David Grubbs finally came to Austin and played a show last night. Beautiful performance in a beautiful facility, at the new KMFA performance hall. He read from his new book, did a few guitar pieces, then ended with a piano piece. He graciously tolerated my fanboying after the show. Lovely night.

Spending the morning watching birds and reading the new Grubbs book.

Boiler was fucked today, sounded like a kettle, no heat. Called the local gas guy, he came out within an hour, sorted it and serviced the boiler, all for £72. Felt like a king. Stood in dogshit whilst walking the dogs before dinner, cosmic order restored.

penningtron wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 10:01 am Basement water leakage in g'damn February. How does that even happen: water creeping in maybe 18" below the surface. Shouldn't the ground be frozen still..

Is water shedding away from your house in the leak area? Our old house with a stone and mortar foundation had a basement leak, but I dug out a bit on the exterior and slapped in some new mortar (in an area that looked tender) and also put an angle on the gutter downspout to divert water and it seemed to hold.

Our new place used to get the sump filling up every significant storm and the pump ran a bunch, but our neighbors, sited a little higher than us, did a remodel and now they get all the water and have to pump it out. Thanks gravity!

We went for a week with no power a couple of weeks ago. No communications either; the cellular network was down as well. Strange times.

A large portion of the Hawkes Bay region has been wiped out by flooding caused by a cyclone. 400km of roads have been damaged or destroyed, and over 100 bridges busted. Thousands have lost their homes and 11 people died. Further heavy rain warnings on the way!

twelvepoint wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 5:36 pm Is water shedding away from your house in the leak area? Our old house with a stone and mortar foundation had a basement leak, but I dug out a bit on the exterior and slapped in some new mortar (in an area that looked tender) and also put an angle on the gutter downspout to divert water and it seemed to hold.

Yep, exactly that, but unfortunately that area is underneath concrete. The new back patio, while not directly connected, created a new run off reservoir close to the house that I'll be fighting with for the next 6 months I'm sure. blech..

penningtron wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:55 am

twelvepoint wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 5:36 pm Is water shedding away from your house in the leak area? Our old house with a stone and mortar foundation had a basement leak, but I dug out a bit on the exterior and slapped in some new mortar (in an area that looked tender) and also put an angle on the gutter downspout to divert water and it seemed to hold.

Yep, exactly that, but unfortunately that area is underneath concrete. The new back patio, while not directly related, created a new run off reservoir that I'll be fighting with for the next 6 months I'm sure. blech..

Maybe there's water moving below the concrete into your foundation? Do you have a sump pump? Maybe that would help? Kinda just spitballing here.

Seems like the nuclear option for basement water is the french drain thing where a mini excavator digs a trench around the perimeter with drainage pipe and crushed stone. That's probably way overkill though?

twelvepoint wrote:

penningtron wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:55 am

twelvepoint wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 5:36 pm Is water shedding away from your house in the leak area? Our old house with a stone and mortar foundation had a basement leak, but I dug out a bit on the exterior and slapped in some new mortar (in an area that looked tender) and also put an angle on the gutter downspout to divert water and it seemed to hold.

Yep, exactly that, but unfortunately that area is underneath concrete. The new back patio, while not directly related, created a new run off reservoir that I'll be fighting with for the next 6 months I'm sure. blech..

Maybe there's water moving below the concrete into your foundation? Do you have a sump pump? Maybe that would help? Kinda just spitballing here.

Seems like the nuclear option for basement water is the french drain thing where a mini excavator digs a trench around the perimeter with drainage pipe and crushed stone. That's probably way overkill though?

We had to have a french drain put in, inside the house. Was a mess and not cheap. Two sumps. Totally dry for the last 13yrs or so though.

eephus wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:29 pm

twelvepoint wrote:

penningtron wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:55 am

Yep, exactly that, but unfortunately that area is underneath concrete. The new back patio, while not directly related, created a new run off reservoir that I'll be fighting with for the next 6 months I'm sure. blech..

Maybe there's water moving below the concrete into your foundation? Do you have a sump pump? Maybe that would help? Kinda just spitballing here.

Seems like the nuclear option for basement water is the french drain thing where a mini excavator digs a trench around the perimeter with drainage pipe and crushed stone. That's probably way overkill though?

We had to have a french drain put in, inside the house. Was a mess and not cheap. Two sumps. Totally dry for the last 13yrs or so though.

I was about ready to do the French Drain and pay the $$$ to have it done. We are right on top of the neighbor to the right. Between our homes they have a concrete walk and we just had dirt (our walkway is on the other side). After we bought the house we discovered after any significant rainfall we would get seepage on that side. Water would pool on that side of the house. The water would come in as little streams where the concrete floor met the concrete wall. After a big rain (6" in two days) we got lots of water coming from the "seam" and through tiny cracks in the floor. It sucked dreading every rainfall.

We added sand and rock to the side of the house. Than most importantly we replaced our gutters (bigger/deeper) and big fat downspouts with extenders going about 10 ft away from our foundation. I removed the downspout at the side of the house and added another at the front. If this didn't work I was going to get the French Drain, but since I did it, we have been dry with no pooling on the side of the house for 3 years. Fingers crossed for the coming Spring.

Nico Adie wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 5:19 pm Boiler was fucked today, sounded like a kettle, no heat. Called the local gas guy, he came out within an hour, sorted it and serviced the boiler, all for £72. Felt like a king. Stood in dogshit whilst walking the dogs before dinner, cosmic order restored.

The Universe is in balance.

Waiting for some dude to reply about an item I'm hoping to buy. Hate when people don't communicate. This is a killer deal too and I really don't want to miss this one. So I keep waiting...