As Brandon pulled down that awful paneling, he noticed not only a big crack, but also that the wall was leaning out away from the house, right where the patio steps were. The picture's not so clear, but the steps and patio had at some point begun sinking into the ground by the house.
Since the steps were attached to the brick by mortar and cement, they were also pulling the brick off the cinder block wall and the cinder block wall out of plum with the rest of the house, weakening the foundation.
Brandon, Dad, and Mike (Brandon's stepdad) got to work right away, jackhammering the patio and steps to remove them. Mike nearly lost a toe, when the hammer slipped, but thankfully the hammer wasn't on!
Dad also borrowed a Bobcat to help with the demo. Wes loved watching this, grunting, "Geeeeet it, Pawpaw, piiiiiiick it uuuuuup," as Dad worked at the solid concrete steps and patio.
At the end of the day/night, Dad and Brandon were exhausted, and Mike was resting peacefully on painkillers, and Brandon and I were faced with some new expenses:
The patio door will HAVE to be replaced ASAP, because it's also out of alignment (and it didn't lock...) due to the shifting of the foundation. Also we'll have to deal with repairing the wall (Dad has some ideas), patching the brick, and building a deck, which we would have eventually done anyway...as we could afford it. Now we'll have to get to it more quickly, before the building codes police catch on. : )
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