My brother-in-law is a 6th generation contractor in New Orleans. His company is the second oldest company in New Orleans. His company raises houses, perhaps not, what you are thinking.

As we are all aware, after Katrina, New Orleans is below sea level. My brother-in-laws company (Abry Brothers) is a 165 year old company that levels homes after they settle, and being below sea-level this is not a one time project.

His company uses Vietnamese workers to tunnel under a house. They then drive sections of pilings into the ground (under the house) until they hit solid soil. They then use the new piling to level the house. Very dangerous and nasty job. Nevertheless, since Katrina things are a bit cleaner but non-the-less dangerous.

His company now raises housed 14 - 15 feet above the level of the ground. They are putting new ground floor "basements" under the existing home. A competitor recently
dropped a house. It exploded as it hit the sidewalk. The roof wound up in the street! This is not your weekend warrior kind of project.

The story could use a lot of New Orleans history to make it interesting. Like the time Abry Brother was contracted to raise mausoleums in a cemetery or repair the foundation of a building that was used to sell slaves in the 1800’s.

With a 165 year history there is bound to be enough to fill an episode.

Oh yeah, did I mention it was dirty dangerous work?