Professor John Lienhard with the University of Houston hosts a program about the way inventive minds work. The show highlights people who’ve made the world a more interesting place.

One of the most fascinating things I’ve ever seen was at my sister’s place this past week. A little background – her house has flooded twice. Once was from a freak storm that settled over Alexandria, La., and the other was also weather related.

As anyone who’s ever had water damage knows, repairs are costly, and the house has a reputation, one that’s impossible to erase. Their home is on a slab, so Diane and John initially thought they were stuck – their beautiful home’s value would sink, and they’d always have the fear of flooding in the back of their minds whenever heavy rains hit the area.

But my sister never gives up. Whether it was fate or “big brother” listening in to her and John talking about raising the house, an ad for David Shoring, a company specializing in raising houses, appeared on her social media feed.

Intrigued, Diane started researching and found FEMA offers a Flood Mitigation Assistance grant that could pay up to 100% of a contract to raise a house that’s flooded at least twice. She remembered the ad and, two years ago, applied for the grant.

Diane would call and email every couple of weeks, but the federal government is a slow-moving machine. A few months ago, she got the word – her application had been fully funded.

They got bids but went with fate and lined up Davie Shoring to raise the house. A crew started with digging tunnels under the house by hand – some from the back of the house, some from the front. Wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow was filled, and there were mountains of dirt all around the house.

The technology uses stacks of concrete, square blocks with a whole in the middle, to stabilize the house. Inserted into the blocks would be steel bars. These blocks would be stacked up as the house rose and would serve as a new, higher foundation. The bars keep the concrete in place.

Thirty-six jacks were placed underneath the house on load-bearing walls. Each jack was connected to a giant meter board with thick cables to make sure all parts of the house were being raised at the same level at the same time.

Finally, lift day arrived. With wires and levels in place, Foreman Josh gave the word – they were ready.

Diane and John were nervous – this is their home and a company was promising they could safely raise their home five feet in the air.

Would the house crack? Would the walls cave in? Would the house fall to one side?

The motor started and the house went up one inch. Workers checked every meter on the truck and under the house to make sure the jacks were working in tandem.

Foreman Josh walked the inside of the house to make sure none of the walls were cracking. The process was working perfectly, so they cranked up the jacks again.

By the end of the day, the house was up almost five feet, the height the state of Louisiana now requires for homes to be raised.

By the end of the next day, stairs were in place in the front and the back. Dirt was smoothed back in place and concrete skirting will surround the house followed by landscaping.

My sister said the only thing out of place in the house was a picture fell over. The view from the windows now offers a beautiful panoramic of their property, and they are relieved and relaxed now that their beautiful home is safe from flood waters.

I keep picturing people who found a way to help owners whose homes were on a slab. Either due to changing weather patterns or newly created drainage problems, their homes were in danger.

Some creative folks found an innovative way to do something nobody ever thought possible.

Now that’s the way inventive minds think.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.