Under the Gun

We're in the process of renovating our basement. The current project is refinishing the concrete floor. It's been stripped (thanks to Andrew and Ken) and was etched on Monday night. We expected it to dry in a day. No luck. We turned off the heat to lessen acid fumes from entering the rest of the house. We also removed the basement windows and installed window fans to increase cross ventilation.

But Tuesday morning, the floor was still wet
Tuesday evening: wet

We went to our local big box and hardware stores looking for fans. A bust due to it being winter and all. Sigh.

Wednesday morning: wet

So we went to gmail and facebook to ask friends if they had any to spare. Success. Several replies and we ended up borrowing Dave's 24,000 btu kerosene heater. Dave says it can heat his house to 85 degrees in 30 minutes. Perfect. Ken picked it up at 5:30. It was on by 6:30.

When Ken went to bed at 11 and turned it off (I was in bed at 9 and no help), the floor was still wet.

Thursday morning: wet. The basement was 55 degrees with 80% relative humidity (usually our basement is 65 degrees with 65% relative humidity -- excellent for sausage making -- and also the reason I have a thermometer and hygrometer down there).

On my way in to work, I realize that the moisture has nowhere to go. It's been raining outside for days. The heat's off. The only thing that's gone are the fumes. I realize our best bet is to reinstall the windows and turn on the heat to push the moist air from the basement through the rest of the house (and warm it up in the process). I email Ken to tell him my idea.

He does one better. Ken went to Dave's and borrowed his dehumidifier as well. So we can close the windows, turn on the BTU heater, turn on the house heater (to circulate the air) and have the dehumidifier on. A great plan.

Ken was feeling achy today and is working from home. It is an especially perfect day to do it because he can have the heater on while he works upstairs. He said within 30 minutes, our basement was 85 degrees with 80% humidity. A balmy rainforest. However, it's now down to 73% humidity (still 85 degrees).

I'm hoping the humidity continues to drop. We're way behind on being able to prime for painting. Did I mention we're refinancing our house and the appraiser comes next Thursday? Here's the schedule from whenever the floor dries:

Day 1: Apply primer
Day 2: Apply epoxy paint, coat #1
Day 3: Apply epoxy paint, coat #2
Day 4: Paint needs 72 hours to dry before bringing furniture back in. This would be 24 hrs
Day 5: Drying 48 h
Day 6: Drying 72 hours. Can move furniture back in at the end of the day today.

So if we apply primer today (no chance), that means furniture/appliances can come back in next wednesday. Appraiser comes 10 am Thursday morning.

Do you think he/she will mind seeing a dining room stuffed floor to ceiling with boxes? Or that we have a washer, dryer and refrigerator in our backyard?

Sigh.*


* Note: I'm still happy we're doing this project, I'm just a bit overwhelmed. Our house is a cold, dark, queasy place for me right now. I'm ready for spring -- in every sense of the word. Kind of mindblowing that in 10 days, everything will be different.... the basement will be finished and I'll be in my second trimester (theoretically much less queasiness). We'll also have heat and more space to move around (due to furniture/appliances being back in their normal spots). I'm hopeful. Also queasy, tired, hungry, frustrated, etc.

_________________
UPDATE: Just as I was about to post this, I got a call from Ken. He said the places where the floor is wet, it isn't wet from water. It's leftover chemical. He was on his hands and knees with a sponge and two buckets of water -- lo and behold, it dried almost immediately. So, it looks like we have some grunt work for tonight, but at least it will dry quickly. He also said there's one spot that wasn't etched, so we'll have to redo one section. Boo.