Beechwood Revival Episode 4: 100 Year Old Home Foundation Work and What We Found Underground

One thing I have learned renovating older homes is that you never know what is underground.  Welcome back to the Beechwood Revival Episode 4 where we jump into 100 year old home foundation work and what we found underground.

Catch Up On the Renovation Story So Far

If you are just finding the Beechwood Revival Project, pull up a chair, friend. Here is where we have been.

In Episode 1 we shared how we bought the Beechwood house to be closer to my son’s high school. I fell in love with this street and I fell in love with this house, and together with my husband, we made it ours.

In Episode 2 we started demo. Once we got inside, we realized the condition was worse than we expected and the insulation was old, so for it to be safe for us to actually live in, we had to take it all the way down to the studs. Walls came down. The fireplace came out. Floors came up. A whole lot of cleanup so we could build it back right.

In Episode 3 we said goodbye to two things I genuinely was not ready to let go of. The trees I fought hard to save. And the original sunroom. Neither made it. But Daron kept reminding me to trust the process, and I am still holding onto that.

This week, we went underground.

What 100 Year Old Home Foundation Work Actually Looks Like

Welcome back to Episode 4 of the Beechwood Revival. I’m Brooke, and I’m working with my husband Daron to bring this old Colonial Revival back to life. Today we are excavating for the new addition.

This part does not look that exciting on camera, honestly. Nobody is cutting highlight reels about dirt and excavators. But this is where everything matters. What is underneath a house determines everything that goes on top of it. If you do not get this right, nothing else works.
We already knew going in that we were going to find some surprises. That is just the nature of a home this age. You prepare yourself as best you can and then you hold on. What we found stopped us in our tracks.

We need to reline the sewer pipes. And hidden underground, completely out of sight until now, was an old water cistern. Tucked under this property like a secret the house had been keeping since before any of us were born.
Old houses do not give up their secrets without a fight.

Why We Are Not Cutting Corners on the Foundation

We could cut corners here. Nobody would ever see it. That is the thing about foundation work. It is invisible once everything goes back together. You pour the concrete, frame the walls, hang the drywall, and nobody knows what is underneath. But we would know.

So we are doing it right. We are relining the pipes, filling in that cistern properly, and making sure the ground underneath this house is exactly what it needs to be before we build anything on top of it. Because what is underneath always matters just as much as what everyone else gets to see.
That is true about houses. And honestly, it is true about a lot of other things too.

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What’s Next

We are heading into the next phase and I cannot wait to show you. Episode 5 is coming next Sunday. That is when we pour the foundation. Trust me, you do not want to miss it. Have you ever bought an older home and found something unexpected underground? Tell me in the comments. I genuinely want to know I am not the only one.

Come back next Sunday for Episode 5.

XO,