Basement Boogie: Major Accomplishment

On August 6, 2010, our basement was Very Wet. By August 8, all wet carpet had been removed and the drywall followed the next week. On October 11, the basement was professionally water-proofed with a French drain system. And on January 15, 2011, a mile stone was reached by two pioneering DIY-enthusiasts. Yes, friends, the vapor barrier around the perimeter of the house was completed that fateful day. And so the walls of the basement became Very Dry.

A long journey, but very much worth it.

Here's how it all went down.

We used a 6 Mil plastic sheet (anything 4 Mil or thicker is good enough for a vapor barrier, but you know how we like to get all kinds of extra fancy around here), a bazillion (OK, 13) tubes of caulk and a staple gun to secure the sheet to the sills around the exterior walls.

Our first step was to vacuum up the cobwebs and other nastiness 

 Then, Hubs stapled along the top and I followed with caulk.

Once the top caulk was dry, we cut the bottoms to size and caulked them into the flange of the French Drain.

 Lovely! Dry!

Of course, no home improvement project would be complete without a little graffiti.

So, with the basement dry - we were ready for the next step: making it warm.