Basement Fun

This past week there was a bit of unwanted excitement at the house when part of the basement flooded. Frank and I spent a yucky hour cleaning up with the wet vac and throwing damaged things away.

With things initially under control we had to figure out what happened to fix it. Because it was during a rain storm in Ann Arbor, our first thought was that maybe the city's storm sewers were having an issue but the city confirmed there was no issue. It turned out that our sewer line out to the street had a bit of a blockage due to roots which we paid to get it cleared out. Ah, the joys of owning an old house...

The basement flood brought to the forefront a larger issue, which is that I need to clean up and organize the basement. I have made it no secret on this blog that I have a problem with wanting to keep everything and having trouble letting things go. Living in a five bedroom house with a four car garage as a single woman has enabled me to keep way too much because I have a ridiculous amount of space for one person.

With Frank moving in (I can't believe it is less than two months until we get married!) it is high time that I stop using the basement as a general dumping ground. I need to purge a bunch of stuff and get the remainder organized so that Frank has room for storing his things as well. This past weekend I spent a good chunk of time in the basement doing just that. After spending a ridiculous amount of money on plastic storage tubs and removing 17 contractor bags of things I decided to get rid of (good-bye college electromagnetics class notes and faded red roman shades) the main room in the basement is starting to look presentable. 

Here is where things looked right after we had cleaned up from the flood:

Here is the same corner after my weekend of work:

I started by sorting things that I wanted to keep into plastic bins, labeling them with some painter's tape and a Sharpie. I have a bin for every phase of my life like high school, college, grad school, etc. and am limiting myself to one bin of memorabilia for each.

Below is another corner of the basement before I started purging:

Here is that same shelf as it is right now:

I thought that this would be a good spot to store my paint cans. I have most of my tools stored in the garage, but living in Michigan I can't store my paint out there otherwise it will freeze in the winter.

All in all, it wasn't the most fun weekend (I'd much rather be building or making something) but it was necessary and I made a significant dent into getting the basement in order.

Have you had any basement water issues? Do you have your basement well organized or is it more of a catch all like mine has been?

Comments

[Mary-Lou]

Your basement looks very tidy. Nice under pinning job - extra shelf for storage. We had a small water leak a year after we moved into our newly built home & once it was repaired there have been no further problems. We run a dehumidifier every other day for a few hours to keep the damp out. There is a sump hole which only needs draining if there has been several days of heavy rains, but normally it is dry. We have the basement divided into 3 zones. The laundry area has plastic shelving with clear plastic bins to store seasonal decorations & those extras from the Costco large buy packs. We also have a rack for off season clothes. The work bench zone has Rubbermaid storage cupboards for tools & paints along with a file cabinet. We also have a home theatre room in the basement. We sort out on a yearly bases and thankfully I did not inherit my parents hoarding gene.

[Lisa]

Mary-Lou- Only that part is tidy! I still have a long way to go. One weekend is not enough for all my stuff! Your basement sounds really nice and organized. That's nice that you have a part that is finished as well. My basement is only tall enough for me to stand up in so if we ever wanted to finish it we would have to excavate and put in a sump pump.

[Sandy]

Your basement organization looks great! Oh, how I wish I had a basement at all. Where I live, it would be underwater from the minute it was dug, and there'd be no drying it out.

We do have a small attic space for storage, but I have to be careful not to put anything up there that has the potential for melting in the summer. I have to admit a pang of jealousy when I see all the extra storage that a basement affords those who have them.

[Lisa]

Sandy- Thank you! Having a basement is nice, except when it is flooding! I don't have any attic space so it is definitely much needed storage space.

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