Through the World Barefooted -- Gerda's LBS Guide

[Rita]

I have many things to say but little time to say them. First and foremost, I was GUFFAWING that you remembered about "she's workin da room." You may be charming, but no one can work a room like me in that particular business that shall remain nameless, so I hereby knight you SIR FIX A LOT. I will continue to supply hot beverages and naimmoooo bars.

OK, OK, I'll keep fixing.

So without telling you anything about the incredible rollercoaster of my court case or anything relating to MLC except that having to do everything myself is the outcome of MLC --

I think I need to order the dehumidifier so I have been reading eight million reviews. What do you think of the Vremi Dehumidifier to be found on evil Amazon? I think my basement is about 30 by 10 (feet), so I wasn't sure also what size to get. And I am looking up all the floor and wall insulating but I still fail to understand how I can do all that stuff until I truly figure out the dampness issue. The plywood with feet that you describe sounds AWESOME so please tell me what it's called so I can try to find it. But still, won't the framing get damp underfoot and against the walls and with the dehumidifer hose snorting into the drain hole? And what about radon? (I watched a bunch of videos on earth sheltered houses too.) There is a floor drain and all sorts of basementy-wish-a-man-would-fix-this stuff by the pump and the on demand water heater and the creepy crawlies and the incredibly stupid choice to use PLYWOOD as the back of the various pipes and under the pump so it's all rotting. That's at the far end, and then as you approach the other end, where the land slopes but still only for very small windows (for now!) at the top, it gets dryer and only the air is cold and damp.

I am looking at your furnace idea but I think I have to do the mini split just because of ease of installation for my extremely short window of going up there.

My D will be with her dad the weekend I have to go and S15 as usual refuses to go and I can't get even my best friend to meet me there (she moved really far away) so I am gonna be totally alone trying to start these projects. I actually put an ad on a local site to hire a carpenter for the day, so we'll see if I can get a husband-for-hire for a day of help. Imagine actually being able to ask sweetly for help and direct the project and no one tells you how horrible you are, how you destroyed their life, and how they won't lift a finger to help someone who has spent her life emasculating them, pulls money out of your wallet and texts his OW the whole time and at one point leaves his phone in bed when he goes drunkenly to bathroom (unusually sleeping in same bed but far far away of course) and something goes wrong and the phone starts verbalizing texts coming in from OW that you thought wasn't even OW anymore? Granted, I will have to pay for the help, but still, what a relief to just work alongside someone who doesn't hate you and might not steal from you!

OK, so we got to MLC after all.