Mike

Major construction has begun! Mike Martin, our general contractor began the process of correcting the structural ‘flaws’ in the house. There are two major problems: in the back of the house, the previous owners dug out part of the basement. This would be fine, except for the fact that they dug right up to the foundation. As weight needs to be supported by at least a 45 degree slope, the weight of the chimney, as well as the foundation, is only half supported. Also, given the problem with the drainage on the side of the house, the water was undermining the dirt under the foundation. During a recent thuderstorm, I came downstairs to discover a stream of water approximately the size and shape of a hose stream spurting out from under this point:

To fix this nightmare, Mike has poured a concrete footing and will build a cinder block wall up to 6 inches above the base of the foundation & backfill it with dry concrete:

Remember that 4.5 inch dip in the second floor? Well to jack that up, we need to support the first floor from underneath. And in order to do that, we need to have footers. Viola:

And last, but not of all least, remember that nasty-ass wooden structure on the side of the house that is covering up the old outside entrance to the basement? If not, here’s what it looks like:

Well, Mike’s going to fix that to. Ain’t contractors grand?