Repairs to the Concrete Piles Under the House.

For a long time I have been concerned about the piles under the house. Several years ago when someone wanted to buy the house we decided that if we could get a good price for it we should let it go. A pile inspector said the piles needed to be reset and that it would cost in the region of $8000. The buyers were put off,or rather the bank wouldn't lend the money. We were pretty please to have got out of it.The main inspector though said the house would stand for another 150 years.Keith our gardener has spare time on his hands because of the winter coming on and also because of the drought,so I decided we could use him to help with the heavy digging work.So this week I began the work of reinforcing the piles by underpinning them with concrete and digging foundations for the brick work that will replace the planks.Great grandfather Collins,who was a stonemason,would have been proud of me.Another reason to do this is to make the house vermin proof. We keep getting mice and rats into the walls. This work will keep them out I hope. When this is completed we will safely be able to put garden along next to the house without worrying about the woodwork.We will probably plant hydrangeas The painting is still going on but I'm pretty bored with it..