Basement

This context of this picture is that we installed a sink and cabinets in the basement for $100 purchased at a sale since we lived in the basement for about two years. The sink/cabinets became very useful for laundry and the shop which is noted in another picture.

Here is the shop. Tools have been well organized to alleviate hunting for what is needed at the time of need. The workbench could be a little bigger but we get by. A note on the pine wood on the wall is that I was working at a place that had large numbers of machinery shipped in from Denmark and was crated with the seen lumber. I hauled the crates home which had a large number of boards that were tongue and grooved. We dismantled the crates, pulled the nails and used the 2 x's and 1 x's to frame and finish the necessary parts of the basement. As a side note and you may think it a little over done but we even straightened the nails and reused them as money was not at a premium at that time. It worked!

In the background you see a basement masonry wall. For those who have never laid block, it is very time consuming. As an alternative we dry stacked the block, shimming them where necessary with steel wall ties to alleviate any loose spots and when all blocks were in place we then used a mixture called Surewall or Quikwall. The mixture is a mortar with thousands of strands of fiberglass. The mixture is troweled onto the block forming a very strong durable wall with a finished plastered look. Independent laboratory reports claim this type of block wall is six times stronger than a standard laid block wall.

A small kerosene stove vented with a chimney heats the basement area using one half to one tank of kerosene (275 gallon tank) a year. Cheap enough I'd say! The heat that rises goes upward into the kitchen, living, dining area thus it is 100% efficient.

Not much to say except here seen is a food pantry with the door on the left leading into the root cellar. The door was built and is insulated to ensure the root cellar remains cold. Works well!