Move Confirmed

[zenbone]

Finally got up to house hunt last weekend. We ended up finding a new construction Vanns home in Greenville. So our close date is 10/16... hoping that everything clicks along and the sale and purchase go as smoothly as possible. the buyers down here in florida have accepted with a few fixes on the inspection report and the seller in Wisconsin accepted our offer. Now it is time to bust my ass for 4 weeks.
see you all soon!

[ralphwiggum]

Moving suuuuuccccckkkkkssss..... Good luck. You made the right move though. Florida is hot and hotter. Up here, we have these things called "seasons", and they are pretty neat!

[zenbone]

Moving suuuuuccccckkkkkssss..... Good luck. You made the right move though. Florida is hot and hotter. Up here, we have these things called "seasons", and they are pretty neat!

Thanks! for sure feeling the stress but we are super excited. We walked around the neighborhood and felt it was great. nice big basement for a retro console pit, wet bar and pinball/arcade (realistically 6 - 10 machines give or take plus one or two being restored up in the garage). the house has a switchback in the steps going to the basement so that will add a level of "fun" BUT they are not to tight so it is doable.

[Hilton]

congrats! Here is to hoping it all goes smoothly!

[Chris K]

Congrats! You might want to visit Florida for a couple weeks in February, but otherwise I’d say Wisconsin has the better end of the weather. If you make it up here in the next month or so you’ll also be treated to the best part of the year, as the trees all go technicolor!

[Ken]

Congratulations! Beautiful area up there! Hope all goes smoothly for ya!

[zenbone]

i will try to keep my noob questions to a minimum BUT... we are moving into a new construction home and the basement is completely unfinished. We are making a barcade down there for our pinball machines. Prior to moving them all down there i was going to paint the walls and floors in the basement with the sealer paint - Drylock. Is this a good idea or a waste of time/money? I have no real world experience with basements.

We will be finishing out the basement and floor with drywall and some kind of flooring (TBD).

[ralphwiggum]

I don't have anything on mine, but you will get different opinions. If the walls were not poured and are block, I would paint them.

My flooring is black light carpeting for the arcade, and vinyl laminate for the master bedroom. I have radiant water heating inside the poured concrete floor, so I had to use a particular vapor barrier between the laminate flooring and concrete floor. It keeps the warping/shifting to a minimum.

Feel free to ask away... I had never seen a basement before I left Florida to go to college in Illinois. Basements are awesome!

[DeaconBlooze]

Basements are the best! You should make sure to get a radon test, and if recommended, a mitigation system. It probably wont be necessary, but even if it is you're only looking at roughly 1k.

Get a good battery backup sump pump. If you already have a working sump pump but it's not a battery backup, I'd seriously recommend replacing it or supplementing with a second battery pump. I'd also recommend a water detection sensor (I have a ring system primarily for that purpose). I spent a solid 6 months dealing with a flooded basement, not at all fun.

Not unique to basements, but also consider some dedicated circuits for the pins.

[DeaconBlooze]

Another "just in case" recommendation.. Think about leaving a decent gap (4+ inches) between whatever flooring you use and the drywall, and then stamp on some big baseboards to cover that gap. That way, if you ever do get water (hopefully you never have to worry about it), it wont suck up into the drywall unless you get a ton of water. That alone would save a ton of headache with cleanup.

[ralphwiggum]

Following up on Deacons post about flooding, a couple of other tips for keeping your basement dry...

Landscaping and drainage is critical. All of your landscaping should be designed to move water away from your house. That sounds silly, but it happens more often than you think.

Cactus Board- https://www.cactusboard.com/. If you are building a new home, cactus board is an easy install that will make a huge difference. It moves water coming from the walls under you flooring and into your sump.

Backflow valve. If you have sewer service going out, a backflow valve is a cheap and easy solution to keep the sewer from coming in from the outside.

[Chris K]

Grading is definitely important. The dirt on one side of our old house was retrograde for a while, and we'd get water in the basement. We had to replace the carpet in our pinball room as a result. After building up a nice grade of dirt away from the house, we never had problems again.

Build up more than you need, cause the soil naturally compacts over time.

[zenbone]

Grading is definitely important. The dirt on one side of our old house was retrograde for a while, and we'd get water in the basement. We had to replace the carpet in our pinball room as a result. After building up a nice grade of dirt away from the house, we never had problems again.

Build up more than you need, cause the soil naturally compacts over time.

Thanks! the builder stressed they provide a "rough grade" but we will need to get a final done. That is one of the first things we are going to line up other than the standard internet, electric, water BS. i know we will not be putting grass seed down until spring but we will get the final grade done soon after we land.

on a happier side note, Dr. Dude and Whoa Nellie are safely packed in the pod and on their way. Beatles gold is going in the truck with me ha ha.

[ralphwiggum]

i know we will not be putting grass seed down until spring but we will get the final grade done soon after we land.

If you can throw your grass seed down before the snow, you will be amazed how much better it comes in during the spring. As the snow melts it sucks that seed down into the ground. Also, plan on reseeding a couple of times just for early maintenance and to build a solid base (depending on soil conditions).

I dont know how big of a lot you have, but we have just over an acre, and threw down a bunch of seed over the winter when we built our house, covering with hay/straw. It came up really nice in the spring with no effort.

Later, when I built my shed, it tore up about a quarter acre of land, and I seeded that one before the winter, and didn't get a chance to throw hay/straw down and it came up really nice too, with just a few thin spots where the snow melt flowed a little bit.

https://www.jonathangreen.com/resources ... inter.html

[zenbone]

Just a quick update... we have landed! house is good, move in has been SLOW due to current conditions but things are progressing. the Beatles has made it into the house safe and sound. Whoa Nellie and Dr. dude should be getting here tomorrow when the first pod drops. more to follow