Monday, December 10, 2012

The Dungeon

For as long as we've lived in our house, we have always called the dirt floor portion of our basement, the dungeon.
Dad has been threatening to dig out our basement for years and mom has been telling him that it's just fine the way it is - she knew that it would be MAJOR work!
This stone thing in the picture is the support for the 3 fireplaces above on the first floor.  The brick work is non-supporting and is coming out so we'll be able to walk through underneath.   The cubby forms a coal bin that the families before us used. We have never burned coal since we've lived here.  

 Our mason, Vincent and his two helpers, along with mom and dad, have been digging out the basement so that they can pour concrete.  The dirt dungeon floor will be a thing of the past.
 Because the staircase comes down onto the dirt floor, it had to be partially removed so that the cement could flow underneath it.  Dad will scab it back together when concrete floor is in and a new staircase will be in the works soon. 
 As you can well imagine, all of this digging is hard work and pretty boring.  Mom and dad were soooooooo hoping to find a trunk full of hidden money or maybe an antique bottle or something to make this job more inspiring.
What mom did find was an "R B White Metal"  fish serving knife.  She originally thought that it might be a pie server but she googled it and she thinks now that it's a fish serving knife.
It was black with tarnish and she's been cleaning it up.  It will never touch our food but it's our only find so it's a treasure for sure. 
 You're probably wondering what we were doing with all of the dirt that came out of the basement.  We're lining our brook with it.  The storms that we've had in the past make our babbling brook flow like a raging river and it's eating our property so we've put some of it back. 
This is Vincent.   He's using his transit to level the dirt floor in preparation for the cement pour.
The next morning, the concrete truck arrives.
 They opened a window so that the concrete could travel inside to the basement through this chute.
 Vincent put plastic and re-rod down on the dirt floor.   It will be underneath the cement floor. He says we may never have to use our dehumidifier again in the summer. We shall see!
 Here comes the concrete! 
 The concreted fills the wheelbarrows and Vincent's helpers move it to where it's needed and they dump it and spread it.  It's hard heavy work! 
Yes, he is walking through the concrete.
They're getting there!
 It's looking great!  
Vincent says we only have to wait overnight before we can walk on it!

How cool!  We're going to have pretty much a brand new basement and no more scary dungeon ever again!

We were never allowed in the basement.  Maybe that will change soon~
So until next time...........

Love ya lots,
Mitch and Molly


45 comments:

  1. We too are not allowed in the cellar as the stairs are not dog friendly. Wow you basement is coming along nicely. What was a fish server doing there? It is a mystery. Have a marvelous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  2. Ooooo you have a dungeon! How cool! :D Butt you never got to dig in the dirt floor??? Criminal! ;P

    I'm thinkin that the remodeled dungeon could be a DOG CAVE! Oh Yeah! :D You could bring all your stuffies down there and de-stuff em and you could hide your favorite bones there and you could make it into a special Members Only Dog Club House! OMD! This is gonna be GREAT! :D :D :D

    You're gonna invite me to your cave right? :)

    Waggin at ya,
    Roo

    PeeS: Cool fish server treasure y'all found :) Maybe if you knock out a few walls you'll find some old bones too! :D

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  3. You should see our dungeon!! We don't think we could ever have a cool basement like you do as long as we live in this old house - we hope to be tearing it down soon so we can build a new house where it stands!!

    XOXO
    Lilly, Piper, Ivy and The Sweet Buglets

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  4. How cool! You have your dungeon! We don't have any cellar or dungeon at all and I haven't seen anyone before either.
    Your dungeon floor looks great and we can't wait to see you two visit there soon.

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  5. Hi Mitch and Molly! You two have some really cool things going on at your house!! Bet you will be very happy when the basement is all done...Your mom and dad will be happy too as that is a HUGE job! Our dad has been thinking of tackling it for awhile now...but hasn't yet. Enjoy your special room! xoxo Chloe and LadyBug

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  6. Wow!! That dungeon did look scarey.
    What a major project. We don't got basements in our part of the country. You guys look as cute as ever. Mommy is just now starting to let us leave comments again.
    Hopefully we'll ben back soon.

    Merry Christmas.....{{{huggies}}}....Mona

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  7. Phew....that does look like a lot of work...but it will be good to have it all finished

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  8. Now guys....didn't you nose? You's supposed to leave pawprints in da new cement! BOL

    Your basement is getting done a lot faster than our room addition. Ah, do you thinks we can borrow Vincent?

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  9. What a massive undertaking. Too bad there wasn't more buried treasure. It looks great.

    Mango Momma

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  10. Wow that's some project..You did find treasure though :) Have a great Monday xxooxx

    Mollie and Alfie

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  11. Whew, we gotta go, all that work made us tired. Looks like you might have a good play room when finished.

    Your Pals
    Susie & Bites

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  12. That sure was a lot of work, but it looks great in the end. I hope you get to visit down there when it's dry. There looks like a lot of fun placed to explore down there.

    Millie

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  13. We are pretty sure we would let the human handle this one.
    Benny & Lily

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  14. Looks like a lot of work but that will be awesome when it's finished! Don't work too hard, my friends!

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  15. First of all, HELLO kids! I've missed ya.

    We're having lotsa snow here, wanna come over? ;)

    I LOVE your new header, so Christmasy!

    Congrats on doing away with the dungeon, it's such a massive work! I think I'll cry if I'm told to do it like an on my own thing. Good thing you had help. Now we'll see if you'll be let into a new territory.

    So much can be done with a new basement. :) It'll be a luxury to have such space for keeping stuffs.

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  16. I bet it is lots of fun when it is ready. :)

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  17. Woof! Woof! Lots of WORK. You guys for sure will be doing more supervising. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  18. Ya'll dat is gonna be so awesome once da basement is finished...and many naps to be had too.
    Great fish servin' thingy to find. At least sumptin' neat was found. Wonders who it belonged to.

    Puddles

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  19. Dungeons and a moat (well an overflowing brook) - your home really is your castle!

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  20. Oh, we hope you remembered to put your paw prints and date in the new floor!

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  21. WOWS! Your peeps must be exhausted!! And, not for nothin', butts your suppose to put your paw prints in the wet cement! Oh, Amber already said that,huh? Well, it's still true! Jump through the window and see if it's still wet...

    Kisses,
    Ruby

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  22. We don't build basements here in AZ - to find a house with one is rare. I'll admit, they frighten me!

    Sam

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  23. We don't WANT to go in our basement. Looks scary down there!

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  24. WOW.... that is a Major... UNDER THE HOUSE Taking. It is gonna be FANGTASTICAL when it is finished. Can't wait to see MORE pictures.

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  25. Wow, that's a lot of work but I'm sure it will be worth it. Our basement is unfinished but it has a concrete floor. We do agility down there. Beckett and Keltic love to race around doing tunnels and jumps.

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  26. Wow, what a great insight to the lives of Mitch and Molly! That is a lot of work, the picture taking too. So nice to see all that progress and we are excited for you guys!

    Oink oink,
    Katie and Coccolino the mini pig

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  27. Oh gosh- that looks like lots of work.
    Be safe and stay clean!
    love
    tweedles

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  28. WOW! That's quite a project. I bet it will be really nice once finished.

    Your pal, Pip

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  29. Wow, that is a lot of work. I'm trying to picture all the dirt being dug out and removed...yikes, making my back hurt just thinking about it!
    It sure is nice now :D

    Wyatt's mom

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  30. Imagine the fun you could have down there....

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  31. Dawling Mitch and Molly
    Mommi would have been scawed to go down into youw dungeon and would have missed out on finding tweasoowe..that is sooo cool and youw Clevew Dad was not only able to fix the floow , but youw bwook too
    WooooHoooo it's wondewful
    I love the pictoowe of the two of you sweeties
    smoochie kisses
    ASTA

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  32. Looking good Mitch and Molly-- looking good. You just have increased your home value you know???
    I'll bet when it is all dry and cured you can go down and play --I'll bet!! Fun fun fun!!!

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  33. Wow, that looks like a lot of work. I'm glad it's not a dungeon anymore.

    Nubbin wiggles,
    Oskar

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  34. That is really what I call starting on the ground floor and working up.
    Sweet William The Scot

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  35. Bailey, Tess, Noah and Sebastian all think having a dirt floored dungeon sounds wonderful. They're all diggers and could dig in climate controlled comfort.
    Morgan, Sebastian and the Porties

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  36. Wooohooo that looked pretty cool. I hope you get to go down and inspect. Did you get to make pawprints in the cement??

    Loveys Sasha

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  37. wow! how cool is that? I hope you guys got to leave your pawprints in the cement... that'll scare away the dungeon dragons! I hope you get to spend some time down there--romping around. maybe your mum should serve fish bones on her new fish server. hehehe

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  38. Wow, what a lot of work but it will be so worth it! We used to have a basement in our house in Belgium and Murray's Mom loved it so much for all the storage it provided! Houses here in Ireland are never built with basements!

    We love that your brook got improved as part of the works too!

    take care
    Clive & Murray

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  39. That's exactly what we have to do and should have done years ago! Part of our basement floor is dirt and the walls are crumbling-ugh! We want the entire basement, all walls and floors covered in nice clean concrete!

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  40. Wow, is that exciting! And yes, a LOT of work -- probably a mess for your mom, too, according to our mom. If they had let the two of you help with the digging, it would have gone a LOT faster, don't you think? ha roo roo roo!
    LOVE the paint job on the cement truck!
    Play bows,
    Zim

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  41. How exciting!

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

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  42. That dungeon did look really scary. Kaci would like to go in the basement until she saw me (Hershey) being scared of going into the basement.

    We have a bomb shelter under the kitchen. Mama is not crazy about going down there because of the dirt floor.

    Love -

    Hershey and Kaci

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