the jury-rigged parts.