The Cave

A few months ago we had "The Cave" cemented over. This is the room in our basement underneath the porch. It had a dirt floor (see first first picture), not uncommon I'm told with these old houses. Some theorize that it was used as a coal room, or "root" room to store root veggies (potatoes, etc.). Earth floors are a) not good for moisture b) not good for radon c) kind of weird to have. So... we had it cemented over. The first job they did was a bit uneven so we had them come back and pour self-leveling concrete. And then a couple days later: biblical rains. An inch or two of water seeped in. The job was ruined. The room was left in limbo until we could figure out what to do. Was it a problem with drainage? Water table? Do we need a sump pump? If so, do we "pipe" the entire basement, or just the room? We got a second opinion. He said in a strange (Austrian?) accent: "you needz a sump pump, but only inz the one roomz." And so we got one. The piping runs from the pump underneath floor and right out through the stone wall. It goes on about 12 feet underneath the grass and empties out in the yard, right near where we plan to have our garden. They need to come back to finish the concrete but the room is almost ready to begin work on. Stay tuned.