LESLIE: Now we’ve got Mike in Wisconsin on the line with an interesting mix of materials on a foundation. Tell us what’s going on.
MIKE: Well, we bought this old farmhouse and – well, we’ve been in it for 20 years now. But whoever – the person before us covered this nice, stone foundation with ½-inch plywood that was not treated.
TOM: Wow.
MIKE: And then they made strips out of the same plywood as batts to go over the seams. Needless to say, it’s all rotting out. I mean it did have ½-inch-depth, foil-covered, ½-inch foam board behind it but I need something that’s going to be – hold up to the weather and …
TOM: Wow. I’d pull that wood off and evaluate the foundation. If it’s deteriorated, you might need to clean it and re-stucco the whole thing. That’s all I would do there. I wouldn’t put any kind of siding back on it.
They probably just thought that it looked good or something of that nature and decided that they were going to dress it up with that.
LESLIE: Well, it’s interesting.
TOM: Yeah, they were going to dress it up with that T1-11 siding but obviously, that was a disaster waiting to happen. And now it’s happened and it’s in your house.
MIKE: Yeah. Well, it wasn’t even the T1-11; it was just ½-inch plywood and they painted it.
TOM: Oh, well, of course.
MIKE: But it’s the round-type fieldstone; it’s not the flagstone.
TOM: Well, that can be very attractive.
LESLIE: Yeah. I’m like, “That’s beautiful.”
MIKE: Well, that’s what I was thinking but I need to evaluate it.
TOM: Yeah.
MIKE: But I thought – I was listening to you last week and I figured, well, let me get some ideas (inaudible at 0:29:38).
TOM: Yeah. Take a look at it. If it’s the fieldstone, the fieldstone looks good, you may need to repoint the joints with some additional cement.
LESLIE: But that’s gorgeous.
TOM: But that could be a very, very attractive foundation.
MIKE: Thanks for the help.
TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
Leave a Reply