The little foundation that could

Okay, so, prior to buying the house, we knew it had some foundation issues. The previous seller had already had a foundation company come out and bid on the job and we accounted for this cost in our offer (we also got a second bid as one always should). However, as often happens with these things, it wasn't quite that simple. Naturally, once they got started, they found more work that needed to be done. Apparently the main girder under the house was rotten and had to be replaced. They also were backtracking and saying maybe the house should have just been torn down. Excuse me? Seems like that should have been checked during initial inspection wouldn't you think? If the house was a tear down we probably wouldn't have bought it. We fix houses; we don't build them from scratch (at least not yet). Fast forward several days to me arguing with the sales guy about responsibility for the extra cost. Why is his failure to do appropriate due diligence my problem? Anywho, got a discount on the additional work but not to the extent that I think was appropriate. I'll take that as a lesson learned. I'm also calling in a structural engineer to sign off on the work. It's worth the cost to make sure we don't get ready to sell it and have a problem with inspection on the back end. I'm holding the final check to the foundation company until I know the work is solid. Remember, never ever pay in full for a job until it is completed to your satisfaction. Unfortunately, not everyone is honest and you need to make sure they have a reason to come back! On the next installment of foundations of our lives, what did the structural engineer say? Was the sales person's evil twin responsible? Stay tuned.