Rowyn and the Basement of Doom

[rowyn]

As soon as we got home, Lut and I shifted furniture around in the basement so I could get up the rest of the damp carpet. The southwest bedroom did have some leakage around that one interior wall, though not as much as the main room. Icky! There's also mold on one of the Techline wardrobes; I don't know what to do about that except throw it away, which does have some appeal. (I don't love Techline stuff anyway.)

I attacked everything with mold-killer and scrubbed and rinsed and scrubbed some more.

There are quite a few bugs in my basement -- a few spiders, the occassional funny-looking cricket sort-of-insect, and rather a lot of roly-polies, or potato bugs. Last night I found an earthworm. You know you've got too much water in your basement when you've got earthworms. We figure he came in through the sump pump -- the pit it's in has some contact with dirt.

I've been pretty merciless about squishing bugs, though I'm trying to be a bit less hard on the spiders. I'd rather have a few spiders than a lot of insects. Somehow, though, I couldn't bring myself to squish the earthworm. Maybe it was too many hours spent playing Sacrifice. I called him Jim (apologies to Mr. Holloman and Mr. Lane) and verbally exhorted him to retreat. Once the carpet was up and he was exposed, he seemed to be squirming his way back in the direction of the sump pump anyway. But I had enough squick left that I didn't want to pick him up with my fingers and throw him in.

Anyway, as I was spritzing cleaner everywhere, I spritzed some over earthworm Jim without realizing he was still there. Poor thing was instantly wriggling and writhing and retracting in on himself, and generally looking like an earthworm in mortal agony. I was on the phone with Kagetsume at the time, and I said something like, "Ack! I warned you that would happen, Jim! You should've gotten out of here." Then I dashed off to the bathroom for some tissue paper, scooped Jim up, and plopped him into the water at the bottom of the sump pump well. I dunno if he survived the experience or not, but he was still wriggling when I dropped him.

Haven't bought caulk yet. Kage said I'd need to wait until the basement dried out anyway, so there's no big rush on that. It ought to dry out this week; it didn't rain last night and we've got no predicted precipitation for the next several days. I talked to my landscaping friend about the fill dirt; hopefully that'll get done this week, and we'll probably replace this little heap of stones by the south wall with dirt. Maybe that'll help some with the water issue in the basement.

I read up a little on basement water problems, and saw various outside-the-house solutions, all of which sounded depressingly complicated. I guess I'll see how the cheap solutions pan out. I can always call a professional later if I have to.

In the meantime: well, I didn't like that carpet, anyway.

Comments

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

I think my own reluctance to squish worms is that they're so squishy. And, yeah, I generally spare the spiders. Not so with ants. Too many bites from fire ants, and I've lost all sympathy with 'em whatsoever. And ... roaches! AUGH! I put roach traps out, but they DO NO GOOD that I can tell. Ant traps don't work, either. The only thing that seems to be effective is that I'll occasionally put down a "Line of Death"(tm) on sections of tile or linoleum, should it seem an ant line is headed that way. This seems to not only be immediately effective, but for quite some time later I'll find ants breakdancing in that area, rather than making it past.

Still, bugs ... bugs ... EVERYWHERE! I never had this much trouble anywhere north of here. =P

[rowyn]

Yeah, that's Florida for you. One or two bugs isn't nearly the OH ICK STOP THEM that the teeming nests running around your neck of the woods are.

What's a "Line of Death"(tm)?

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

The "line o' death" is basically just an area spritzed with Raid or equivalent anti-bugaboo spray. It works well on linoleum - and doesn't seem to work so well on carpet or concrete.

[rowyn]

I guess concrete is a bit more porous than linoleum, and soaks the spray up. Hmm. Anyway, I'm rooting against being invaded by ants, but I'll see how it goes come summertime. At least the first floor is relatively bug-free.

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

That's my theory about the concrete, too. It doesn't look all that porous, but it just doesn't seem to have much impact on the ants when I spray there. I mean, there could be other mitigating factors; maybe I'm just not observing correctly, and it does make a difference. ;) After all, my concrete in question is out in the garage, whereas the linoleum is inside. I'm far more likely to notice what's going on inside than out in the garage. (And, anyway, I've moved the cat's food bowl inside, so that I can be more on top of things if ants discover it, rather than making the cat suffer until I happen to notice. =P )

[jim-lane.livejournal.com]

Hate to be the one to break the news to you, but "Jim" drowned. Earthworms drown like most other air-breathing critters when submerged for an extended time.

Since the worm's bod is pretty much a mucus membrane, the cleaner no doubt felt to it about like it'd feel if you shot a squirt into your EYE... Dumping "Jim" into the water simply put it out of its misery.

As for spiders... Just remember this: ALL SPIDERS ARE POISONOUS, and ALL SPIDERS WILL BITE. I like having the horrible critters around for their "bug-lessening" abilities, but I abide NO spider in my house---EVER. Nocturnal spider bites are a common cause of "Damn! Got a sore spot that just won't heal!" as well as "gotchas" when you're reaching around/under/behind something.

Ortho makes a GREAT bug killer in a spring-pump gallon jug, complete with a wand/sprayer attached. Called "Home Defense", and it works on virtually anything around the house.

Happy hunting!

[octantis.livejournal.com]

Aw, spiders only bite if they feel threatened and are made to think fighting is their only option. On the whole, they'd much rather run away than chomp you, it's a waste of venom to them. (And venom consists of complex proteins that cost a lot of energy for them to make.) Much the same way with venemous snakes.

That said, I can't blame you for being mad about being bitten in your sleep. The dumb little buggers are just about blind, so they have no idea what they've just stumbled into. Don't let bedclothes drape off and touch the floor, and that'll probably prevent a lot of those.

[rowyn]

Yah, I don't recall that I've ever had that problem. But, then again, I don't have bedding that droops to the floor, either. :)

[rowyn]

So, all while I'm unpacking in the basement last night, I periodically feeling these little painful pricks on various parts of my body. With no apparent source or cause.

Yay! A psychosomatic disorder -- just what I needed. Thanks, Mr. Lane! >:>

Anyway, I'll, um, bear that in mind. Whether I want to or not, apparently. ;)

[jim-lane.livejournal.com]

GLAD to be of help---! (hehehe!!! Evil grin!)