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Repair | Replacing Basement Doors and Steps

So, who dropped the bomb?

Every home in our neighborhood has a basement.  Some call it a cellar, but no matter the name, ours has a concrete floor, lights, and you can stand up without hitting your head on too many objects.  That makes it a basement to me. 

It is not enough for a basement to have a narrow stairway leading down from the kitchen, there must also be steps of sufficient size to allow for larger objects to be stored and one day thrown out.  (You will eventually find out that anything in the basement not used within 6 months is probably not worth your keeping.)  As we moved in to our old house, I had to quickly patch the old wooden steps just so the movers could (almost) safely carry precious stuff down to the basement where it all has remained untouched for several years. 

Then, one day in some Fall past, our cat ran up the basement steps to the kitchen and appeared to be telling us something.  No, Timmy had not fallen into yet another well, cave, manhole, etc., but there was a huge stream of water running into the basement.  A gutter had given way, allowing water to fall directly onto the hatchway cover to the basement.  That alone was bad enough, but later it was discovered that several large holes existed in the brick foundation next to the hatchway.  We would have needed a whole troop of little Dutch boys to stop all the water. 

Rotted wooden doors removed, and with partial rebuilding of the double brick walls by me. Before these first repairs, a neighbor asked, "Who dropped the bomb?"

When the rain stopped, I took a hard look at the hatchway.  Not only was the wooden doors rotted beyond any usefulness, most of the brick on both sides of the steps had lost just about all of the mortar.  There was also dirt...wet dirt, dripping from open cracks on both walls.  

Winter was on the way and I felt that to find someone to fix this mess was just not going to happen in time.  Instead, I decided to at least stop the big leaks.

Here is what I finally had to do:

1. remove all loose brick
2. remove all dirt and plant growth 
3. clean and sort every brick removed so I could put it back
4. read two articles on brick laying, neither of which helped
5. find or buy trowels, mason hammers, other tools
6. purchase and mix (oh my word...mix, mix, mix) tons of mortar
7. pretend that I knew what I was doing

I did eventually get all the leaks plugged and both walls repaired on one side with one wall repaired on the other.  A big tarp was thrown over the whole thing since the doors were gone. Then it snowed....big time.  I spent the winter asking anyone I met on the street if they knew a good mason.

This is the outside wall repaired to stop water.  You can see the second, inside wall was not finished before the snow fell.  Rotted steps have been removed by real masons.  There were several buckets full of dirt removed from between the two walls.

By summer, we had been scheduled for repair.  The mason would repair the steps, walls, and install a new steel door.  

Two masons appeared with a virtual arsenal of weapons to use against our basement hatchway.  I used one bucket half full of incorrect tools and a plastic tub to mix mortar.......

The two masons who repaired the hatchway were really focused on the job.  In what seemed like minutes, they had removed the wooden steps, and prepared areas for new brick.  The sound of their electric jackhammer almost made me sick as I flashed back to the incredible effort it took for me to lay each one of the bricks now being coldly removed.  Each brick had exacted a heavy toll on me physically and mentally.  Physically because of the hard work and emotionally because of the stress of beating the snow and let me face it........failure. 

New steel doors are fitted onto the brick base.  Most of the block forming the old stairs with wooden steps is removed.  Since it was trying to rain, the masons made sure the doors were first priority.  They could always come back for the stairs.

All walls were completed with brick I had saved.  Since the steel doors were not designed for such an old house, the brick base that used to hold wooden doors had to be rebuilt somewhat.  Still in just one day, what had been a bomb crater was transformed into a water resistant, safe basement hatchway. 

Not all of my hard work had to be removed. Enough bricks were removed to make sure the walls could be made level and strong, but not so many as to completely destroy my ego.  I was also very pleased that neither of the masons said a word to me about the quality of my brick work.  Gentlemen do still exist. 

Beautiful new steel doors on a new brick base.  About one foot of the house foundation had to be rebuilt to allow for proper fit of the doors.

FOOTNOTE:
After the masons left, I noticed that several boards abutted to the new steel doors were rotten.  You would think I would be used to seeing rotted wood in a 100 plus year old house, but at the mere thought of moist wood my heart still tries to leap out of my chest.  I was somewhat relieved to find that only one or two pieces of wood were rotted and probably because they were in a spot that took a lot of water improperly diverted from the old wooden doors.   By the time I to got done digging around it was clear that all the clapboards directly above the steel doors had to be replaced.  Instead of going to a home center, I ran down to a closer location, a lumber yard that doubles as an Ace Hardware.  

This is where I learned why you shop where the expertise is located.  The OWNER was behind the counter.  After I told him what I was doing and what I needed, he explained very politely, that I had lost my mind and that what I had asked for did not exist.  He would not sell me anything until I had gone back home and re-measured the existing clapboards.  Yeah, he was right.  I had guessed at the width instead of removing a piece to make sure.  He saved both of us a lot of angst and probably two points off my blood pressure. 

Had to show you my beautiful Fall grass in addition to the new steel doors for the basement.   The new cedar clapboards were a pain to put up, since they were just a bit different size than the originals.  Nothing is level, either, so I had to "eye ball" every piece hoping to get the new clapboards to match with the old boards in the right segment.

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