First hit at the money pit!

First things first, right?? Well we knew that before we could do anything else, we had to get the foundation of the house leveled. Along with that, we knew we had five 50-year old trees and 3 red tip bushes that were going to be a nightmare if we didn't get the roots taken care of. Sooo.. our first hit to the bank account was on shimming up the foundation (for a description see Foundation and Our First Steal.. Of a Deal, That Is!) and installing root barriers between the house and the trees. Here are pictures of the results! Enjoy!

Tree in the front yard with roots that were as big around as my forearm in some parts!
Another front yard tree with massive root barriers, all hand dug!

Red tips... the structural engineer said they probably have not invaded the foundation yet, but these shrubs can be a nightmare to the foundation so we got them taken care of.

Pecan tree in the back... It didn't get root barriers but I had to show a picture because I am SOOO excited about the pecan tree! I had a pecan tree in one of the houses we lived in growing up so it was neat to have that memory and know that maybe our kids will have memories of a pecan tree.. and PLUS, now we won't have to go spend a fortune to buy pecans! We have an unlimited supply for free in the yard!

Another tree in the back that didn't get root barriers, but I couldn't leave him out...

This is the BIG MOMMA tree that was causing the biggest problems to our foundation and the root of the problem (haha..) that began our concern with getting root barriers.

All in all, our first experience with the home was absolutely WONDERFUL!!! I cannot sing the praises enough of the company we used for our foundation work, All-Pro Foundation Repair. They made this process so easy and light on the wallet. The estimator who came out to our house was an Aggie-great start. He was completely honest with us from the get-go and even came out a second time on his own time to go through the house again and walk us through his concerns for a second time. He told us about all the people we would be working with and was always available when we needed to talk to him. He sent out a great structural engineer who made recommendations that would take care of the foundation within our budget. The best part of it all, though, was the day all of the work took place. That's right, I said DAY- meaning uno, one, single day! I got to the house around 8:15 a.m. to meet with the forman who took off his shoes in our nasty home even though I told him he didn't have to worry about it. Every single worker looked up from the work they had already started with digging the roots to greet me and shake my hand. The forman told me they were going to do more root barriers than what was originally suggested free of charge. Wow.. that was a great start. Anyone who knows me knows I love free stuff, especially when I know how much money I am already spending!! Then, I left for them to get the work done. They were done by 11 a.m. WOW! And as icing on the cake, when Caleb came out to inspect the work, the forman explained to Caleb that while they were shimming the house, they really felt like a certain part of the house was sagging, so he made the executive decision to add a pier to the house... FOR FREE!! We are talking with all the additional stuff they did to the house, we would have incurred almost another thousand dollars, and they did it for free! What a blessing! And even more than that, what an honest company that sticks to their word on the quote they give and what a company that stands by their work so much that they would put extra piers and root barriers where needed for no charge so they would feel good about the work they did.

Ahh... warm fuzzies! Now we are on to other projects that haven't been as warm or fuzzy. Stay tuned...