Jack Post

Day 115: Jack Post

I have it on good authority that we have the best basement in Burns Park. Bill Yadlosky, famous in our neighborhood for his basement expertise, told me so. Bill said that our house was built by a frugal university professor in the 1920s, who was the very first to build foundations from poured concrete. To save money, he built the concrete form from 4"x4" lumber, then reused the lumber to build the house frame. The frame is thus concrete infused, which is why we can't drive a nail into the supporting beams in the basement. The foundation is true, no bulges or odd angles. The reason water seeps in at times is simply because concrete is porous. You want that, he said.

I had three basement guys come out, just to be sure. Bill - the most well-known - said we really needed to do nothing. One - who struck me as a salesman rather than a workman - said that the entire surrounding area needed to be dug out, a sump pump installed, and waterproof surfaces needed to superimposed over the interior and exterior walls, at a cost of $25K. The third suggested that it would be a good idea to fill the long horizontal crack on the west wall with concrete expoxy to prevent further cracking. He suggested that we remove the smooth outer layer of concrete from the inside walls, which was spackled on at some point for aesthetic reasons and which risked trapping water against the foundation walls. He also suggested I put an extra jack post down the center wall to provide extra support because of the ballooon construction of this house. The cost for the epoxy treatment would be about $3K.

I chose the middle way, partly as a matter of philosophy (I believe in the middle way!) and partly because I find it intolerable to have a large crack in the basement wall. I spent months with a hammer and chisel, removing chunks of concrete spackle from the inner wall, cursing the former owners, from whom we bought the house. They were kind and well-meaning, but where one nail would do, they consistently chose three nails and superglue, thereby ensuring that all home repair projects are five times as difficult as they need to be.

As far as the $25K job is concerned, I was thankful to have eight years of managing the botanical gardens' historic buildings under my belt. I knew even as the salesman was giving me his pitch that applying a waterproof layer to my concrete walls was ill-advised. I felt no guilt about declining that option.

In the end, although I bought the jack post from Home Depot, I never installed it. We already have a jack post down there, and in my heart, I just don't believe we need another one. I'm wondering, will Home Depot take this one back, two years later, without a receipt?

I'll let you know.