The Big Dumb Basement
Up next on our “Pain-In-The-Ass-Things-We-Have-To-Spend-Money-On” list, is the basement!
We started the basement project back in September 2019 by renting a dumpster and bribing our friends with tomato pie from Marchiano’s Bakery to help us clean it out. Like most people from the baby boomer generation, Peter’s parents held on to a lot of stuff. Clearing everything out was rough but we did find some pretty solid treasures. Old trapper keepers, a box full of cowbells, a collection of love letters between Peter and his highschool sweetheart, old keys and hardware, AND a jug of what I can only assume is homemade wine. Have I drunkenly brought friends down to the basement for sips of jug wine and to hear me read Peter’s love letters?? Maybe…
We have always tried to maintain responsible ways of recycling household objects and disposing of harmful chemicals left behind by Peter’s parents. This includes many trips to GoodWill to donate items, as well as learning the schedule of Philadelphia’s Sanitation Convenience Centers. These locations host events throughout the year where you can drop off “household hazardous waste”—basically anything that you can't pour down the drain or throw in the trash. Products such as paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides can contain hazardous ingredients and require special care when you dispose of them. Another thing we learned is the dump does has a drop off limit…BUT…Philly has multiple Sanitation Centers, so there have been days where we’ve driven to multiple locations (shhhh, don’t tell anyone).
“Fascinating Features”
The basement is home to some fascinating old features including a 3-compartment concrete sink and a vintage toilet that’s as old as the house. The toilet doesn’t have running water, but it does have a working light bulb!
“Frightful Features”
Features of concern include: rotten wooden windows, pipes covered in asbestos, and a 100+ year old furnace nicknamed an “octopus furnace” for the way it looks. As you can see from the picture below, the octopus was also wrapped in layers and layers of asbestos.
I’ve mentioned this before, but we started the house renovation by slowly tackling all the projects that could be an issue for selling the home in the future. The asbestos and heating system in the basement were obviously a pretty big concern because NO ONE likes asbestos.
We also knew there was no way that a 100 year old furnace could be doing our gas bill any favors, so we shopped around for a more efficient system. We decided to go with a Navien combi-boiler because of it’s nifty design as an all-in one tankless water heater and boiler. It is Energy Star certified and came with a pretty nice rebate from PGW, our gas company. Basically, this was a MASSIVE and completely unglamorous upgrade from the old octopus clunker.
Before we could have the new system installed, we first had to have the asbestos and octopus removed. Although somewhat costly, the safest way to have asbestos removed is to hire an asbestos abatement company. These companies will follow strict regulations, bring proper equipment to keep you safe from exposure, and will test after removal for any toxic residue. We hired HomeTown Insulation for the job, and a young crew of guys set up what looked like a straight up meth lab in our basement. Super creepy vibes, especially going down there at night (which of course I did). I asked the guys what they do with the asbestos once it's removed, and they told me it is shipped to a dumping facility in Ohio...yikes.
“The naked Octopus! ”
After the asbesto was taken care of, we hired East Coast Comfort to remove the furnace and install the new system. Nothing too exciting to report with the octopus removal other than a broken sledge hammer while removing the old monstrosity.
Finally, we were ready to have the heating system installed and we couldn't believe how tiny it seemed in comparison to the octopus! East Coast Comfort were also able to eliminate some of the low hanging pipes from the basement ceiling which gave us more head room. I love unexpected bonuses!
The heating system is great but we had a rocky start because we were still running off knob and tube electricity at that point. For some reason the old electricity would cause the machine to shut off, which was only to be discovered on many cold mornings throughout the winter. Lets just say I was pretty damn grumpy last winter!
Fortunately, we have since updated the electricity and the heating system has been an efficient little beaut ever since.
Like most Philly basements, the walls and floor get damp when it rains. We decided to have all the windows replaced because some of them were so old and warped they no longer closed completely, and leaves were blowing in. The new windows helped with some of the moisture, but the issue still continues.
“The fun never ends at My Big Dumb House! ”
- Me xx
