To quote Killing Joke: “Complications!” That is what we have. There’s a lot going on in this corner of our house. The gas company is about to trench, run a gas line, and install a meter here. Also, and related, our heating contractor, Bullman Heating, is about to install our new heat pumps on this side of the house. Then, there’s the lame moisture and rot problem. The soil actually slopes toward the house and along with some other issues it has caused the sill plate and some of the framing to rot on the other side of the brick. Our general contractor, who won’t start for a few more weeks, is addressing that issue by installing a french drain, applying a moisture barrier, and framing repairs.

Finally, we wanted to get rid of the exterior stairway to the kitchen. No one in his right mind would walk down the retaining wall stairway just to have the climb back up to the kitchen. Eventually, we hope to have a deck that spans from the retaining wall to that little suspended entrance.

I took out the stairs easily enough, but there was a sidewalk and footer (hidden by the ivy) that also had to go. With the extraneous concrete there, correcting the grading and installing the french drain would be a real pain once the heat pumps were installed. I tried to do it with a sledge hammer and pinch bar, but the footer/sidewalk at the base the stairs was, and this is ridiculous, over 20 inches thick. Time for a little extreme jackhammering. Look for me at the X Games.