Investigation

In this part of Canada we get a lot of rain in the springtime, so we were not surprised to find our garbage can nearly full of water when we returned.  Imagine!  That much water would have been collecting in the ceiling!  No wonder it was collapsing.

Today's task is to investigate the back portion of the house, which we think might have a useable foundation.  The older parts of the house are build on stone, but the newest addition (about 30 years old) has a poured concrete foundation about 14' x 30', which we think might suit our needs.  We just need to get into that back room that has been boarded up.

From the outside we can see into this back room.  That's right, from the OUTSIDE.  There is a hole between the siding and the foundation, and we got a glimpse of what was inside.  Seems the floor has fallen in, leaving this gap between the floor and the wall.  In the photo we can see a dresser and chair, and also the underside of the door, which appears to be floating a good 6" above the floor.

Our suspicions were confirmed when we got into the room.  The floor has fallen in, and is spongy in parts.  We decide to pull up a section of floor and see what we are dealing with.

The floorboards are resting directly on the concrete foundation, with no joists to be seen.  The investigation was halted temporarily when we met these little fellas:

And by little I mean frickin' huge!  That's a four inch nail she's playing on. "Meta ovalis Gertsch", the Cave Orb Weaver... they like dark, moist areas, free from disturbance.  Hopefully we disturbed them enough that they will find a new home.  I wouldn't dare stick my head down in the hole as I imagined a throng of spiders waiting for me, but I did risk my hand and camera.

No wonder we couldn't see any joists... they had practically disintegrated in this corner of the room.  Seems the floorboards are holding up the joists instead of the other way around.  A lesson in the damaging effect of humidity in crawlspaces.  And those white things?  Egg sacs. *shudder*  But in general the foundation looks solid, and with proper ventilation we should be able to avoid this debacle happening again.

When our backs are sore we start to wonder what we got ourselves into, we like to take a walk around the lake to remind ourselves why we're here.