This is Eman Valle. He is a wonderful master carpenter who has been and will be implementing a good bit of the work here at the home. Without him, the neighborhood would not be quite the same. He's pictured here standing in the dining room. The floor joists had to come out temporarily (which is dirt now) so that we could assess the damage adequately to the rear band joist, a 4x8 timber, a piece of which he is holding that has been torn apart by termites. We'll end up replacing the entire band joist in the back of the house because over time, the huge oak tree back there in the backyard dropped leaves which made the soil rise to about the level of the band, making for easy access for bugs. Since the foundation was never really high to begin with, this is a result of neglect and 100 years of oak leaf shade compost. There'll be no problem growing a shade garden back there when all the work gets done.