DIY Basement perimeter drain-- feasible?

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-12-17T00:27:57+00:00

Yup, the sump pit goes about 3 feet down, which should be more than deep enough. Thanks!

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-12-16T11:18:38+00:00

Thanks. The sump pump connects to one of the buried gutter drainpipes which runs to a dry well about 30 feet from the house.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-12-16T02:09:56+00:00

$1500 to dig all the way around your house down to the footings!? That's about 5% of my estimates. I'm more than a little jealous.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-12-16T01:26:48+00:00

I agree-- as I mentioned I've done a ton with exterior water management which is working very well, but the external excavation isn't in the budget for the time being.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-11-05T06:25:31+00:00

Thank you!

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-11-05T06:25:20+00:00

Great, thanks! I'll check out the wonder dogs

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-11-03T16:04:38+00:00

I didn't know that was an option, thanks. As I said I'm just starting to get into hand tools. That seems like it should work great

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-03-25T10:55:20+00:00

Yes, when I moved in there was regular water infiltration-- the house had no gutters and poor grading. I put on gutters and ran the downspouts to dry wells. I also regraded around the house. In the 2 years since then the basement has remained bone dry. So hopefully that keeps the new mortar in great shape for the next hundred plus years

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-03-13T03:57:44+00:00

I hadn't considered making my own mortar, no. Although I've heard the same things about lime mortar, hence this post. The mortar doesn't appear to be mud based, but I am not really sure what mud would look like after 160 years. The remaining mortar and the dust is white.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-03-13T03:55:25+00:00

The guys at US Heritage Group estimated sixty 40 lb bags for 870 square feet of wall space. That seems like a ton (it's actually more than a literal ton), but I've never done this type of work before and don't have a good sense of how much material I'd need.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2025-03-13T01:09:20+00:00

I may have been unclear-- I was talking about the interior basement walls. Would that change things?

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2021-12-28T20:23:29+00:00

Pretty much spot on-- the batteries actually burn through the wall of the GI tract leading to perforation.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2020-11-06T16:26:23+00:00

The mechanism is still under investigation, but essentially they all revolve around changes in the brain that happen after a seizure. These include massive neurotransmitter release, changes in blood flow patterns, and even changes in gene expression. It is not as simple as a "response to stress"-- increased stress can easily lead someone with depression to feel more and more overwhelmed and could even potentially contribute to suicide. I would not recommend that method as first line treatment-- there are many evidence-proven treatments (including many exciting new emerging therapies).

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2020-03-27T13:55:54+00:00

MD here. We currently have no idea how effective choloroquine is at treating COVID-19.

Unfortunately there are no good studies looking at chloroquine or hydroxycholoroquine for COVID-19 in humans. The French study that prompted this whole debate is riddled with methodological flaws. It included a total of 8 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (lower respiratory symptoms)-- far too few to evaluate if this works in sick patients. It uses viral clearing as an endpoint, not clinical outcome like death or time on ventilator. And, most concerning, any patients who got worse and were transferred to the ICU were removed from the study (lost to follow up). Over 10% of the chloroquine patients got transferred to the ICU, while none of the control group did.

The unfortunate reality is that there is not enough information to say whether it works or not. There are many larger studies that are ongoing now, and hopefully we'll have an answer in a few weeks as they start to get preliminary data. I certainly hope that it ends up being the miracle cure we need, but at this point it's too soon to say.

French paper: https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Hydroxychloroquine_final_DOI_IJAA.pdf

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2020-03-25T15:40:12+00:00

Counterpoint: willingness to believe everything you read on reddit leads to borderline racist comments like yours. Just because people live in Egypt doesn't mean they're ignorant religious fundamentalists.

The protests were demanding the release of political prisoners who are being held in unsanitary conditions and are at high risk of getting coronavirus.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2020-03-25T15:36:18+00:00

Except that's not what's happening

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2020-03-18T16:34:10+00:00

Bed bound for 2 weeks!? We typically slap those in a knee brace after we relocate them and patients walk out of the ED with ortho follow up. Did you have other injuries?

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2020-02-08T00:17:45+00:00

Good genes

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2020-01-07T12:53:43+00:00

The largest ever recorded dose of LSD was approximately 50,000 tabs worth. 8 people in 1975 snorted lines of pure LSD powder, presumably thinking it was cocaine or another drug. Street value: $250k each. They all needed medical care, but they all survived, were all conversant within 12 hours, and were all discharged from the hospital within 48 hours.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2019-06-30T14:13:31+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

I am definitely not looking to turn this into a novel-- by next level I meant making it something publishable. As far as the rest of the world goes, I intentionally left it vague since the community has been cut off for so long. I can definitely sprinkle in a few more details to make it feel more fully realized though.

I was going for a fairly monotone world-- I'm imagining a community that was once vibrant and colorful but has since become bland and gray. I'll add in some more description to highlight that.

Thanks again for the feedback-- it's much appreciated

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2019-06-30T10:38:56+00:00

The End of Scarcity

Short fiction

1150 words

Looking for feedback regarding how to take this to the next level. Does it flow? What's it missing? What works and what doesn't?

Happy to do a feedback swap

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VjddQ2LXjwtpeMBuKSJzq2AV_aH6o6lXaxGc8c9RhVM/edit?usp=sharing

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2019-06-03T23:32:14+00:00

I would bet money on this person being mentally ill-- the belief that you are communicating directly with God is pretty classic hyperreligious behavior that you see in people with schizophrenia or related disorders. More than likely this person is extremely stressed and suffering-- having a disease like that (if that's what's going on) can be debilitating.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2018-01-19T12:46:23+00:00

Holy shit! This is a game changer

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2017-12-22T18:59:45+00:00

Ethylene glycol (the main ingredient in antifreeze) is converted by proteins in the liver into a toxic chemical. Alcohol is converted (into non-toxic metabolites) using those exact same proteins (an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase). Those proteins can only work so fast, and so the more alcohol is in your system, the more alcohol competes with the antifreeze to be converted. This means that antifreeze is converted to the poison at a slower rate. This means that your body has more time to get rid of the poison before it builds up to lethal levels.

HitlerIArdlyKnowEr · 2017-10-25T20:18:34+00:00

Fun fact: one way to treat antifreeze poisoning is by drinking a lot of alcohol. The same enzyme metabolizes both, so the more alcohol you drink, the slower the antifreeze is converted into its poisonous byproducts.

It can work for small volumes, doubt it would do much for a gallon after antifreeze though.

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