I'm the "keeper" (word chosen deliberately, contrasing with owner) of a very handsome classic 1830+/- VT Greek Revival farmhouse which I acquired a dozen years ago in surprisingly unspoiled (some might say intensively-benevolently-neglected) original condition (badly leaking roof, no working central heat, failing septic- you get the picture).
Foundation, below ground, is randomly (but beautifully-workman-like) un-mortared random pieces of local low-grade slate. it leaked like a sieve until I put gutters on the house, which are now a maintenance item unto themselves. still lets in a TON of ambient moisture from the (damp heavy) surrounding soil in the summer months.
Foundation, above grade, is big blocks of granite, from the afore-mentioned slate up to the sills. There used to be an inner layer of handmade brick, to block drafts, but it had been perforated in so many places for ducts and wiring that it was a lost cause, and was removed to re-use the old brick for the visible parts of a re-built chimney.
basement floor, remarkably, is reasonably level poured concrete. A prior owner loved to mix concrete while drinkin' beer
sills and some of the floor joists have more than a little dry rot from the gravity-flow spring water system that was oozing all over the cellar in past years (and that is still a wonderfully reliable system, only now more carefully channeled and managed via poly tank, float valve, and cellar drain)
I've always hated to think about covering up the truly amazing workmanship of the random-stacked slate sidewalls of the basement and the hand-hewn granite from ground to sills.
but... I spend a lot of $ on electricity for a basement dehumidifier in the summer, and probably am losing heat out of the cellar like it's going out of style in the winter.
my ability to remain the keeper and carer-for this place obviously takes a hit if I cannot afford to live here....
I had an idea recently of trying to use DIY- ICF forms to build a wall-within-a wall, on the inside of the cellar, from the cellar floor to ground level, then pumping concrete between the ICFs and the rubble to stabilize the thole thing, and then using using the inside ICF wall as a support structure to take some load of the floor joists off of the sills (via vertical bracing from the top of the "poured" ICF "inner wall" to the floor joists), and then use sprayed foam insulation on the inside surface of the big granite chunks from the ICFs up to the sills.
I invite constructive suggestions and critiques
thanks
Foundation, below ground, is randomly (but beautifully-workman-like) un-mortared random pieces of local low-grade slate. it leaked like a sieve until I put gutters on the house, which are now a maintenance item unto themselves. still lets in a TON of ambient moisture from the (damp heavy) surrounding soil in the summer months.
Foundation, above grade, is big blocks of granite, from the afore-mentioned slate up to the sills. There used to be an inner layer of handmade brick, to block drafts, but it had been perforated in so many places for ducts and wiring that it was a lost cause, and was removed to re-use the old brick for the visible parts of a re-built chimney.
basement floor, remarkably, is reasonably level poured concrete. A prior owner loved to mix concrete while drinkin' beer
sills and some of the floor joists have more than a little dry rot from the gravity-flow spring water system that was oozing all over the cellar in past years (and that is still a wonderfully reliable system, only now more carefully channeled and managed via poly tank, float valve, and cellar drain)
I've always hated to think about covering up the truly amazing workmanship of the random-stacked slate sidewalls of the basement and the hand-hewn granite from ground to sills.
but... I spend a lot of $ on electricity for a basement dehumidifier in the summer, and probably am losing heat out of the cellar like it's going out of style in the winter.
my ability to remain the keeper and carer-for this place obviously takes a hit if I cannot afford to live here....
I had an idea recently of trying to use DIY- ICF forms to build a wall-within-a wall, on the inside of the cellar, from the cellar floor to ground level, then pumping concrete between the ICFs and the rubble to stabilize the thole thing, and then using using the inside ICF wall as a support structure to take some load of the floor joists off of the sills (via vertical bracing from the top of the "poured" ICF "inner wall" to the floor joists), and then use sprayed foam insulation on the inside surface of the big granite chunks from the ICFs up to the sills.
I invite constructive suggestions and critiques
thanks
