A firm foundation, and a major improvement

We spent all day at the new house today, working with a friend on improvements, one needed and one wanted. The needed one was the cutting of vents in our foundation. If you are considering purchasing a home on Ocracoke, this is something you need to know: if you buy an older home which is not raised on pilings, you will need to ensure that it has enough "flood vents" to allow the foundation to breathe (and to allow flood waters to flow into and back out of the crawlspace, in the event of a major storm). There are two reasons you want this: to ensure that there isn't too much moisture under your house which may lead to fungal/mold growth, and to get more-reasonably-priced flood insurance. I say "more-reasonably" because you cannot expect cheap flood insurance around here...it's going to be costly, but you can control the expense somewhat if you have enough flood vents ("enough", according to insurance companies is 1 square inch of flood vent for every 1 square foot of enclosed space).

In attempting to cut holes in the foundation blocks, we discovered that the foundation on our house is amazing. It's made with real concrete (not cinder or ash based) blocks, AND then cement was poured into the holes in the blocks to make them even stronger! These are some seriously thick, hard foundation blocks. A 20 pound sledgehammer did not budge them. Billy (our handyman friend) was able to cut one opening:



...and then we quit and went to lunch! Don't worry, we'll finish the process at another time - with heftier tools now that we know what to expect. (And yes, we will put a screened cover over the one pictured above.)

The wanted improvement was this.
Before:


(I think I've posted this picture in the blog before, but it's a good one of the awful (in my opinion) cabinets above the kitchen counter, which cut off all visibility into the kitchen and just made the space feel very closed. Those cabinets are now...well, gone.



There, now isn't that better?

So now I'm feeling like waxing philosophical again. It is important to have a firm foundation in life (God, family, home, etc.); and it's also important to be open (minded, to new ideas, with friends and family). Here's wishing you both...