Simpsons on Foundation Repair
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- čas přidán 7. 12. 2015
- This video is posted for the benefit of students in my foundations engineering classes. Enjoy!
Note rise of GWT reduces the effective stress and decreases bearing capacity of sand. This occurred in Queens New York (although other factors were also involved).
See NY Times coverage
www.nytimes.com/2001/02/11/nyr...
See jury award $6.8M
www.timesledger.com/stories/20... - Věda a technologie
Smart move by homer saving those 50 cents. He has never had problem with his foundation since.
But he was gonna give him on for free
@@tinaloye2014 Marge, get my gun
this show is full of hidden meaning
I always like to think Marge secretly sorted that out
Except for the multiple times the water formed a sinkhole under his house. I'm not counting the quicksand, as that was a Treehouse of Horror episode.
$8,500 for a foundation slanting at such a large angle is actually a extremely reasonable price haha
This was the early to mid 90's :(
Homer should have done the Stonecutter handshake, he'd fix it there and then.
The Stoncutters disbanded and changed their name to No Homers Club.
Ah hyuk hyuk!
Tuneman1984 we’re allowed one Homer!
"Did you see the bubble" is so simple yet so great
i love that part
Cool seeing a Celtic fan and someone with a Union Jack profile pic in the same comment section being peaceful. From a Jambo this is good to see
@@benodlin110 it just so people no i live in england
Now he'd say "did you see the penis on Twitter, fam?"
Goes to show you that limeys and micks can get along. 👍
I like the setup of Surly Joe looking like the stereotypical sleazy repair guy who's going to scam Homer, when actually he's a nice guy and its Homer who's all wrong. Such a clever joke.
I see what you did there... There was a joke... And you got it!!! Praise be!
@The Pharoah/TheBigCheese/MC-Aids i like the way you begin with an honest answer but ratter went for a reference to the original coment, now that's a good joke
@@nicogranados9601 I like trains
Homer is not a good judge of character
I like the set up that all of you should shut up.
Surly Joe was actually pretty nice
Especially considering he's the only repair guy in town and could quite easily say "Nah get fucked."
And all that for only $8500.
314rft plus he slept with Marge, but that was a free extra
Well. He wasn't that surly
He offered to give Homer a free washer in the end!
This is like the only time a Troy McClure video is actually instructional
"Mr. McClure, what does DNA stand for?"
(he looks blankly at the camera)
THE END
Fuzzy Bunny's Guide to You Know What was apparently instructional regarding you know what.
@@suchiuomizu That's true. They showed EVERYTHING in that guide, even when she's faking it.
I dunno, his instructions on how to mothball my battleship were quite useful! And my grave is all ready in the back yard. Curse my eternal good health!
Lets not forget "Designated Drivers, the Life Saving Nerds"
The ONE time Troy McClure isn't incompetent, he's too advanced for what he's trying to do. I fuggin love it
Fuck that shit. He seemed totally on-point when he was hocking that "juice-loosener"
Well Troy was an actor, he was just reading from a script, he didn't actually know about foundation repair
I would not say Troy McClure was incompetent. He is primary a salsemen and behind that an actor.
He sell whatever gave the best profits for him... If he make advertisment for bad products its not his incompetent...
He would be incometent if he really use the bad products he make adds for personal...
@@KH4444444444N I'm pretty bummed out we never saw his VHS "Man Vs. Nature, The Road to Victory"
@@randomguyontheinternet7940 Or the presidents neck is missing.
I think we don’t give Bart enough credit for always managing to make the best of these situations, no wonder he owns a successful factory
And is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Hmm, I seem to recall Bart's factory started falling over, and then it fell over.
@@AndiousWandarier he's a job creator, he ensured that Milhouse did better than his dad
if Homer had let Bart skip school to run the carnival act full time, it probably could have paid for the repair itself
Yeah, Bart's always trying to make a buck!!
$8,500 actually sounds like the bargain of a lifetime considering the extensive damage.
$8500 in 90s money is about double that now.
@@cornparade6874 Still, even today that's about 15,000 and a deal for that big a foundation issue
@@cornparade6874 15k still isn't much when your house is already sinking that badly
@NPC# 8675309 No Mexicans. That's why
@@TRIIGGAVELLI I am Mexican in the construction business. I can confirm.
Surly Joe is actually what a contractor should be. Reasonable, helpful, and willing to help you prevent future problems
Yes, but also trying to scam you.
@@everestka ?????
@@bouncypear_net Okay, forget I said that.
@@bouncypear_net Homer wasn't very nice to him. ☹
what i want to know is, is Surly Joe related to Surly of the seven Duffs?
I love how Flanders doesn't even bother to mention the foundation to Homer and Marge.
He was too busy firing up the briar.
He’s too nice
Homer's simply too busy. So Ned don't want to disturb him. Surely Homer noticed the problem already.
Perhaps he had in the past, Homer chose to ignore him.
"Can't talk! Busy!" 🤣😂
2:12 The way Kent Brockman casually transitions from a story about the White House burning and the president dying to a story about a house that’s tilting is just golden
Hilarious! "This story is not on the level." 😂🤣
@@everestkaYeah, lol, that's a good way of wording it
@@alvexok5523 Why, thank you! 😊
Small detail but the SOUND EFFECTS in these scenes are top notch, so much attention to detail. The sound of items falling, doors opening, liquid spilling... Great work by the sound team.
and when he shoves the repair man with his finger
I've noticed most Simpsons episodes have top notch sound.
@Shadowsafter Damn Kids, everything sucks now!
Early simpsons always had the best sound
fernando snips It’s a great cartoon, and there’s loads of great cartoons around now. I don’t think that spiel applies much to cartoons, if anything.
That ending actually kind of frustrates me. As a former retail worker, I can't count how many times I've tried to help a customer not make an incredibly stupid purchasing choice, only to have them snub me because they think they know better.
Edit:
This comment sure has been bringing in the butthurt replies lately. I'd like you all to know that I think you're very enlightened sticking up for the soccer mom who ignored me and stuck an angus eye-round in a crock pot.
Anyone who works retail has been there. I have worked retail for over 10 years. And they would get angry with me when I told them I couldn't help them and I mean nothing about it. they got angry for me not knowing I had a few people who were appreciative but my honesty.
illustrate with well annotated diagrams next time, bub. oh, and be sure to use the correct tone of voice, we hate condescending retail workers
@@lolbots back in the day it was always the snobby stereo salesmen that irritated me.
The thing is more people get scammed than get helped in this world.
@Hmong Communist so edgy it cut my sense of reality.
I like how Homer’s reaction to seeing people outside the house is just to growl at them
It adds to the showman effect.
Gasp! He's hideous!
"CueBall, the man with no hair!" 🤣😂
@@MinscFromBaldursGate92 I heard they shaved a gorilla
You know it's quality content when everyone is quoting different parts of the video instead of the same one
"Leaning Tower of Pisa, eat your heart out and move over! This is one story that's not on the level!" 😂🤣
Yeah but what are you gonna do.
I would have never been able to mothball my battleship without Troy McClure's help.
And I did it for pennies on the dollar!
I almost died on that line. I'm commenting here because I need to take some time to gather myself before continuing to watch :-D
I dug my own grave and boy did I save.
@Montana Roots I got confident, stupid!
Rob Fritz Did you smoke yourself thin?
I helped save Tony Orlando’s house!
"Do you have extruded poly-vinyl foam insulation?"
"No."
"Good!"
You caught that and I'm dying right now 😂😂
Assemble the aluminium J channel using self-burring screws.
My thing is what's the J-channel for?
Joseph Gregor I think he was using it as a furrowing strip to fasten the expanded metal lathe.
@@josephgregor2455 I think they're just for hanging pipes...
Homer's confidence when he asks for his patching trowel gets me every time.
Yes!
Thus do all DIY projects start.
@@everestkaAnd Homer getting more lost and confused as Troy gets another step ahead of Homer's misunderstanding, lol.
@@alvexok5523 That too!
Homer's stubborn irrational anger at the end that makes him refuse the free washer is very relatable
He’s not spending one more penny on the house… even if he doesn’t have to 😂
@@casualeannHomer stubbornly insists on remaining recklessly stupid.
No such thing as a free lunch pal, Joe was going to shaft him somehow 😂😂
Did you see the bubble? :(
So cute lol
I'm not sure if it's cause it's 4am but I'm not getting the joke.
Ahh, I get it now. Thanks!
but also its funny because useing it was completely unnecessary in the situation.
Homer thought you can fix a foundation without any tools
when the instructional video starts Homer is so upbeat and keen....then you see the panic set in soon as he realized he had no patching trowel. then it gets worse and worse
There are solid jokes every 5-10 seconds. The writing is insanely good.
Thank Conan O’Brien
...was insanely good
And to imagine the direction the show went from here... Brutal.
eh some jokes didn't land.
If the plant opened up when Homer graduated, he is very close to retirement.
Homer did not graduate from high school; he started working for the plant without a degree
The simpsons family is in so much debt that I doubt Homer will ever retire
Yo I watched your theory vids years ago, what're the odds xD
Hes like 35
@@supitschillbro He didn't get the diploma at the time, but he was of graduating age.
I like how Marge subtly slides out of frame at 0:16
the camera zooms on homer on the couch what else is supposed to happen?
It zooms a bit, but she definitely slides as well.
LOL I didn't notice it until you pointed it out. That made my day. Best part of the video right there.
Damn guys, all he said was that he liked it. Calm down jerks!! lol
Pro moon walk
For a guy named Surly Joe, he didn't seem that surly.
He seemed like a nice guy at the end. On a side note i really like that scene, his animation was perfect. Shame Simpsons is a shell nowadays.
I am serious and don't call me Surly
one of those ironic nicknames, no doubt
It may be a play on “Curly Joe,” one of the Three Stooges.
There's no reason to be surly when you have $8,500 in your pocket.
Holy crap, this Repair guy is probably the most reasonable person in this whole series. Even after all the shit Homer said he still did the work and even offered to give him a free piece of machinery to help prevent a similar issue happening in the future. Wow.
homer that's dish washing liquid🤮🤮🤮
A washer is not something I'd refer to as a piece of machinery, its more like a bolt or screw
You're right. I'm not sure why I said machinery. lol
@@CyberSlayer128 yeah it's more of an appliance then machinery🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, compare him to how that guy was when the Simpsons basement was flooded, and then the guy only helped him out once finding out he was a Stonecutter (and it turning out to be a very simple solution of turning a wrench when earlier he told Homer he'd have to wait like 3 weeks to get the part to fix the leak, lol)
Lol I love how the president just died and everyone is tripping about the house
It was just Joe Biden, relax
@@absurd64 that's even worse, that would put Harris in charge.
Rent free, all of you.
@@RabbiHerschel How so? Also, the President didn't necessarily die, they could've just been indisposed.
@@RabbiHerschel oy vey!
Dig Your Own Grave And Save!
Sadly, the death extortion industry has done a really good job at lobbying to make it almost impossible to not go through an officially licensed extortionist. First Amendment rights completely ignored. It's all about the $
Ironic for Phil Hartman to say that line.
Quoth the raven: "What a shine!"
carultch too soon man.
We'll all be doing that. Shit is expensive.
"Mothballing your battleship". Bit of period humor, at the time the Iowa Class battleships were being decomissioned following the Gulf War, but then in 1996 4 years after this ep they were recommissioned lol. And even now that they're re-decomissioned, we still have to keep them ready to return to service just in case.
Right. You never know when America will need to wipe out Grenada again.
I mean they're basically just floating artillery platforms, missiles have made them somewhat unnecessary.
@Nigel Cam Yeah but a missile is a lot cheaper than losing a battleship.
@Nigel Cam My point is a missile can easily sink that battleship and there goes that ship, everyone on it, all the money invested over the decades maintaining it, etc.
@Nigel Cam No one ever expects the ships to be hit and then BAM, another USS Liberty happens.
Marge: "..that's dishwashing liquid."
Homer: "Yeh but what are you gunna do."
😂
I'm surprised he didn't get sick from that.
frank beans I think 7-up would have tasted better.
m.czcams.com/video/eT3D0cKBkNA/video.html
Classic homer before they rekt him
IWTBF the subtle comedy was so effortless back in the old Simpsons days 🙂
frank beans yep a joke that had jokes inside it too, amazing
Surly Joe was probably one of the most competent and normal people on the show lol
Why do they call it the "half-assed" approach? The instructions seem pretty accurate.
Those are things anyone can do without training, I imagine. A trained repairman, like Surly Joe, should probably do it better.
Ken Zhang True, but when I think "half-assed," I think something along the lines of sealing cracks with bubblegum or using cardboard tubing as support beams.
TheDeldiz There are probably tiers of half-assedness
Ken Zhang Quarter assed?
TheDeldiz sure
"Marge! It'll cost $8500!
We only have 500 in the bank, and that leaves... eighty hundred we need!"
😆
1:57 The animator forgot to close Homer's mouth.
Hehe nicely spotted 😃
@@lnteIIigence Thanks Mr. President.
Not forgot, it would cost 50 cents more to pay the animator to close the mouth. Fox saved a pretty penny.
He's just a mouth breather.
@ThatDopeChannel why?
I still laugh my ass off when Bart flies out his window
What Window?
Definitely needed the chimney to fall on him.
@@Gunmetal_Wolf His bedroom window.
After researching the Simpsons' house, that is actually the bathroom window.
Wow this show just oozes quality in the early years. I can't really say it enough, because I am more and more impressed with every re-watch.
Homer denying the repair to stop the foundation damage from coming back just shows how stupid he is love it🤣🤣
The retirement joke is such a classic brilliant Simpsons joke.
Sums up my life
the alternating blinks 🤣🤣🤣
I really like Marge's slide as they zoom in
The half assed approach to foundation repair. Classic
“This is one story that is not on the level”
Simply genius
Technically two stories
Yes, its called a pun.
@@jonathanalpart7812 One story, two storeys.
Agreed!
Cmon it's not that genius .pretty plane if you ask me 😉
I love homer wearing his red “fix it” hat.
I too wear a red fix it hat...to similar success
2:34
In episode 9F05, we clearly see Homer Simpson holding a red cup. When he gets up to growl at onlookers, he releases the item from his grip. Yet in the very next scene when he returns to his couch, not only is the can back in his hand but it's clearly gray. Are we to believe this is some sort of *derisive snort* MAGIC cup? I hope someone got fired for that blunder.
Nerd
I tell you what man, that dang ol whats it can color it don't matter man dang ol too critical dang what a joke.
Why would a man selling propane and propane accessories spend all his time watching an annimated tv show?
A wizard did it.
*sighs* Shut up Hank.
Homer's attitude at the end aligns perfectly with how many people act today.
I think the reason why Troy McClure is so competent at foundation repair unlike his usual competence at anything else is that Troy worked at repairing foundations before becoming an actor full-time.
That sounds about right.
2:40 - The Simpsons always had the funniest realistic sound effects.
Fabisch Factor I know, that was a satisfying effect.
Also at 3:01 startig from the door opening to the bird buzzing and Bart falling it's a very cool sound sequence.
The level falling to the floor atr 1:53 is pretty well done too.
The sound of the lamp smashing @ 2:42 was pretty good too. 😆
I didn't notice at first but something about you finding the realism funny made me find the realism funny when I clicked your time stamp
This was the first Simpsons I recorded on VHS, after learning how to record at age I think 7. This was preceded by a recording of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. All from Q13 FOX. I miss the 90s.
Cameron’s going to marry the first girl he lays. And she is going to treat him like (dirt)…good old tv modifications.
@@kevinhover461 School Secretary: Oh, he's very popular, Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, (air)heads, they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.
At least airheads works for an edit. 😆
The first Simpsons episode I was recorded was the one where they made friends with that gay guy and Homer questioned Bart's sexuality. I was 6 and discovered recording on tape using a VCR and I thought I was the smartest person in the world. I became obsessed with recording TV shows and later recorded all the Pokemon episodes. The 90s were a magical time.
0:37 - this was one of the moments that reminded me how much I like old Homer. No joke, just a Dad who cares about his kids enough to get off the couch, unlike modern Homer, who would just throw something at the fan hoping it would knock it over.
Honestly, the older I get the more I find myself relating to early seasons Homer. Like this bit with the video tape, or that episode where he gets the swear jar or when he blurts out something and then wasn't sure if he thought it or actually said it. 😂
3:11 Seeing Bart fall out of the house and Marge having no reaction is priceless 😂
As a plumber I see this stuff all the time regarding surely joe and the 50c washer, people never seem to wanna spend a small amount amount of money on preventive stuff until they’re forced to spend huge amounts on repairs. Not that I complain since it keeps my pockets lined but it’s true
"Hand me my patching trowel, boy"
*shrug*
Now, do you have extruded poly-vinyl foam insulation?
The helpless look that Bart gives him....😂
LOL such a classic Simpsons moment!
It’s right next to the chestnut roasting pan.
"If you can't find metal stucco lath...
.
.
.
...use carbon-fiber stucco lath!"
Now barge the lath...
Wouldnt carbon fiber cost more?
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to catch that, especially that when this aired carbon fiber was a lot more expensive than it is now.
@@williamruiz9186 he wasn't saying to get it because of the cost he said "if you don't have metal"
“Yeah, but what are you gonna do” is the best justification for anything
"Leaving the Vice President in charge." I died laughing
It seems the President did as well.
We all did!
i dont get it
Oh my god, The Simpsons predicted Harabe!
Dr Pein The joke is, that something terribly serious has happened to the President, and yet, the news isn't focusing as heavily on that story as they would in real life, rather they are very quick to jump over to the light hearted "leaning tower of Springfield" story. In reality if something bad happens to the President, they will cover it non stop and won't give priority to a much less important story about a sinking house. So, that's the joke.
2:08 the ONLY foundation repair in town lmao
strawberry smith even if it leaks 15 times all over again, they'd still do it all over again
D'oh!
DOH!
"the ONLY foundation repair in town"
Well, it is a small town lol
2:22 "Behold the horrors of the Slanty Shanty! meet the twisted creatures who dwell within, meet Cueball, the man with no hair!" I love this, and the "He's hideous!" lady, that always makes me laugh. As does 3:05 very well written stuff. Bravo.
Hilarious!
Anybody else notice when Homer inserted the VHS tape that the chair is using a piece of wood to make it level? LOL
Amazing.
...no
At about 2:24 I noticed that the Asian family taking their picture is the same that Bart sold his maps to celebrity homes to. Apparently they keep touring Springfield.
"Sorry Ms. Barrymore."
All Asian look the same is the joke
@@probuildconstruction actually I believe it's a Japanese tourists joke. Before the Chinese it was the Japanese who were turning up in droves with their cameras (obviously white people have been doing that for ages but that's "normal" so no one cares).
@@IshtarNike Have you ever seen white people taking rapid fire photos of a parking lot with film cameras?
Stock Asian models. Saves time and money 😂.
RIP Troy McClure/Phil Hartman
Excellent Foley work. The sound of both Surly Joe's broken level and Homer sending the table lamp flying...nice work boys.
The lamp breaking at 2:41 is honestly such great comedic timing
“Parge the lathe” is actually a real thing that we do in the trade.
The writing for these earlier episodes was just fantastic.
"Dig your own grave and save" kills me everytime. Imagine that as a real advert!
0:39
Homer may be a lazy idiot but he's a good dad
That's classic Homer. At his heart of hearts, he wants to be a good man. In modern Simpsons, I'd say he's a punchline but they don't have any of those.
1:24-1:46 Me with youtube tutorial videos
Sad and true
I burnt it all to the ground and start over from scratch
Yap so true lol
Sadly, the once solid foundation of great, great comedy that the Simpsons (as a television program) sat on for years has sunken so far into the ground, even the surliest of Joes can no longer save it.
If only they had spent 50 cents on that washer.
He doesn't sound so surly to me.
"Where does the Bible say 'racket'?"
"It's in there."
Underrated line
"If you can't find metal stucco lath... Use carbon-fiber stucco lath! Now Parge the lath." xD
Behold, Cueball! The man with no hair!
He's hideous!
"I've got a better idea, get the hell out!"
1:15 is maybe one of my favorite stills of homer. Just pause it there. I love his huge eyes haha.
This is comedic genius...I know nothing about foundation repair, and I still laugh at “now parge the lath”
1:21
Bart's expression always gets me.
Phil Hartman's voice and delivery are out of this world.One of the most underrated talents in comedy
Agreed. RIP
Marge's patience is amazing
". . . leaving the Vice President in charge. And now!"
They predict Kamala Harris and Joe Biden!!!
@@TheSilentWalkerz Yep.
Did you see the bubble?
Smoke2191 I am afraid not
Too funny
my favorite part *as the leveler slides off screen* :D
2:11 I love how Kent Brockman often seems to wrap up a news story leaving you wondering what the hell happened.
"Didja see the bubble!" I say this every time someone I see someone using a level...very few get the reference.
Every time I get ready to do any odd job around the house I always say "boy hand me my patching trowel" my daughters never laugh.
LOL
I say waaaaaaaaa ughh every time I fall out a window, but, people are oblivious, or they are just too jealous of my wit to acknowledge it.
Christopher Weber and toot on son toot on
Maybe update to: "I'm familiar with the bubble, Morty. I also dabble in precision, and if you think you can even approach that with your sad naked caveman eyeball and a bubble of fucking air, then you're the reason we're a failure as a species, and it makes me angry."
Or perhaps "Uh, yeah, true level, bitch!" is shorter.
No shit. You guys making the most obscure references ever lmao.
“Now barge the lath”
It’s like Shakespeare
I think it says "parge the lath", which interestingly is a real thing you'd do
Parge the lath. Parging is just an old term for sealing and coating the foundation walls. Lath is the substrate material that you first attach to the decaying part of the foundation and then cement in place with parging compound.
Funny part is that Troy's repair is genuinely half-assed: if your foundation is sinking that much, your house should never have been built and simply fixing the giant cracks in the basement walls isn't going to help.
I like how at 2:43 the picture of Maggie isn't slanted since pictures would level themselves out anyway. Really small detail that makes the scene better.
a $0.50 washer. once you are mad you do not want to listen to reasonable solutions to a costly problem
Mr. W. Don't forget Homer was always a bit of a cheapskate.
I've got a better idea; GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE lol
later episode it causes a sink hole in the middle of town?
Um, if I recall correctly didn't a cheap washer or O ring cause a space shuttle to explode
3 day waiting period? I'm mad now!
When it comes to foundation repair in Springfield, there is nobody better than HoH SiS!
“Look I have some extra washers in my truck, I can give ya one...” - Repair man
“Marge...get my gun..” - Homer
LOL
Is it just me, or is it weird that Ned would smoke tobacco?
you are Ned
Lol and yes it's true
"smokers are jokers", (Rod and Tod)
Ned is a smoked out cat from way back
monsider - No way. When they go to Canada for prescription meds, Ned gets upset when the 'Canadian Flanders' asks him if he wants to smoke a joint. "They told me the Devil would be handsome". That's how he talks to a guy offering him a hit off a joint lol. His pipe had tobacco in it...which is weird enough tbh.
1:51 Six seconds of pure Simpsons bliss. "Did you see the bubble?" I could watch it 100 times and still laugh.
"It'll cost you $8,500."
Anyone else find it funny when he says 80 hundred. It's the pause whilst he thinks.
Even when he gets his maths right he is still funny.
I never noticed that Homer has a board under the tv setup in the basement to compensate for the lean angle of the house. Nice attention to detail!
All these years of watching the Simpsons and I've never noticed that before!
"He's hideous!" LOL!!!!
I heard they shaved a gorilla
This is probably the 20th time I've seen this part, and just NOW I understood that vice president joke. That's hilarious and just shows how dense and brilliant classic Simpsons was
"Dig your own grave and save" 🤣🤣
Should have just called Hoh Sis to do the joj.
Homer probably wouldnt wanna do THAT all over again...
“The Half-Assed Approach to Foundation Repair”
I like how Homer was going to attempt to use a picture frame as a patching trowel.
Never noticed that before, I think I just always assumed it was a book, well spotted! 🤣
This was the first episode of the Simpsons, I ever saw. This brings me back
Ever since that comment about Marge sliding out of the frame when Homer dreams it's gone from me never noticing to the first thing I notice in this clip
we only need eighty hundred lmao
LMAO! ;' )
Eighty five hundred!
Whats so funny about that. That'd be $8,000
LLL TTT it's just rare people say it like that, even though it's still correct
Not rare for me. Same reason I use "zee" instead of "zed" for "z". It's consistent.
The ending was a really important part. The family was clearly negligent in their homes maintenance (yes it goes beyond keeping it clean) and if they just invested a few dollars into keeping it functioning they wouldn't be in that predicament where they had to pay someone to fix it. Foundation repair is a lot of work and the price is already so high it wouldn't be that marketable to overcharge a lower middleclass family. Surly Joe knows that evidenced by being the only foundation repair business, since him overcharging would inevitably bring competitors. Someone wants to keep his clients safe because he already has so many clients already that not offering free advise would get him overworked, and again vulnerable for competition.
I always loved the way the door opens itself
I think my favorite Troy McClure line is this one: "Hi, I'm Troy McClure! You might remember me from such self-help videos as 'Smoke Yourself Thin,' and 'Get Confident, Stupid!'"
I miss Phil Hartman. Troy McClure was one of my favorite recurring characters on the Simpsons.