Can I Save my Foundation? 

hi! i just sent you something on your amazon wish list. i tried 3x on the u.s. version, but it wouldn't accept your gift registry address for shipping. luckily for you, i had just sent #TFG @TranscendFurnitureGallery something earlier this week, so I was able to use the canadian account i had just set up (a nasty rigmarole to do, especially at 1 am, but you lovely folks are worth it!). also, fellow commenters and contributors, some credit cards do not want to be used for "foreign" transactions, like if you're in the u.s. trying to support a canadian YT'er. so keep your wallet handy if you have to dig out a credit card you don't have the information memorized for.

I love the disclaimer of "Don't try this at home; we're trained circus performers!" It's really cool to see the progress, I can only imagine how exciting it must be for you!

As a master gardener I can tell you the salt will probably not work but it will also kill anything growing next to the tree. And it will keep awhile to leave the soil. The nails also won’t really work. If you do not want to use poison, the strip ALL of the bark off of the trees. This exposed the combining layer which also exposed the trees vascular system. If it dries out, the tree dies as it is how it uptakes water and nutrients. Also if you can find any of the major roots and you can cut those, it will speed up the process. Please to not use salt if you decide you want to plant next to your house.

Uh-oh there are dog treats on that Amazon wishlist. Hope Shannon is ready to receive (and film) an industrial pallet's worth of dog treats! 😂

I never completely recognized the similarities between clever renovation of houses and trapeze art :). Keep up the good work Shannon. What you do is a great gift to the future, nothing less.

You can see your house's face! Those bay windows are beautiful!

The renovation of medieval tortures! 😂 Another great installment.

dentist appointments like crazy! Because chemo and radiation really mess up your teeth- Distraction please and thank you! You are saving a beautiful home I am cheering you on!

You have to take the non-wood siding off ...the house won't look 'right' until you do. So your right. Of course. And yes you avoid conflict by with your neighbors. Life's sooooo much more pleasant when neighbors get along and that can take some considerable patience. Nice to see you this morning. Thanks for being you.

I myself am so glad you got those trees away from the house. It will help your dampness inside. It most definitely will dry out faster. Plus, a French Drain for sure will help out a lot on the property and your basement.

Isn't that a moment of triumph? (When you're not sure which direction a tree is going to fall and it just settles with a whispered sigh exactly where you wanted it) When I was cutting down my trees, I looked on the internet to see the best way to cut them down, and it was really amusing to see the collection of videos on RU-vid of trees falling on houses, smashing pickup trucks and knocking people off of ladders (or chucking them under the chin) I became adept (like a monkey) scampering up and down ladder, with a fervent prayer, "Oh Father, please help me to get this tree down without accident or incident!" And that is my fervent prayer for you! Congratulations that you managed to get a spectacular job done without "accident or incident!"

What about (In the future of course) a carriage house style garage? Is there room on the lot? Kiss Canelle for doing the, throw the stick JIG.

First, what beautiful hair you have. I LOVED seeing it down! Second, of COURSE you want the wood siding! What is currently on there is like lipstick on a pig. Third, you have no idea how much I look forward to seeing you each Friday. 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

Vinyl siding & vinyl windows. Our house is almost 100, and I dream of putting craftsman style (three pane upper sashes) windows back on the house. It would be so lovely. Totally with you on keeping it original where you can.

My parents uncovered the original cedar siding on their 120 year old house. Lots of work to restore and paint but soo worth the work. I am really enjoying the content right now. I know from experience this is hard work so excited for you!

May I suggest that you learn the old art of plant propagation? You can grow your own landscape plants by taking cuttings from other plants. Look at other Victorian homes, and see what kind of plants they have in their yards. It is possible they are historically accurate for the age of the house. Always ask before taking cuttings. You make friends with shared interests! I’m in California. I’ll soon tear out my front yard and replace it with a rock and succulent garden. I propagated many of the succulents myself, and that makes it more personal to me. This new rock and succulent garden will help us weather periods of drought. We can save the water from the shower while we wait for it to get hit, and use it to water our succulents in the front, and our veggie garden in the back. I believe lilacs and snowball bushes were well loved in Victorian times. There are many others too. Best wishes!

That sink was such a score!

Speaking of damp basements, one thing I learned the hard way is that sump pumps have a shelf life, so next time you have a plumber come by I’d see if you can get an estimate on how old it is so you’re not caught by surprise when it needs to be replaced or repaired

I’m absolutely in agreement with you when it comes to peeling off all that mismatched siding, hopefully to reveal the original wood siding. And what a fabulous breath your house must have been able to take when the trees were removed.

I was wondering how often you had to pause to set up the shots when emptying out the basement 😵‍💫 😮 You can really see the house so much better now! Very visible progress must help when it's getting overwhelming.

I can’t believe how strong you are. I love watching you two working so hard.

Bring it girl! Show us how to get things done!

Holy moley! I didn't even realize the roof is hipped until all the trees were gone and usually I have a good eye for detail. I am a tree hugger, but, yeah those trees had to go. Now go get a chipper and make them into mulch for your future garden! 😃

My favorite part of this video was the surprise cameo from the trash hauler's helper!

One time we had a storm and a tree fell across my mother's long driveway. "I just got my chainsaw out--it was just a SMALL tree!" She would have LOVED watching you on the roof! 🙂

My dad has been in my parents house since it's been built, about 62 years. It still has it's original wood shingles, and wood framed windows. It's not an old Victorian or anything, but it's a real oddball in a neighborhood filled with vinyl sided and windowed houses. My dad's 90 and still does the yardwork and landscaping-a miracle. Enjoy your channel, first found you thru sewing.😊

Perhaps a cozy throw for your sofa, or pillows?

oh my G*D I cannot wait for the day you're able to remove the aluminum siding!! I'm sure all those layers are creating a mess for you, that beautiful house needs to breeeaaathe haha love how much brighter the house looks once the trees went down, such great work :D

I love Mrs Quilty! I can't wait to see what is under all of that extra siding. I feel like I'm on a treasure hunt watching your newest adventure. Best of luck and wishes!

His face watching the RU-vid video on “if your chainsaw won’t start, here’s the 5 most probable causes” is SO RELATABLE!!! But at the same time, I’m so thankful for RU-vid! Broken chain on a tricycle? RU-vid! Trouble shooting a specific model of a sewing machine? RU-vid! Why is my hamster making that noise? RU-vid! 😂 It has range!

I bet that house is loving the sun exposure after you guys cut all of that mess down.❤❤

Always waiting to see you Shannon and your beautiful Victorian house.

I had a guy come and do an energy audit on my 65 year old house and when he saw my dehumidifier in the basement he said a couple of oscillating fans work just as well as a dehumidifier and are much cheaper to run.

Love that you are including the editing time because gives a better idea of how much of your life goes into RU-vid. Also, the second you lifted those two buckets in the basement, I immediately thought of a yoke!

I'm excited that you got a sponsor! And because I've been wanting to get into quilting for a while, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try some stuff out. So thanks for the discount too. 😊

Hi Shannon. Loved the video, thanks. I would love to see a room with your beautiful crazy quilting as curtains. ❤

These trees in particular were a problem, but the house has survived a century, it can get new trees in the next century. It will be beautiful again.

Usually, when you cut a tree down, if you take the saw and make an X in the stump, it will die. It takes a while, but in my over 60 years of cleaning up messes, this has always worked. You simply need ro go from bark to bark, no chemicals needed.

Your little dog looks so happy. The house looks better with all those trees gone .

Yeah, I love trees but not growing into the foundation! Good call. You guys are making great progress. ❤

Omg there’s a house underneath all those trees 😱 lol

Regarding the water in your basement. We once owned an old house on a hill. We put in a French drain, added a sump pump to the basement and still had water down there after heavy rains. The ground water level was so high, water was coming up through the cement floor. Our solution was to add a sump pump to the original well which was located about 15 feet from the back door. (The house was hooked up to City water, so the old well was no longer used.) We ran a drain line to the back portion of our property which kept the water out of the basement and helped green up the backyard. We had to replace that sump pump approximately every two years because it ran so much the motor burned out, but it was worth it. So - if you happen to have an old well, which due to the age of your house is a possibility - I can’t recommend this enough.

Thanks for my “Shannon Makes” fix for the week! 😊❤

Always look forward to this when I get home from work have my tea and then enjoy!

Awesome footage of the house. I am living vicariously through you young and energetic people who are wanting to do a sympathetic renovation to a house similar to mine.

Love what you are doing. It's definitely a project for younger people. Especially with the talent of climbing and balancing and carrying buckets of mud. Thanks for the video 👍👍👍

I wish these videos were longer. I'm really enjoying them!

Gosh, it's so nice seeing the actual house without the trees, even if it still has all that tacky vinyl and aluminium on it... I look forward to seeing how the wood underneath it looks!

Hi Shannon, I am enjoying this series of renovation videos of your Victorian house in NS. I hail from Vancouver originally. Bummer about the trees growing out of the foundation and scrapping the house. And now that they have been taken down, the real charm of this gem is revealed. I love these old homes and I love people restoring them. I purchased a 1920 Master craftsman style house in Iowa a few decades ago. Thankfully it was in really good condition as the previous owner did all the heavy lifting, ie, reinforcing the west wall as it too was at the bottom of a hill and had started to cave in. As far as those tree trunks total demis, rock salt will seep into the soil and negatively effect the rest of the plants. When an old maple had to be taken down in our yard, and there was no way to remove the huge stump, us kids were tasked with scraping the bark off and the older boys hacked away at the base to hasten any attempt of the tree to regenerate herself. within a few yrs the stump was stubble. Continued blessings of abundance and wisdom

How cool that Google maps has the history buttons!! I have my fingers crossed that a local historian can dig up some old photos for you 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻. You two are awesome! So fun watching this. Am really cheering you both on 🎉🎉🥰!!

The before and after pictures are so dramatic. It’s good to see what exactly you’re working on - and for! I’m guessing your crazy quilted piece will be a large lampshade..? There are a lot of lamps in the house!

Yay got my timing right tonight to catch this 'live'!

I love that you are a CIRCUS entertainer by night. Which circus is this ? You have a lot on your plate. Good luck. Love the curvature of house with trees gone. Nice.

“The renovation of mid-evil tortures.” Love it! 😂

Nice to finally see the house. I agree on the trees. You can always plant new ones a bit further away. And once you are more familiar with your environment, you can put them in strategic places for summer shade or to break a nasty wind.

It does look a LOT better. It feels like the house can really breath more with them gone. The trees were too damaging for sure, more so that close and basically growing right out from under the house. A lot of progress :D

I feel like the house can breathe after removing all those trees.

It's so funny, because I found your channel because I am learning to sew....now here we are :) I absolutely love ya'll and your channel ❤

You're most definitely not the only one, leaving the dump with more stuff than you came with! Most of my furniture is from the dump, and my two Sonos speakers too 😂 One man's trash is another man's gold. That's what we say in Danmark 😝

I'm guessing pillows for your lovely orange sofa are the patchwork idea! Love all your videos!

Another option for potentially hastening the destruction of stumps that doesn't have the side effect of salting your soil in the process is to sever as many roots as you can get access to then drill several large (inch or two diameter) holes as far down into the tops and sides of the stumps as you can (or use the chainsaw and/or axe to cut deep crosshatches and divots into them). Stuff the holes with a rich compost mix like composted cow or chicken manure, water well, then cover with plastic to keep the moisture in. Keep adding compost as needed to refresh the microbial stew eating into the stump. That can help kick-start the process of decay, softening the stump to help make later removal easier.

So much Corgi cuteness! Love the wiggle ❤

I had wood siding on my childhood home! We had to restain and seal it every few years, but to my knowledge the house still has the same wood 30 years later!

It's great watching you restore this beautiful house!❤

1:00 wow you look so different with your hair down, it looks so pretty!!

Ooooh yes! A woman after my own heart! I always find great stuff at dumpsters!!

All that work you’re doing keeps you in good shape!! ❤❤❤

Oh you are a kindred spirit! My husband and boys tore off stucco off our 1890s farmhouse to reveal fir siding…they patched , sanded, replaced, primed and painted. The work is extensive, but I see layers of wood, possible asbestos siding on yours.. but way better than vinyl!

The trees had to go. Try a product called Stump Rot. It's is more envro friendly then salt when used properly. It will take a year for the product to kill the stump but it will just start to fall apart. Yes to the original siding. Even if part of it could be saved. Who knows, being covered might have helped preserve the wood.

Here you folks are doing epic, adventurous things ... and I'm trying to put together Ikea flatpack furniture. But how lovely to see your very "real", very much not flat pack house emerging. Go, go, go!!

About the dump ... you are paying to dump a lot of water. Can you dry the sludge somewhere, spread it out? Water is heavy!

I really enjoy your content.

I always hate to see trees cut down, but you had no choice. When planting trees/shrubs people really do need to research how big they are going to get etc. Thanks for the before and after pictures, your home is so beautiful. Hope you have a wonderful week, can't wait until next Friday. So, enjoy sharing in your adventure.

Don't pull out the stumps. Have someone come and grind them out. Just an idea. Pulling roots that large and deep could do more damage. Just an idea

I totally agree about the old windows and wooden siding! I once had an argument with a guy who called, trying to sell me vinyl windows. I told him I wasn't interested because I like old houses, and the original features were the reasons I bought the house. He then started yelling at me and asking, did I like high heating bills. It was then that I told him that I didn't ask him to call, chewed him out, and then hung up on him.

So enjoyed the increased video footage of Miss Cannell! Thanks! What a shame you have to pay to dump the sludge from the basement. Too bad you couldn’t find a place that needs "fill". You guys sure didn’t need to work out after all that digging, carrying, lifting and dumping all that mud!!! So glad the basement didn’t get worse after the rain. I think the house looks better without the overgrown trees and bushes! Landscaping is not an essential at the stage you are at. It’s comforting knowing you have hot water and a shower after all the mud!! Well done kids. Can’t wait for the next episode!

"Medieval torture!" ... I love your sense of humour, Shannon. 😂 Just think of all the new skills you & Phil are adding to your repertoire. Great job, you two. From Australia. 👏💞🌿🌈

We had an issue with trees growing into our home as well, and it wasn’t the fault of the previous owners but Squirrels

I love watching. Thanks for sharing your adventures. Can I ask for one corgi butt wiggle for each episode? I laughed when she was trying to get you to throw the stick. So, cute!

Just starting the video, but I'm gonna say drapes! Quilted drapes!

My idea for all the fabric is Victorian patchwork quilted curtains for the cold drafty windows, but with some kind of rings in them to slide easily on the rods to allow all the daylight to be in there during the day. I love your channel! Your doggo is sooooo cute! Your house is gorgeous! My house was built in 1908.

So much promise in the newly revealed architectural features! No doubt that you two will get it done while preserving its beauty!

Very delicate dismount from the tree whilst using the chainsaw! You guys made it look easy even though it was a risky task taking down those trees. 😊 About the neighbours run off you have to pick your battles saying that this gives you and Phil the opportunity to video the water when it rains to find out where it goes. Those trees were most probably most of your drainage problem I guess we can watch and see how things go over your summer. I like the idea of the Amazon wish-list I know other channels have this and think it is a good way of supporting our favourite creators and not the tax collector. Very excited to see what comes next in your videos.

Your siding situation looks like: Layer 3: aluminum or vinyl. Layer 2: insulbrick. Layer 1: wood. It's a common combination for wood framed homes of that age and location. Restoring back to the original wood will be a ton of work but it will look amazing!

Can you put a tarp outside the window of the basement?And pour all that sludge on the tarp.Then pull the tarp around to the garbage can that way you don't have to keep walking up and down stairs

Re new trees-the natural resources department in Missouri sells saplings in bundles of 10 for $10 each. Nova Scotia may have the same type of program. These have always been what we have used for trees and shrubs around the house. When I was a kid, Dad planted basically a forest of native pine on the north side of our house for a windbreak. Then when my parents built a passive solar envelope home they used the pine windbreak again on the north side of the house and several (though not as many) deciduous trees on the south and east sides to provide shade in the summer and allow sun in the winter to help with winter solar gain. It can be nice to buy a specimen tree or shrub for a feature in the yard, but if you really need your plantings to work for you getting them very economically is better.

Regrading, french drain, adding plants to absorb water and adding a retaining wall wiil all help. Keeping old wood siding and adding some of the lost mouldings wiill bring back its old charm.

I am addicted to your journey with this beautiful home! Your enthusiasm is infectious and I’m so inspired by you, and your partner. You are a team with a mission! I loved the pool draining and cleaning-it looks fabulous & I hope you’ll be able to repair it to working order🥰 I’ve truly enjoyed watching your videos and such a natural with the camera in your face. Best wishes from MS, USA🥰

You should put a duck picture above the wall you duck under to get into the basement. 😂

If you have any logs left, you should do a collab with justintrees, who turns wooden vases.

I absolutely loved the reveal of your house’s face. It has such character. Plants are lovely but not at the cost of your foundation.

😮 tu es très jolie avec tes cheveux détachés !! Ça te change ! Félicitations pour cet énorme travail de nettoyage du sous-sol et de l’abattage des arbres ! Cette maison retrouvera sa splendeur d’antan 👍🏻 À bientôt !!!! 🌸🌸🌸

Wow! There is a beautiful house behind all that greenery! 😃 Amazing. I've never been good at high places, vertigo. Normally I would worry, but knowing your circus talents and skills, I have the ease of watching without worry or closing my eyes🙄. You make it look like your at ease & comfortable around heights. Thank you for sharing this is so interesting and the wood floors and antiques are just a plus, how neat. I think you got a good deal, every thing worth while takes work, I can only imagine.

Please be carful with that chain saw ,I’m sure you are lv Ann uk 🇬🇧🇬🇧❤️❤️

I know this is so off topic, but you look amazing with your hair down. I don't think I've seen any of you videos without your regular lovely updo.

I completely agree with you on the siding. Take all the extra off. In a damp climate, all that extra wood under an impermeable vinyl/metal barrier is too easy to trap moisture if there's even a small gap or leak, and then you have rotting wood right against your walls. I also personally like wood siding, and think it's worth the upkeep of stain or paint to have the nice look, and the ease of replacing a damaged or broken piece myself

It's great finally getting to see your house! Having trees growing in the garden is one thing, having trees growing ON YOUR HOUSE is something else 😂 In addition to Amazon lists, you could help finance this project doing medieval torture and defenestration tours! Remember to include pay-per-view as well, naturally! That's a triple income right there. Shouldn't get any problems, as you are professionally trained circus artists! 😏

So great that you got those trees down!!

Ladies with big calves, if you are craving wellies that will not break down, go to a home improvement store and go to the concrete section and get boots made for concrete workers. I use them to walk around the woods in they're super durable and wide width friendly

Stumbled upon your channel and glad I did. I’m amazed at your house project and your commitment. Once I’m done getting up to date on the house bids I’ll get to your crafty ones. 🎉🎉