Water that sits or falls alongside a foundation can create problems in the basement of a house. If you don't have gutters on roofs or the roof can't have gutters to catch rain water and drain it away from the house, you must use another technique to protect the immediate border along the foundation from water so the basement stays dry.

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Topsoil
• Heavy-duty black plastic sheeting (4 mil thick)
• Decorative mulch
• Caulk
• Caulking gun

• Cut down weeds and grass 3 feet  out from the foundation. Build up the ground so it is higher at the foundation and slopes downward away from the foundation. Use the topsoil to do this but tamp it down so it is firm

• Cut a piece of heavy-duty plastic sheeting the length that you need and 3 feet 3 inches wide. Lay the plastic down on the soil with 3 inches up against the foundation. Use a broom to clean dirt and debris from the concrete foundation.

• Fold the 3 inches of the plastic by the foundation over so the backside is visible. The plastic must be dry. Use a caulking gun to lay down a thick bead of caulk on the backside of the plastic as near the edge as possible. Press the plastic sheeting onto the wall so the caulk adheres to the foundation. Push down firmly on the caulking bead so it spreads out and sticks. Lay down 2 to 3 inches of decorative mulch to cover the plastic and hold it in place.

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The warm glow of a fire on a cold San Diego winter night can be magical. Many families love the ambiance a blaze provides. Others rely on these embers to keep their family members warm and cozy during freezing temperatures.

Are you new to San Diego homeownership and need a few tips on how to safely maintain your wood-burning fireplace? Or are you a seasoned pro that just needs to brush up on the basics? Either way keep reading to find out how you can keep your fireplace in good working order all the way through the snowy season.

First, be sure to inspect and clean your fireplace before the first use of the season. You can hire a professional chimney sweep. If you use your San Diego fireplace regularly during the winter, you’ll probably need a professional to clean your fireplace more than once a season, which is great since a pro not only cleans your chimney, but can also spot possible problem areas.

Next, learn about creosote. Who knew fireplaces could be so fun? Technically, creosote is "a dark brown or black flammable tar deposited from especially wood smoke on the walls of a chimney." (Merriam Webster) The key word here is "flammable." That’s what every homeowner really needs to know. As your wood burns it produces dark deposits of creosote in your fireplace and up your chimney. If not attended to, this layer can catch fire.

There are around 27,000 chimney fires each year resulting in 10 to 20 deaths. This doesn’t mean you should be afraid of your fireplace, but rather that you should be sure to do regular maintenance.

You can do periodic checks yourself. Simply take a flashlight and shine it down the chimney. Be careful on slippery roofs, though! (You can also shine from the inside up.) If you see soot hanging from the sides of the chimney wall then it’s time for some action.

Prevent build-up by burning seasoned hot-burning woods such as hedge. Some woods don’t burn at a high enough temperatures, such as ash, and can cause creosote build-up. You can also avoid build-up by leaving the damper open for around 15 minutes each morning, or whenever you use fresh wood. Also, consider burning smaller fires instead of gigantic blazes.

Creosote that is built up on doors can be scraped off with razor blades. Don’t use harsh chemicals to clean glass. A soft, damp rag is best. Remove ashes whenever the fireplace gets full. Be sure to properly dispose of these. Most people have a specific ash bucket and scope that they sit outside and far away from flammable material until there is no risk of embers. Never sit an open ash bucket in a garage.

Aside from nasty ole creosote you should consider putting a cap on your chimney. These caps can keep out birds next, leaves, rain, and reduce draft issues.

These are just the basics of wood-burning fireplaces. Take a few precautions and you’re sure to have a safe and beautiful fireplace season.

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A couple of weeks ago, we answered a question from a reader with a 1920s home in the flatlands of San Diego, Calif. Like virtually all houses of this vintage, it has lath-and-plaster walls. It seems the high water table and the ebb and flow of the San Diego Bay tides was causing the plaster to crack.

Our reader talked with a drainage contractor who recommend a perimeter drain and a foundation contractor who recommended a new foundation.

We didn't think a perimeter drain was the right fix because the root of the problem is groundwater that rises and falls rather than a stream of water that needed diversion around the house.

A new foundation, on the other hand, could be a permanent fix, but only if it was engineered so that it was deep enough to rest on stable ground. A soils engineer should weigh in. We presume he would come up with a design with pilings to support the spread footings. Our reader also indicated that cost was an issue. Our guess is that designing and building such a foundation would be cost-prohibitive.

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