...to finish off the yard work stuff, Guadalupe or "Lupe" stuck to his word on his price, however did mention that the spa was extra as it was more work than he thought. Fair enough. I DID however pay him extra as I felt the service he provided and the time that was put in was much more than he quoted me. Think what you want...his actual words were, "...pay me what you think is fair, if you think what I did was worth the original price I told you, then thats ok". I am not one to cheat someone out of what is fair...I gave him $ on top of what we had originally agreed on - fair or not, it was more than what he asked and I felt good about giving him the extra funds without feeling I got ripped - end of story for the yard.

On to things that we needed to take care of before the rainy season hits - 10/30/12

When it comes to specialty type of work and with the knowledge for all things...I knew of one person that could help me with my mini projects. Growing up, I would see him build things, fix things, paint things, etc...one of those people that knows everything and does things himself (or with the help of others, such as his kids)...I know, trust me...we lived in the same house and we were neighbors for many many years. No stranger to renovation type of work, I knew I could think of something that would utilize his skill and I would be able to pay him for it. He's now retired and I overheard he does some side work. Perfect! You guessed it, Uncle Ed. Yesssir!

Coming into the project, I had a task list I have been building over months and months of anticipating...who was going to do what, approximate costs, separation of work (JBT vs Outside Contractor vs Myself vs Family, etc etc). I separated things as they made sense to the project, thinking of cost, timing, difficulty, and overall personal satisfaction - was it something I could do or something I was willing to do and learn while trying. Well, the things I was going to ask was a perfect opportunity. Something too small to ask a general contractor who would probably tell me to do it myself even though I tell them Ive never done any house work or too expensive to explain how I "think" I want it done and someone would just over charge.

Here is the task:

- Waterproof the stairs. This house had massive separation on the stairs (in the entry way) on each of the sides. Over the years with settling and poor (or "old" construction rather caused this to happen - this actually NEEDS to be replaced, but can last a little bit longer if we take care of it for now. We chose the cheaper route - fix it for now.

- Additional Support for the Stairs. The stairs are concrete, so its very heavy and we had a structural engineer asses it and overall its built right, however it can use another support post (if we chose) and other than old techniques compared to how people would build them today, the skeleton of the stairs were actually built right, just missing tips and tricks builders have done through the years to help eliminate the problems that led to this.

Heres a few samples of whats happening -

So before you judge this - it looks bad. It is. However, this is after the prep work. Imagine smaller openings, cracks if you will rather than these large gaps. One way or another, it was visible and was enough to allow massive amounts of water during rain - a no no. So as each day passed after we first laid our eyes on the house and getting an inspection done - THIS is one of the items that just killed me every day it rained. I knew each day water was getting in, it was getting ruined. Well months and months have passed and I was unable to do work because at the time, the house wasnt ours yet.

So here it is - both side cracked and with gaps fairly large. I met with Uncle Ed to explain the situation and gave him a few days to noodle on it. Soon enough, we planned a day to tackle it and we got to work.

Things to address:

Water Penetration Prevention, Mold, Dry Rot, Support Post

Nevermind how ugly it is for now, we needed to get this fixed to stop water from entering and to support the stairs from moving any more that it has.

Solution:

Sikaflex - a flexible, paintable caulk type of material. Withstands weather and can flex if the stairs decide to settle more

Backer Rod - a foam material to create a backing in the gaps. Essentially stops the Sikaflex from dripping through the cracks

Support Post, some lumber, wire brush, chisel, hammer, iPod and some special spray to stop dry rot and prevent any unwanted critters from eating the wood.

As a side note, we have had the structure inspected by an Architect, Structural Engineer, Home Inspector and a few different general contractors to get opinions. All had different opinions and I took something I learned from all and came up with what I thought would be best for us for the time being - fix it for now, replace later. Everyone was on board (wife, mother inlaw, brother inlaw), so this is how we got to this point.

Uncle Ed went ahead and did all the work as I sat there and watched. It was an interesting day learning from him and watching the fix take place. It looked promising and I must say I added a few of my own "wants" for how it was done. Though not necessary, I was very picky on how things needed to look, so he decided to go with what I wanted as far as the hardware needed for the support post he put up. Lots and lots of prep work which I appreciated - something you wouldnt probably get with some joe schmoe off the street from craigslist.

Here is the finished work of the stairs - yes, its ugly...but this fix is a few bucks compared to 15k or so.  it will be painted when we paint the exterior and waterproofing the concrete still needs to be done. It will pass once its painted, so it works for me.

 We will definitely need to keep an eye on this while it is in the temporary fixed stage. Clearly not something we are 100% happy with as far as our renovation goes, but we need to spend the money in the right places for now. This is a big problem with a big price tag - but one that could be extended in life if done properly. This is the solution for now and it works for us.

One thing we did notice when prep work started - someone had previously tried doing this same thing, but with what looked like bathroom caulk. It was hard as a rock and not done with the right materials. Sikaflex happens to be some massive bonding caulk that flexes and this particular one is meant for concrete fixes - so as there is movement in the structure, it will flex a bit to ensure a tight seal. So far it looks fine and the rain coming in the next day will test its effectiveness.

When painted, I dont see it as an eye sore. You will only know because I blogged about it.

As for the support post - Uncle Ed did his magic and made a post to support the center of the stairs. This was not needed, but was a recommendation by one of the Engineers that came out. Since it was a cheap fix and one I know that would help me sleep better at night, we went ahead and did it too. Remember, these are concrete stairs - how many tons of concrete is unknown, but if its moving and causing cracks, how can a post not help stabilize it...even just a little bit.

On the very left - we sistered some existing wood due to dry rot and put the post in the lower center portion of the stairs. Nice solid fit and should last us until we replace the entire entry way down the road.

One thing that is not right about this portion of the house is the base of the stairs and the foundation. It was not done right or was just done sooooo long ago that it does not meet how things are done today.

When we rebuild the stairs, a new foundation will be poured down in this area and under the stairs will become storage space. Its a nice size area, but is 100% unusable today. For now, it will have to do and we will have to keep our eyes on it as the seasons pass.

10/31/12 - Rain hits Oakland and is a day for me to come out and check how the fixes held up. Water was stopped on the side of the steps and no leakage at all from the sides.
I did however find water coming from two top corner areas above. This needs more research and investigative work to narrow down. As far as how it compared to before the fix - Id say we are at about a 90% better place than we used to be. I suspect because the concrete is porous, water is getting through and leaking. Who knows, but Ill find it and fix it. One way or another, we are in a much better situation that we were before - but it still needs to be addressed. Thanks Uncle Ed for the work and look forward to learning more on fit projects throughout the house.