A can of worms

Is literally what we opened when the "face lift" started yesterday on our walkway.  As we've learned in the 2 short years we've lived in our house, the previous owner put band-aids everywhere. Rather than doing work  correctly, everything they did was just a simple fix, creating lots of problems for us. How nice of them, right? :)

Now, we are even more pleased that we decided to do this now! Our contractor was shocked that the inspector didn't notice some of the cracks and the wooden plank that was placed under our front door. Apparently, these two things are textbook signs of unstable footings and a band-aid to moisture problems. Under our cement stoop was an old brick porch.  I gather its not uncommon to cover a brick porch with cement. However, in order for it to be done properly, the brick needs to be sealed to keep out water before the cement is applied.... and that of course, was not done. What the workers found yesterday was double the amount of cement they anticipated (more than 5000 lbs!) a soaked, rotted brick porch that had damaged a little of our foundation... Oh, and... lots and lots of bugs!

I was afraid to get out of the car last night, worried that as I put my feet down, little creepy crawlers would be on my feet :) Thankfully, there were no signs of bugs, just the remnants of a long days work all in a mound by our front door. This is how it looked this morning and hopefully by the time we get home tonight, everything will be gone and the slate will be clean, ready for an all new porch and walkway! We're like little kids on Christmas, SUPER excited for the work to be done!