The next biggest overhaul that needed to happen to our little house was the foundation. The images don't really do it justice, but there was a giant hump running from the bedroom through the bathroom and guest room. We knew something was off but really had to get underneath the house to see the true damage.
What we discovered was that our house was built on Bodark wood stumps. Yes. Our house was sitting up on wood and from a couple of those pictures you can see how badly it was leaning at the front. Bodark trees are native to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and some places in East Texas and were used on many pier and beam foundations because the wood can last over 100 years before decaying.
In an effort to save us tons of money, Casey and his father worked for about a week removing each bodark stump from the ground and filling the pier with new cement blocks. They replaced about 50 stumps buried about two feet into the ground. Not only that, but they were underneath the house with very little clearance. Definitely wasn't a job for me.
A friend came to look at the foundation before we started. I didn't realize that he had a prosthetic leg and noticed when he removed it to crawl under the house. It was pretty hilarious seeing a leg sitting there, so naturally I took a picture.
Here's the finished foundation. So much more level than before. Now when it rains hopefully the cement blocks won't sink into the ground and shift the house again. Our next step is to seal off the foundation so water can't run under the house. This was a huge job and I'm so thankful Casey, and his family were able to do it themselves and worked so hard.
And I leave you with a super cute picture of our nephew Jacob. He was desperate to be just like his uncle Casey and crawl under the house to help with the foundation.
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