Blog by Mary Kay Hopkins

As planned, the next step in raising this home from a slab is to pour concrete into the concrete columns.  The purposeful week delay to let the mortar set has passed so today is the day the concrete will be poured. But there are two important steps that mus be accomplished first. In the videos th...

I've never been timid in expressing my appreciation of Margaret Place. It will come to a surprise to some, but my affection goes beyond the borders of the historical district where my home and office are currently located. For this post, I want to bring your attention to the the major streets tha...

It was apparent on Saturday afternoon that the Calcasieu Historical Preseration Society (CHPS) had invested a great deal of time and effort to prepare for their lastest quarterly meeting. The much anticipated Firewalk to commemorate the great fire of 1910 was held on Saturday at 4:00 immediately ...

Lake Area buyers should read this post! Thanks to author and REALTOR Jane Peters in Los Angeles for writing on this topic.It is in most people's nature to look for a deal.  Having lived in the Middle East I am certainly used to offering ridiculous prices straight off the bat, walking away, and wa...

When I received an affirmative response to my question, "Are you with DeVillier?", I had no idea that the fellow who agreed to an impromptu interview was Phillip DeVillier, the owner of DeVillier House Moving and Leveling! This video captures a portion of the actual house raising with Phillip pro...

As previously mentioned, the raising of this house from a slab is a turn-key job through DeVillier House Moving and Leveling. To brick the columns, DeVillier uses the experienced company owed by Derick Guillory. Both of Derick's grandfathers were bricklayers. They taught Derick the skill when he ...

The inspector has given his seal of approval on the preparatory work thus far for the foundation. The first video discusses the next steps and the second video shows the work in process insofar as the center foundation.The brick has been selected and delivered. The brick layers are scheduled so p...

About 6 month's ago, I switched plumbers. Not an easy decision, but I was given sufficient heart-burn to warrant a change. I had heard good things about Maury Harrington and Able Plumbing, so decided to give his company a call.  While I regret that plumbing issues surfaced (pun intended) on other...

Dear Diary, In a few hours, I depart for Hopeland, LA.  I'm taking the day to indulge myself in a volunteer effort as an "Animal Transport Liason". The title may be a bit sexy, but the job description is incredibly simple.  In fact, I am secretly calling it the "sitting on the dock of the bay job...

On Tuesday, I was able to take time to shop at the new Farmer's Market in Lake Charles. The first photo is of the impressive ceiling of this recently refurbished building at the corner of Broad and Enterprise. These are the only photos I was able to take because I was busy shopping and visiting!...