Our Home's Feet

Here is what it looks like underneath our Little Blue House. I must say it is perhaps not as bad as I'd imagined. Although when I look at these photos again it doesn't look very good. My husband took these photos last month. We already know that the house needs to be brought to level, and the pictures just reinforce that belief.

Unfortunately, I think we must wait until Spring before we can repair the foundation. There are a few people in our small community that can do this type of work, and we want to help out with unskilled labour. (That is us, unskilled labour, for sure.)

This looks pretty terrible, in the photo below. This is the area underneath the tiny front porch, and it is definitely rotting. The porch slopes towards the house, so we are worried about the snow piling up against the house over the winter. The porch has got to go before we can get underneath the house and jack it up. But if we remove it now, the house will sit there looking ugly all winter!

Underneath the Porch

Where to begin? The photo below shows the area underneath the parlour, in the vicinity of the front door. The horizontal supports look alright to our untrained eyes (ie. they look dry and they are big enough to support the house). However, the vertical supports, as you can see at right, are leaning precariously. This explains why my mum feels dizzy standing in the front parlour.

Foundation Beneath Parlour

This last photo shows the woeful inadequacy of the supports. That vertical piece looks no bigger than a 2 x 4! I think we will have to get some proper cement footings in and gently jack up the house, bit by bit, and install proper posts. This is number one on "The List." 

Wobbly Bits

So there you have it! A very matter-of-fact post to illustrate why our LBH is falling down. Slowly falling down. I am sad that we must wait to intervene! For now, it may be prudent to avoid any wild parties in the front parlour. There shall be no dancing!