Drainage...

One of the first projects I planned when purchasing the house was to reroute all the excess water and make a dry basement. This had to happen before termites could be exterminated, or repair could be done.

It took 2 months to get a permit from the town to dig a 2.5ft deep ditch, because of the roots of the black walnut tree 25 feet away.

By the time I did, it was midsummer and hot. And it took a few weeks, but I dug the ditch.


You may be able to see the cable line that I found (right side of ditch). I did, in fact, call Miss Utility. It's a good thing this line is abandoned, since water can screw with the signal. To be clear, the line was not damaged.



You can certainly see the enormous root in there. It's not clear whether it's alive or not. I'm guessing from the black walnut tree.

The ditch was lined with weed blocking fabric, filled halfway with rocks (40 bags or so), lined with weed blocking fabric a second time (it was there, I said why not?), more rocks, and now is being covered over with pavers. I only have about half as many pavers as I need, so, you walk a bit on the streambed and a bit on the pavers. Note to self: fix that before Halloween.

This, and the renovations to the porch, have completely eliminated the basement water problem. It's dry. We had 2-3 hurricanes come through this summer/fall, and while the ceiling leaked, the basement...the basement was lovely and dry.

Saving a Cell Phone Once Immersed

I'm going to divert from the main topic of this blog to publish some very important information which is potentially useful to anyone who lives in our modern world.

It helps that I got to apply this information last week, in part of a much larger post which will be forthcoming, ie. the current plumbing situation.

So, you've dropped your phone in a tub/sink/toilet full of scummy backed up water. Can you save it?

YES. But you have to act fast. (note: this will void your warranty. Chances are it's expired anyway)

1) Do not turn it on. Do not try to turn it on. In fact, the first thing you should do is:
2) Remove the battery. The water itself is relatively harmless, it's the water+ions+bias that screws with your board.
3) Remove the SIM card.
4) Take the phone apart. You don't have to separate all the pieces, but you do need to be able to get into all the little parts. Save the screws and rubber pieces until you need them later.
5) Mix up a solution of deionized water and isopropyl alcohol. Soak all the pieces (except the battery and SIM card) for a few hours. If the water was really scummy, mix up a new solution and soak it a second time. The goal is to diffuse all the ions off the board.
6) Wipe the SIM card with a q-tip soaked in isopropyl alcohol.
7) Dry the phone in a warm location. This could be a sunny windowsill, on top of the fridge, or a cool oven. Don't let it go over 60C(140F).
8) A good way to check if it's dry is if the condensation on a glass fronted screen (usually on the outside) is gone. Let it go 12-24 hours.
9) Put it all back together. Pop in the SIM card and the battery. Power it up.

I didn't get mine 100% dry...I needed it right away...so the speaker is still sounding funny. But, it should last until December when my contract expires and I can get a new phone.