As fate would have it, next door to our temporary apartment, the house is also being lifted. It too suffers from the occasional rising whims of the little brook near our house, about two miles down stream from our house. With my new knowledge base on this subject, I’ve noticed a few things about this elevation that the casual observer would be likely to miss. Style … Continue reading House Elevation: Building the Foundation
New Stairs for Elevated House The winds of change have visited our project this week and delivered a blast of good news. With a follow-up to our oh-so-friendly encounter with the neighbor, we have come away victorious. Recall our project was held up for two months while she disputed the few extra inches of variance required for the bottom step, a variance that we already … Continue reading Neighbor Disputes During House Elevation
Exterior railings add an element of flair and fashion to your house, along with safety measures. They may seem like a minor detail, but railings can have a dramatic impact on the visual appeal of your house. Our house project is coming along this week and the staircase is now complete except for the railing. In the picture above you can see the completed staircase, sans … Continue reading Exterior Railings for an Elevated House
WEEK 16: aka The Continuing Saga of the Gas Service. When I last left off this topic, we had remedied many of the gas line installation woes with our utility company. They had correctly repositioned our project as a “flood recovery” one and therefore were much more receptive to our needs. They agreed to install the new gas line, at their expense. We dig a trench, … Continue reading The Gas Man Cometh
GAS METER UPDATE: In a previous post I lamented about the excruciatingly long process to have a new gas meter and a new gas line installed. Con Edison, our local utility company, first visited our site on August 20, 2013. At that time, we were under the impression that getting new service was the only option we had; it was the required protocol during a … Continue reading Feel the Burn: Gas Lines & Meters
FORMIDABLE FOUNDATION Usually a house built upon a solid foundation is meant to be a permanent situation, complete with lots of cement to seal the deal. A foundation serves as the starting point for all that is to follow, whether you’re talking about an education, a relationship, or a house. It’s designed to have enduring qualities, and ideally built to last. RIPPED AT THE SEAMS … Continue reading Interior Damage Minimal After Elevating House
The high-water mark is the mark indicating the highest level water has reached on a particular structure or home. In our case, it was about 56 inches. In the picture above, our son is standing on his tip-toes to point to the height of the water during one of our worst flooding episodes. “Know Your Line: Be Flood Aware” FEMA, along with 7 other federal … Continue reading Flooding: High-Water Mark
FLOOD SAVVY: Fight Flooding - Tips & Inspiration 