foundation - day one

Our house was built sometime in the 1920s. It was built by German immigrants and it was built to last. Many of the houses around us were built in the same manner and it is fascinating to see what types of materials were used and to see that they are still working, even today. Our house was constructed on a pier and beam foundation. The piers were cedar posts and the beams were 2x4s. When were buying the house, Mark and I were very afraid of the underbelly of the house. I kept thinking... there are trees under my house! Our inspector reassured us that the house was well built and that those cedar posts had been there for almost one hundred years and that they weren't going anywhere, anytime soon. Well, anytime soon meant 5 years later and anywhere meant straight down into the ground. We've had more settling in the house in the last two years than the house seems to have had on the last 90. The drought has a lot to do with it and i'm thinking that two little boys running around like crazy men may have contributed also.

This is a glimpse of what the posts look like. As of yesterday evening, many of them had been removed to put in new beams - 4x6 beams this time. You can see the shims on top of the cedar post to bridge the gap after they jacked up the house.
There are miles of extension cords with flashlights attached at the ends.

The new wood to be used for the beams.

The workers are so efficient. They even brought their own microwave to make lunch in. The kids were so confused as to why it was outside in the first place and then why they had left it on the side of the house when they left for the evening.

There isn't a lot of room under the house and these men were crawling all over the place. I have a lot of respect for the men that do this type of work for a living. It isn't fun and it's got to be a bit scary.

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We didn't have much damage on the inside from yesterday's work. We have some cracked base boards in the living room, a few cracked tiles in the kitchen and two cracks on one of the walls in the kitchen. We lost one glass. We didn't realize that everything in the cabinet had moved and when Mark opened the cabinet... crash. We are hoping that today won't get too crazy as they work their way to the middle of the house where most of the sinking piers are. I'm praying that nothing falls in the pantry - we'll see.