Surprise, Surprise

While working in the basement with my father a couple of weeks ago, we made a discovery.

Remember the corner where the pellet stove and hearth was? Remember the debate as to whether we should take all the brick down and run the drain around the corner?

Well, removing the brick proved to be a good idea. The drywall behind it was covered in mold and the wood underneath (as you can see in the photo) was rotted.

The  original plan for the work we were doing was to leave the corner alone, but as we got into more vapor barrier questions we decided getting into the corner was necessary.

Upon cutting what was left of the wood away this is what we found.

The walls aren’t connected! The front wall (the one on the left) and the side wall (the one on the right) weren’t made at the same time, so the corner isn’t complete.

Sticking a screw driver through the gap actually hit dirt!

The fix?

Fill that crack!

Ideally I should do the same on the outside. Maybe today I’ll dig down against the house and see if I can find the gap.

Certainly glad we got into the corner. No wonder there was so much water damage over there.

– b