Damproofing

Damproofing is another project that usually your excavator does, but since we are doing the excavation side ourselves, we get the joy of inhaling fumes and getting messy! Damproof is the black sticky goo that is painted on the outside of your foundation walls to help protect your basement from water damage.

Carson and I started this project after we had been working since the early hours on the inside of the house getting the floors ready for flatwork. We were both exhausted and it was getting dark fast. Since the inside project took us almost the entire day. Even though we didn't have a lot of daylight, we had to get it done because it was a Saturday and our inspection was scheduled Monday morning, and we don't work on the Sabbath.
Despite our efforts, we only finished the short wall on the left side of our house that evening. Even working by back hoe light, we did as much as we could until it was too late and we were too tired to continue. I told Carson I could get up early Monday and finish the job by myself before the inspection, so we settled on that for the plan. The next morning I got their bright and early and thought it would only take me a few hours.... oh how I was wrong!
I had to reschedule the inspection for that late afternoon, because it took me from 6 AM until 3 PM to get it done. Nine lovely hours of goo.
Right side of our house shot. Here's some pictures of the completed project and some more stories about the experience.

Back right side of our house. This was not a substance you wanted to get on any part of your body or clothes. I wore some of Carson's old work clothes since I knew they would be covered in the black tar by the time I was done. However, I didn't think that my shoes might get ruined... which they did. I wore my Nike shox... yikes. Now the dog enjoys them as a chew toy. At least they were old and beat up in the first place, but still... Nikes?!

Entrance into house from garage shot. This one shows just how messy and thick this tar-like substance is. The only way to get it off your skin is to use paint thinner or gasoline. We had some left-over gasoline from filling the compactor, so I had to scrub several places when I got home. Even with long sleeve shirt and pants, I still managed to get it through my clothes and onto my skin!Back left side of our house.
Front left side of our house. See where there is a long skinny pipe sticking up in the middle of our foundation wall in this picture? Well to the right of it is an adjacent wall that supports our porch and isn't shared as a basement wall. I spent a few hours damproofing both sides of that, and then my inspector let me know after the fact that it wasn't needed there because it wasn't an interior basement wall...

Right side underneath garage shot. All in all I learned a lot and got in done in time for the re-scheduled inspection. I was also happy to find that my hair was tar-free by the end of the project! (It was just everywhere else. :)