Blog #76--Making Up For Our Mistakes

My wife and I have owned our home for 30 years. Unbeknownst to us at the time of purchase, it was built on a swampy area that has caused the house to sink a foot or so into the ground. The previous owners added around 150 square feet to the master bedroom. Around five years after we purchased the house, one corner of that addition began to sink even further.

We didn’t discover the problem until I was awakened one night by rain falling on top of me while I slept. My side of the bed rested on top of the connection between the house and its addition, so I got wet when that part of the roof began to pull apart. At first, I tarred the open area to prevent seepage, but that was a temporary solution. We then hired a masonry specialist who put six jacks in the crawl space under the addition to prop it up and prevent further collapse.

That cost us $1500.00, but we were told our only permanent solution would be to anchor the addition to the bedrock, requiring major digging and more expense than we could afford. The jacks provided us more consistency, allowing us to have the roof redone (no cheap project either). We also hired someone to reseal and plaster the long crack in the ceiling caused by the initial separation, but for a number of years we had peace of mind and dry sleeping conditions.

Then one day we noticed a jagged opening on the wall near the edge of the addition. It was sinking again. We hired the same stone mason at $6700.00 to provide a stabilizing procedure for the foundation he promised would solve our problem (he didn’t mention this option the first time). In order to gain greater access to the crawl space, he and his workers took down the jacks and left them on the ground. He said they were no longer needed.

Again, we assumed the problem was resolved. Then one day, I almost fell over going to bed because my left foot was around two inches below my right one as I walked. The addition was suddenly resting at an obvious downward angle from the rest of the floor. The jagged opening in the wall became more pronounced, and there was now a second significant crack. We were deeply concerned the addition would literally fall off the rest of the house. At least, the value of the house for resale was sinking along with its foundation.

The stone mason came out to inspect the damage, and he claimed he could find no reason for the alteration. We asked him at that time to replace the six jacks, hoping it might help a little. He said he would when he had time, but he was confident the addition would not collapse. We knew it was his busy season, but we hoped his conscience would require him to do what he could to help at his earliest convenience.

Spring turned to summer, then fall and winter, and he still hadn’t shown up. After New Year’s, we called him again. He said he would come out as soon as it warmed up a little, but again he didn’t show up. We felt he was a good person at heart and just needed a little prodding, so we tried to be patient with him. Finally, we had no choice but to demand he do everything possible to correct the problem, or at least prevent a further worsening.

We knew he was reluctant to help because he wouldn’t receive payment for his efforts. He was no doubt torn between knowing his responsibility and his desire to avoid work without reward. When he and a co-worker finally came out to replace the jacks, it took them less than one hour. He said again it wouldn’t help. He also said he couldn’t jack up the addition because there might be further problems with the foundation if he did so. We told him to jack it up as far as he possibly could, and that would have to be good enough.

As it turns out, even though he said he didn’t move it more than a fraction of an inch, there is no longer an opening in our wall. The floor of the addition is no longer noticeably angled, and I don’t lose balance when walking over it. Our sliding glass door actually opens and closes again, and we have a chance for some normalcy, for awhile at least.

There are at least two learning opportunities in this story. First of all, we sometimes must be persistent in our efforts to get the results we need. We have a right to fairness, and there is nothing wrong with fighting for our rights. And second, hopefully the stone mason learned the value of making up for his mistakes.

He didn’t want to, but he finally made the necessary correction, something he wouldn’t have needed to do had he replaced the jacks in the first place. If he hadn’t done right by us, a memory of his mistake would have festered inside him for the rest of his life. Maybe he would have been able to keep that memory away from his conscious awareness, but it might have manifest as a physical or emotional problem later in life.

He didn’t like spending more time on our house, but he no doubt feels better now that his mistake is finally corrected. Hopefully that makes up for the lack of a gratuity. At least, we are happy the jacks reversed the latest damage, and we are more optimistic our house retains most of its resale value. The stone mason no longer has a karmic indebtedness to us, something that might have haunted both him and us many years into the future.

We all make mistakes. The key to life is to correct or otherwise make amends for those we can, and try to accept and forgive those we can’t. Balance in all things gives us the peace of mind we all seek.

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