Jan 30th...

Our basement is scary as hell. Kate's only been down there once, and has never gone down again. Having a horror-movie basement is one of the best aspects of owning an old home. It's a perfect spot for growing mushrooms, keeping hostages or burying neighbors . I've been down there the last couple of nights, fighting with the hot water heater. I took the opportunity to take some pictures... enjoy the tour.

Going down... this is a "temporary" set up, until I cut a trap door from the kitchen. In the meantime, I just pull out the old heating grate and go down the ladder.



Looking towards the water system & electrical panel. When the pipes froze over xmas holidays, I spent a few hours sweeping and vacuuming. It's not nearly as spooky at this end as it used to be.


The water system, to be re-plumbed this summer. What's under the boards....


...A stone-lined well. How much fun is that! Great spot to teach kids to swim!


Now, looking towards the really spooky end of the basement. This wall is, *cough*, load bearing.


Water issues, now resolved, caused the bottom of this wall to rot out, allowing the floors above to sag. Especially under the piano. Our options are a) tear the wall out and build a stronger one, or b) keep moving the piano around until we end up with 10' ceilings.


Here you can see what remains of the original stone foundation.


All the beams are hand-hewn.