Old House My House

Lucky you! That fence is really nice. I love the arch entry.

Saw the latest installment of TOH today, and am wondering why you didn't raise your house? It appears that you live right next to the levy for the river and received 3 feet of interior water from Katrina and its aftermath yet the pylons are still at the previous level. Seems silly to me. How does one insure such a place? Do you think it may never happen again? It's weather; it happens.

I was shocked at the inanity of the MA home this season, where this house may very well be the most insane home TOH has ever helped outfit.

Good luck to you, but it's very hard to root for such bravado and inevitable waste.

Maybe next season, TOH will build a home on a dormant volcano.

Looks good. Rock on.

Hey Pop, it's a levee by the river, not a levy. The house is likely to avoid another 3 feet of interior water as long as the CANAL levee and floodwall doesn't fail again.

PS Last time I checked, viewing TOH is not mandatory, ya ol' lemon sucker.

Thanks for the spelling correction Mike. Unfortunately, the rest of your post is mostly incorrect and ignorant.

The storm surge from Katrina was 20 feet, which could have put the rivah right inside her living room being that the rivah bed is actually above the surrounding flood plain. Levee or no, she's un-insurable without GOVERNMENT support where and how the house is built. Levee or no, even a category 1 hurricane hitting N.O. will flood all of the work done on her house.

And FYI, TOH is paid for broadcast by PBS. That stands for PUBLIC broadcasting Service. Which is funded largely by tax dollars through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The "service" claims to be a bastion of truth without BS, yet TOH has become completely delusional. Pretending to be "green" when adding a 5k sq ft addition to a 5k sq ft house for four people and pretending to be ethical yet helping this woman waste resources on a doomed endeavor. By not even taking the most basic of flood remediation by elevating her house, TOH is being outright irresponsible. As the presenters walked around the 'hood it was good to see how many have cut their losses and moved on to greener pastures or should I say, higher ground.

Plus, with the addition, IMHO, the design looks horrible and childish.

No lemons here, just sadness at the waste.

Ms Ferdinand,
This person Pop is all wet.
You have a great house and will be in making it into your home soon. Enjoy It.
The web cam has given me a good look at a nice rebuild and care given to insure it to be a safe home.Again,live and love your home.

Hey Pop. I saw comments on this piece and wanted to just jump in. This neighborhood, right next to the levee, is actually on the highest elevation in the lower ninth ward and has not flooded in any of the many prior hurricanes to hit New Orleans, so I'm not sure what stats you're using to state it would do so under a Category 1?

As far as the fence. I have to agree that it is pretty amazing what a difference it makes. Looking at the webcam, I see a whole new house!

message for the TOH crew. Don't FORGET to bring bullet proof vests. New Orleans is on once again trying to be the murder capital of the US again. what a craphole.

I understand the desire to preserve an old building and stay where you feel at home but I have to agree and say that I am VERY surprised that the house isn't being elevated. It just looks like a sitting duck at it's given height. I'm even more surprised that the new homes being built from scratch in Musician's Village are not being built higher. That being said, best of luck. The house looks very nice.

Sorry Pops, the more you talk, the more you reveal how little you really know about the geography of New Orleans. This area is the highest ground around, the river creates natural banks that are higher than the river bed. This area is comparable to the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods and this area only flooded because the Corp Of Engineers dug the Industrial Canal through the heart of the city and then failed to design levees that could hold back its waters. After all, this house is already 110 plus years old, it has survived this long and will probably survive much longer. I doubt this area would ever flood except maybe in a category 5 direct hit hurricane, which would only occur once in 500 years. Those are much better odds than fire destroying the house you live in.

Yeah Paul. Less than a category 3 hurricane that hit not N.O. but a good ways east of the city broke the levees and filled her neighborhood with ~5' of water. A neighborhood protected by a system of levees designed by the Federal government and implemented by the lowest bidder. Hurricanes are rare in that part of the States. Yeah, you're right, she should rebuild below sea level and not elevate her house. We should always act as things should be, not as they are. We should always trust the government. Somebody else is to blame. Mother Nature is not cyclical or random or predictable; it's designed by evil men to be unleashed at whim. It's not that flood waters could come from the other direction. The Mississippi river NEVER floods. I am so sorry for my earlier admonitions.

So much better odds than my humble abode.

I for one can't wait for the Old Faithful edition of This Old House. What with the visits to surrounding frontier cabins, recycling bins and abandoned school houses, most certainly they'll have 60 minutes of video of the double wide with a camelhump they slide over the jet of scalding water; Just enough for 8 or 9 episodes.

I wonder if with lamentation, Kevin will tear up?

Pop, do you have any idea what you're suggesting? Sure, it's not as difficult to make new houses higher up, like in the musician's village, but to jack up a house 2+ feet not only is a really big engineering challenge, but very expensive. Not to mention that I'm sure in post-Katrina New Orleans it's very difficult and unnecessarily more expensive to find a company and the materials necessary to jack up the house. The fact that Katrina isn't a "common" hurricane makes it even less worthy to go through the trouble.

Pop, I can't help but comment on your elementary evaluation on this 300 year old city. The city of New Orleans underwent a massive expansion in the 30s & 40s led by the Corps of Engineers expansion into wetlands surounding the city. Unfortunatly, untill 2 years ago, aspects of this decision were proven misrably wrong. These were the primary areas you saw on your TV and residual flooding occured in areas that had never flooded previously.
What most people outside the city fail to understand is that this was an engineering/construction failure by the Corps of Engineers, not a typical natural disaster.

So the next time you board a plane, drive over a bridge or go to work in a highrise building do you ask your self the same ignorant question? If so, don't bother getting out of bed and you should probably stay safley behind your computer monitor.

Yeah TOH! Glenn is your average TOH viewer. Do you really think he can afford a Viking?

Congratulations. You've succeeded in the complete stultification of the masses.

/He speaks the English, yet I've a perception he knows not what that means.

Why did I bother wasting my time with this genius. By the way WOLF has a better range than Viking.

R,

You have a beautiful home. Kudos for the great job. You should be proud , ENJOY!

To all who are concerned about ELEVATION:
The new codes are having folks in Baton Rouge build 8 ft higher than 100 yr floodplain. That puts homes over here, 6-10 ft off the ground and guess what,

they still have to carry flood insurance. When has Baton Rouge area flooded like that? Come on, I don't think elevation is even close to necessary on this board. At least this lady is trying and standing her ground to keep her home. She can get the flood insurance but at a cost. Let her deal with that.
What do I tell the folks here in Baton Rouge?
Good thing your house is 10ft off the ground, sorry you still have to pay 1k year or more in flood insurance. Who is benefiting from that insurance?

I have yet to se the entire series, however, it looks great and I can’t wait to see the rest of the episodes. I was first intrigued by Musician’s Village when I heard about it on PBS. I actually wanted to come to the Big Easy and help but there was a conflict and a communications problem. But I was really excited to hear the TOH was on its way to the 9th ward and even more excited to see an African American woman at the focal point of the rehab. I am so very proud of you. I wish you the best and may the Lord bless you and your new home.