A continuation of the basement

[bett]

so, i don't remember where we left off, but a new abatement team, approved ripping down the entire basement, in order to get to the wet, tiles under the walls. not rocket science but a battle with the old company, who i am not done with yet, and the insurance agent, who finally saw the light.

today, my guy who did the dry out, and will assist with a contractor and will do the breakdown, is coming at 11:45. the insurance company is sending one of their guys, who will tell us, about how much money it will cost,to knock down and rebuild. i do believe, as per the agent , there is some flexibility . hope so because i am sooooooo not in the mood for more arguing.

I'm down to 10 mgs of pred, till fri, then 10 every other day, so at least that part should be done with. do not ask what i look like. baaaaad.but i can breathe, in spite of broken, popped up asbestos tiles all over the basement, half the sheet rock cut away, and just a complete disaster. every time i do a wash, we need to vacuum the den, as altho i have mats and plastic all over the floor, i still track up god knows what that is white on my dark grey plaid carpet.

the abatement, fyi, will not take place until mid june which made me develop a tic, and they have to set up showers on my patio. he said it should take about a week. a pod will be in my driveway , housing the washer and dryer (which is enough to make me crazier than a bedbug as i do wash nearly daily), and all the other stuff, that is now half in the backyard under tarps, and the remaining stuff-racks, paper good, etc.
not pretty for sure and the beloved 65 corvette, housed in the single garage, will now be in the driveway so at least in the nice weather nick can use it. i'm not sure he's too happy about it being outside but happier than not being able to use it.minor in the scheme of things, i guess.

now on, holding for 30 minutes, to find out the code for the tin to be on the doors around the boiler as that has to be done or we get fined . nick did it last time but nah, let the contractors do it. i just need to let them know how thick the tin needs to be, and then call for inspection ,and I'm actually wondering if i put metal doors up, if that would suffice but that sounds too easy , so i'll just hold till they disconnect me for a second time.

I'm taking my niece for her second blast of chemo , at sloan, on thurs morning .so far, we had her beautiful hair buzzed to a crew cut, and she looks like a rock star, all 100 lbs of her. but this week, i do believe, the shave will take place, which i imagine will be a bit traumatic.and the chemo is cumulative so while she was fine last week, even after the wretched bone shot, i imagine she will begin to feel the effects of the poison that will do the trick, please god.

ok, i think i brought you up to snuff, so far.
more news to follow as i get it.

[Grumpy]

Moving forward well. The asbestos people aren't making you leave? Amazing if not.

Here's something you might want to think about. The tarps/tents/stuff in the yard is killing the turf. The insurance company should pay for repair/replace since it's because of them.

Glad your niece is holding her own. I had a friend who I took to her chemo sessions. We shaved our heads together, after renting a limo and a couple bottles of champagne. It was a riot! All of you will be on my prayer list for the duration.

How's Eli and the rest of the gang holding up?

Edit: Most local/state code is on the internet. Go to your local municipality web site or contact your boiler installer. They would also know it, have the section necessary.

[Dallas dawg]

Dang Betty. That just sucks, no other words

[voodoo]

what an awful time. I wish you some extra strength. and a brighter light at the end of the tunnel so to say. at least you got us on the good old internet

[LuckyLuna]

You've been a pillar of strength for everyone and everything. I wish the insurance company would pay for a wonderful vacation down the road for you and all your family, lol.

Hang in there and remember to take care of yourself too.

[bett]

nope, the tarps are on the exercise equipment in the cement dog run. at least we use it for something as they all seem to pee on the grass. lol.

nope, don't have to leave the house re the asbestos, and believe me, i know every rule in the revised code 56. they will seal the basement in , put showers in my backyard , on the patio, and will do it, but only after my contractor demolishes all the walls, beams, ceiling. this way, they actually can get to all the tiles.then, after the abatement, if any of the 3 concrete guys would respond to me, they put down the stained concrete flooring, and then we rebuild. i'm toying with the idea, and $ will play into it, of putting in a wet bar, (but table height, and a step up behind the bar) because i hate dangling from bar stools and if i am to use it for overflow, when it's 7000 degrees and i have a barbecue, i'd like to not dangle, and be comfy. this all depends on cost as i won't do it if it's crazy expensive.. and that really needs to be done before the cement floor goes down, as the pipes for hot and cold water, get jack hammered into the floor and no sense on doing that after the floor goes down.
i barely changed the layout, as i need closets, but i added a toy closet, near the steps for the grands and they will have those metro racks, and behind a closet door. the back part , where nick collected all his ****, will be about a foot smaller, but filled with racks, so i can store all my "stuff" (paper goods, soaps, etc) and nick will still have racks for his tools, corvette top etc. i will now have less space around the boiler, as we put in a new boiler which was one third of the original boiler so the closet next to it, will house, a piece of furniture that is now in my dining room (was my parents) and holds ma's dishes that are hardly used, and then those shelves for pantry items, extra pots and pans. that closet will be larger by at least a foot. the clothing closet (where all the stuff was soaked from hitting the floor , grrrr) will house an oak dresser from my guest room that has "off season" stuff (bathing suits in the winter, sweaters, pj's) and then shelves to hang the things i managed to salvage from the flood. however, yesterday i went into a closet cleaning frenzy, now that my upstairs closets are packed like freaking sardines, and anything that i haven't worn for 2 yrs-well some goes to my cleaning lady who gives it to the poor from her church and the high end stuff (eileen fisher, theory) is going, to a consignment shop in the next town, that i never used, have no idea how it's used but the woman said, she only takes "high end stuff" so i said "theory, eileen fisher, prada shoes, fendi bags? " yup. so i don't really even care how much they take, or how much i get, i need to not see it anymore so i have room to breathe. and to top it off, friends from out of town are coming the end of june and i have boxes in the guest room, at least until the pod is delivered.
i actually got rid of formica shelves in my closet that held shoes (i have a shoe and pocket book thing, ok, i said it) and put in one of those metro racks that holds so much more and looks so much neater. no piles on on top of piles.
whew. i was prednisone driven yesterday and did it while nick was out of the house doing gardening and when he came back all he said was WOW which is probably very smart on his account because i am pretty nuts from the prednisone and he seems to stay away and not speak, which is a good thing now.

so they guy came, an hour late, stayed in the basement measuring, asking me about doors (and i reminded him about the door around the boiler needing to be to code, ) and then he will get his estimate of knocking down and building up to the insurance company and then i guess, the fun begins. we are changing the ceiling to a real ceiling, changing the lights from fluorescent,(hate) and of course the floor i will have to eat, because they pay for what was there, tile and carpet and nothing more. they don't pay for the ceiling just because i want to change it. so, i will be out of pocket for the ceiling, the floor (that one might scare me) and I'm changing to paneled white doors instead of plain wood that i had, but I'm never doing this again so……..

i haven't figured out where the crates will go but i had them in a spot before and they will fit somewhere.
decorative stuff will come, when it comes and i'm a good home goods shopper so i'm not sweating it ;i have a guy for handrails that i used for the upstairs when i deep sized the brass i put in, after i got rid of the original wrought iron.
nick is on strict rules to NOT GARBAGE PICK (unless i approve of course, as he did get a brass planter that holds my gigantic pony tail palm, and i did find a sewing machine, in the table in nearly perfect condition, i only had to varnish and it's an end table in the living room) . he is a great picker. his kayak, yes, from someone's garbage and he's been using it every summer for Swim Across America so he does get good stuff but……but…..but….

so guys, that's the news for now, the guy said the insurance company would have the info by monday when i got emoji eyes and figure i'll call fri to see if perhaps, please, they get the info sooner.
i will update as stuff happens and thanks for listening to my rants.

[Scoutpout]

wow, you are making huge strides! just keeping it all organized and whos-doing-what is a full time job!

[POPTOP]

What a time you are going through. We had a minor floor, about a foot of water in the basement, and know how much we had to go through. It's good you are going ahead and doing the changes you want to do now. So much harder later on.

When abatement is done and construction starts, do whatever you can to seal off any doorway into the basement leading into the house. The dust is horrible. There are plastic "doors" that zip up the center. They are taped on top and bottom and access is through the zipper. It will save your sanity. Did something like this when I sanded down and finished our bay windows. DH make a temp wall around the window and sealed me in during the sanding phase.

You are such a blessing to your niece. She needs your strength and support and you give it freely. You're a special lady.

[Dallas dawg]

One question, why is Nick's stuff **** and yours is stuff? Lol

I say do it like u want and enjoy it. Plus if the bar stools are closer to the floor, it won't hurt so bad if you fall off.

[janedoe]

More good thoughts. Asbestos removal is rough. It seemed like they took forever in our house.