Hurricanes, Stay Away!

Before buying the house, we hired a home inspector to report discrepancies to clue us into what we might be facing. The foundation was in decent shape, but needed work. Last week a mason worked on several brick related projects. The chimneys were in shaky condition, so shaky, that the mason could only stucco one of the three chimneys. The other two are structurally unsound, so we plan to remove them when we redo the roof (dream: replace the shingles with a metal roof). A hefty wind could topple them, and a hurricane would sweep them to the ground. The mason also strengthened the foundation by repairing any gaps and covering crumbling areas with concrete. He also replaced the nine rusted metal ventilation grates with modern vents that close when the temperature dips below freezing. We were not shocked to learn the old vents were not of a standard size, so the mason had to fill in the gaps. Finally, a piece of siding between the top step and the porch was rotting, so he replaced it with bricks!