A Strong Foundation

Everything we build in life needs a strong foundation.  Be it our childhood development, family life, education, relationships, career, even our health.  A house, of course is no different.  This old house was built on stone.  We were in love with the foundation from the start.  Before we installed the new oil tanks we wanted to seal it with something to keep the moisture out.  We were only focused on one corner, where the oil tanks stand.  Simple, right?  Starting with hammers and chisels, we  chipped away at the crumbling limestone coating that had been applied years ago.  The three foot wide walls are perfectly vertical and straight on all sides.  We chipped, scraped and dug out mortar from between all the rocks, and using an air compressor blew out any dust left behind before re-pointing.  I kept saying “Are you sure we should be taking out so much of the old mortar?” and Randy kept assuring me the more of the crumbly mortar we took out, the stronger the new joints would be.  We hauled out the crumbly debris and began to mix hydraulic cement to fill in all of the spaces we had cleared.  Randy found a “Marshall” mortar bag that looks like a giant pastry bag (Marshall was the name of his beloved dog).  It worked like a charm and we developed a system that worked.  Randy would mix the cement in a five gallon bucket with his drill, using an attachment that looks like a giant beater.  I poured in the dry cement until it was just the right consistency and then we would race down the bulkhead steps. I would go first, and grab the Marshall bag out of our rinse bucket.  Randy would follow me down the steps with the bucket of heavy cement.  With a gloved hand, I would fill the bag while he held it open, and off he would go, squeezing that bag with every ounce of might he had.  I would follow with a sponge, sealing every crevice, smoothing the cement and cleaning off the stones.  Once the process was complete, we would put the Marshall bag back into the rinse bucket of water, to soften the already hardening cement and back up the steps we went.  Over and over and over again.

August was ticking away.  Now, you would think that since a major section of our home heating system was missing, that he might have taken some short cuts, or left some parts of the job to complete at a later time, right?  Not a chance!  He was careful to seal every hole, crack and opening from the floor to the sill plate, including the openings that had housed the two old windows in that corner of the basement.  Yes, even the two windows were taken out and re-framed with pressure treated wood, as their frames had rotted over the years.  He used a Dado blade to create rabbet joints for extra strength.  We purchased one new window which he installed and sealed.  The other window opening was left wide open to feed the oil and vent pipes to and from the new tanks.

There was a small hole in the concrete floor.  I wanted to pour a new concrete pad under the oil tanks, but pouring concrete down a shoot through the open basement window would have been a logistical challenge.  Before we patched the hole, we broke it out to about ten times its original size, getting rid of all of the loose concrete around the original weak spot.  With the floor, walls and window done, we were ready for the white Thoroseal.  We mixed it together to the consistency of pancake batter, carried it downstairs and applied it with thick brushes.  One coat a day for two days.

Summer ended, I went back to my “real” job and then a cold snap hit.  For two weeks in early September, the nighttime temperatures went down into the 40s, with daytime highs in the 60s.  We were cold at night, with temperatures inside the house in the 50s and no heat.  We had cold noses all night long and could see our breath in the morning.  Thank goodness for our down comforter and the warm summer air that returned for the rest of September.

Our new 275 gallon twin oil tanks were delivered and Randy started in on the piping for the tanks.  He was under the advisement of a local plumber who left Randy his two 24 inch monkey wrenches and a list of the supplies needed.  I think Randy made a trip to the plumbing supply store once a day for about a week.  Measuring, cutting, joining, leveling, cranking, adjusting and sealing until the job was done.  The two tanks were joined together by a two inch pipe so that when the first tank is full, the second tank takes in the overflow.  There is a two inch intake pipe with a vent pipe that is 1 and a quarter inch.  Apparently this makes the filler whistle blow at a high pitch so that when the oil company fills the tank, the whistle blows to alert them that the tanks are full.  Next came the coated copper fuel line, the filter and the safety shutoff valve, to connect the tanks to the furnace.  We made a few trips to a local gas station and poured in twenty gallons of home heating fuel.  No leaks!  On a side note, if ever transporting fuel in the back of your car, remember to place gas tanks in a spot where they won’t tip over on windy back country roads.  We forgot to do this, I drove too fast and my car still has the lingering smell of diesel fuel.

When the plumber came back to check Randy’s work, he got gold stars.  His work was impeccable.  Together they tuned up the furnace, and fired it up.  All was in good working order.  It is a steam furnace which feeds 12 cast iron radiators throughout the house. We waited for our first chilly day to run it.  The house was toasty!  It is a beautiful kind of heat, without drafts, or dust blowing everywhere, just warm buttery air, circulating everywhere.  When the furnace shuts off, the radiators stay warm for at least a half hour, continuing to circulate warmth throughout the house.  Randy finished the job by sealing over the window that fed the pipes for the oil tanks.  He covered it with wood for now and will re-seal it differently next summer.  It was a nerve racking process for Randy to say the least, but we are thrilled by the outcome.  I knew he could do it!!!