Homes Plus
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/164319
WAUKESHA + HOMES Your Guide to Homes, Home Improvement, Lawn & Garden and MORE! A publication of the Waukesha Freeman and Oconomowoc Enterprise • September 2013 CONTENTS Separate fact from fiction when discussing mold ■ Autumn edibles: Tips for fall gardening, second plantings ■ Is your lawn in need of repair? ■ "Destination: Renovation" theme of fall NARI show ■ Does your house have what homebuyers are looking for? ■ Interfaith serves seniors through yard cleanup program Literally built from the ground up Flooding nightmare ends with unique new home in Oconomowoc By Kevin Passon HOMES PLUS CORRESPONDENT OCONOMOWOC – Tom and Sue Halverson's home on West Valley Road was devastated by the flooding in the summer of 2008. They were running multiple sump pumps for months on end just to keep up with the water that threatened to overtake their old farmhouse. Now, five years later, the Halversons and their two children live in a new 1,823square-foot home with an exposed basement and a 1,000-square-foot porch that surrounds the entire house. "We were running four sump pumps at a time, and we still couldn't keep up. I can't tell you how many sump pumps I went through. We had FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) come over to our house, and they offered to buy our old home and tear it down," Tom Halverson said. "We built this new one in the air to keep the water out." Sue Halverson said the FEMA funds had to be used by the end of 2012, but first they Submitted photo Built literally from the ground up, the Halverson home features 1,823 square feet of living space, a wrap-around porch and a two-and-a-half-car garage. Landscaping to cover the exposed basement has yet to be completed. had to decide among a few options. "At first, we were looking at filling the basement and building a mechanical room onto the existing home," she said. "Then, the FEMA people came back and said the $100,000 cost just didn't make (financial) See GROUND UP/Page 3