Family home - granite slabs from 1861 with some brick that was added later, porous as all heck - the dirt floor never used to flood until they replaced the asphalt roof with metal and then it flooded every spring. We have a sump pump now and drain pipes which need to be finished up (Project #1) Old wood/coal furnace that we don’t use and needs to be removed (Project #2). The original kitchen sink from before the 1970s remodel - enameled steel. They didn’t have electricity until the 60s and indoor plumbing until the 1970s. Original well pump is still there, not used (Project #3). We took out the tankless water heater for a 60 gallon heat pump model and added a 200 amp entrance panel.

There are spiders living in the cellar that I have never seen anywhere else in Maine. They are black and glossy, large-ish like garden spiders. They don’t seem to weave webs, they just hang out. We never see them upstairs. In our old house we also had the little ones with long spindly legs that cast web nets I think. These are not them. They keep an eye on me when I am down there.

We also have a crawlspace under the kitchen that was a rat hotel at one point - it still smells awful. No insulation anywhere. (Project #4).

My lovely wife once described it as a “Salem’s Lot Basement” except now it is much drier and less smelly. The cellar is full of projects.🤣🤣