Basement Cleaning

Today I started working on clearing out the basement. It has been accumulating junk ever since we moved in here, nearly 12 years ago. It hasn't even really been entered much in the past 3 years! Now, this isn't a nice finished basement, oh no! This is one of those half-concrete, half-dirt ancient basements filled with damp that floods every so often. So in general, putting anything that isn't metal down there is nearly a death sentence. So the junk has been building up and decomposing. I began to work this morning, about 10-ish, and stopped around 6 this evening. It's was absolutely the most difficult thing I have done in quite awhile, to keep going with only a few breaks. I am utterly worn out now. However, I am pleased with the progress.

No, I didn't complete the *whole* basement in a single day, but then really anything worth doing well usually takes some time. I did manage to clear out one entire side, and it was the worst and most cluttered side. I'd say that most everything that was in the pile is now either by the road waiting for tomorrow's trash pick-up or tucked into the van to drop off at the donation center tomorrow. I lined up some boards on the floor and neatly stacked cages and holiday boxes on top of them. So now, when first entering the basement, the side that was a huge pile of refuse has been converted to a neat stack of clearly identifiable items.

Unfortunately, the remaining sections of the basement will be equally difficult, not because there is a lot of junk, but because there is a lot of heavy refuse to remove. I still also have a few large items to make decisions on whether to keep or toss them. Anyone looking for a stove?!?!