Foundation and our first steal... of a deal that is!

First, I have to share one of my oddities with you. I just wanted to say that I feel weird about just jumping into conversation with the blog.. I feel like I always have to introduce my topic and present my supporting details with clear explanation, like a formula written paper for 4th graders. Is that just the teacher in me?? So, know that when I introduce my topic, its because I have to... like the blog is calling me to not just vomit my thoughts, but really be methodical and make sure you all have a clear understanding with what is going on. Weird, I know, but we all have our quirks. At least I'm being thoughtful of you with mine. Ha! Anyways, I'm done with that... Here's the more important stuff.

First Things First
We knew that the first thing that had to be taken care of was the foundation so we have just been twiddling our thumbs until that happened. Well, on this coming Wednesday, it will be started and finished! We are excited because once that happens, we can really move forward and begin the transformations that the eye can see and enjoy! As far as the structure of the home goes, we have been totally blessed. With a pier and beam, basically anyone that is going to do work on the major parts of the home have to get under the house to see whats going on, and everyone that has looked under there has said that they are amazed at how great the structure of the home is and how well it has preserved over the last 50+ years. So you ask.. why are you doing something with the foundation? Well, although it looks great, one of the previous owners had the foundation "shimmed up" (evened out the foundation by placing shims on the piers) using wooden shims. Well anyone who knows anything about wood knows that it is porous and it has a lot of give, so it isn't the sturdiest option when shimming the foundation. So, we are having the foundation company (which we would be happy to share once the work is done and satisfactory..they have been wonderful so far!) replace the wood shims with metal shims. Also, they are going to install something called root barriers. Basically, the purpose of those is to keep the roots from all of the huge 50+ year old tree roots from getting into the soil under the home and messing up our foundation. The structural engineer really advised us of that and let us know that we may see a foundation shift again in a few years as a result of the rotting roots that are already under the house, but we will just cross that bridge IF we have to (hopefully not!). Our ultimate goal is just to know above and beyond that the floor and foundation underneath us is sturdy and secure! Both the shims and the root barriers will do that!

On a different note, we made our first purchase for the home.. matching fixtures for the exterior of the garage! I know that is probably the least likely thing to buy, but we just couldn't pass up a deal like this! We went to check out Habitat for Humanity Home Outlet Store just to see what the place was all about. Well, aside from the concern of our safety leaving the joint (DO NOT DRIVE DOWN HAMPTON/INWOOD LN WEST BOUND FROM I-30 TO I-35 UNLESS YOU WANT THE STATUS OF YOUR LIFE TO BE IN JEOPARDY.. I MEAN IT, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!), it was a great experience. Of course, a lot of the stuff I would consider as much my trash as it was the previous owners, but they did have some great deals. In fact, we walked away with two BRAND NEW, IN THE BOX iron and beveled glass exterior fixtures... for $21! WHOOP!!! Look how cute!!!

Well that's about all the excitement going on with our house as far as improvement goes! Pray for our plumbing situation! More specifically, pray that our plumber gives a good final estimate and can do the work soon. We have had several trades come out and this guy gave the best estimate, but we've had a few changes (for the better!), so we are praying that this positively effects the bid and the time frame. Thanks for being faithful blog stalkers and prayer warriors! We'd love to know what you think about the house at any time.. Leave us a comment and don't just be a lurker!

Much Love,
Katie, Caleb and crazy Maverick

P.S. Is it weird that I have to edit my blog before I post it too?? (Why, oh why, did I have to have a former English teacher mother??-sigh) AND... editing is my favorite part!!!! If only I had a red pen that I could write on the screen with to correct my errors...