In this video, the focus is on jacking up a wall to replace a 12′ section of rotten sill plate and re-stud an exterior load-bearing wall. The video suggests using self-leveling compound on a plywood floor, but it is important to prepare it with latex floor primer. The jack wall should be placed at the end of the wall and midpoint, and wooden boxes should be constructed around the jacks to prevent them from damaging the concrete.
Adjustable steel columns (lally columns or jack posts) are the most effective way to add supports. Lay a strip of 2x4s on the floor and run another doubled-up strip across it. When using a jack to raise the ceiling, the pressure should be down before anything goes up. Houses must be lifted along key structural points such as carrying beams and load-bearing walls. The most effective method for jacking up a house involves utilizing a combination of screw jacks and hydraulic jacks.
To jack up the roof, use a pry bar and shims or wedges at each stud/joist location to lift the roof just enough to unstress it. Use a floor jack and a 4×4 to raise the side wall to the proper height and reattach the wall with larger stainless steel bolts. Start by screwing it to the part of the wall that has settled the most and start jacking up at that point.
The plan is to build a temporary wall (red studs) attached to the existing wall to jack upwards. This may also help in lifting wall plates to re-level floors in earthquake-damaged houses.
📹 How To Jack Up Your House
Learn the proper way to install Temporary support posts and jack up a sinking house. This is a great way to correct problems …
How long a wall can a wall jack lift?
The Wall-Lift XL3 jack is capable of lifting walls up to 25′ in height and a maximum weight of 550 lbs. Two units are required for sections exceeding 25 feet in length or weighing in excess of 550 pounds. The extended control cord enables a single operator to safely manage two lifts simultaneously. The locking mechanism provides a secure hold on the wall, while the 110V electric gear-reducing winch facilitates rapid wall positioning without undue strain on the operator.
What size jack is needed to lift a house?
To safely jack up your house, you need heavy-duty 20-ton or 40-ton house jacks, which can be expensive to buy outright or rent out due to the risk of bending screws. Screw jacks can be used, but they require cribbing, which can be dangerous if not done correctly. Certified house lifters have the best equipment and know-how to use it correctly.
Loading a house is a lengthy process, and it’s important to give the home time to settle between lifts. This can lead to longer rental periods for jacks and the risk of DIY lifters speeding up the process. The best option is to hire a house lifter who knows the protocols and can handle the lift safely. It’s crucial to give the house enough time to settle between lifts to avoid unnecessary costs and delays.
How to jack up a sinking foundation?
Piering is a technique used to lift a house to repair a foundation. It involves placing vertical piers deep into the soil beneath the sunken foundation section, using hydraulic jacks to lift and level the section. The hydraulic jacks are replaced with concrete blocks and shims, causing cracks in the foundation and home to close. The piers are resting on bedrock or stable soil layers, preventing sinking and preventing further soil shrinkage. Three common types of piering are concrete piers, steel piers, and drilled piers, depending on individual circumstances.
Will a 20 ton jack lift a house?
To safely jack up your house, you need heavy-duty 20-ton or 40-ton house jacks, which can be expensive to buy outright or rent out due to the risk of bending screws. Screw jacks can be used, but they require cribbing, which can be dangerous if not done correctly. Certified house lifters have the best equipment and know-how to use it correctly.
Loading a house is a lengthy process, and it’s important to give the home time to settle between lifts. This can lead to longer rental periods for jacks and the risk of DIY lifters speeding up the process. The best option is to hire a house lifter who knows the protocols and can handle the lift safely. It’s crucial to give the house enough time to settle between lifts to avoid unnecessary costs and delays.
How many inches can you jack up a house?
Raising the jacks by 1/8- to 1/4-inch, ensuring no more than 1/8 inch per day. If necessary, raise the house in increments to allow interconnected materials to settle into the new position without falling apart.
Inserting cribs, wooden supports placed under beams in perpendicular stacks.
Raising the jacks on a continuous basis, typically taking three to four months, to ensure a stable and stable structure.
How do you jack up a house to level the floor?
To level a floor, use a laser level tool to measure the required leveling distance. Stack cinderblocks or wood planks below the floor’s lowest point, place a 20-ton bottle jack on a steel plate, and raise the house. Place blocks under a nearby floor beam to support it. Remove the jack and repeat the process at other low points until the floor is level. A structural engineer can determine if leveling is necessary, the best method, and explain the cause of floor sinking. They may also estimate the cost and time for leveling. An engineer may recommend professional leveling, as self-leveling can cause more damage. Be cautious and hire someone when in doubt.
Are foundation jacks permanent?
Foundation jacks are employed by technicians to provide supplemental support for a residential structure when the foundation is unable to bear the load, either temporarily during repair or as a long-term solution.
How to raise a sinking wall?
To fix a sinking foundation, use piering, also known as underpinning and piling, to transfer the weight of your home to more stable soil. One effective method is chance helical piers, which consist of helices that serve as end-bearing plates for your home. These helices are welded to a central steel shaft, acting as a screw that is rotated into the soil, providing a large enough surface area to bear the weight of your home.
Is it hard to jack up a house?
Raising a house, also known as house lifting or house jacking, is a complex and expensive project that involves separating a structure from its foundation using hydraulic jacks. It is often part of larger house repairs or renovations and can cost between $15, 000 and $50, 000 on average. The cost of raising a house can vary depending on the type of foundation the home has, and it is crucial to budget for this expensive task appropriately.
When raising a house to avoid flooding or add a second story, consider structural, aesthetic, and practical aspects, as well as the style, layout, and local building regulations when planning the project. Raising a house is typically part of a larger project and can be done for various reasons, such as repairing a foundation or moving to a new location.
Can a 20 ton jack lift a house?
To safely jack up your house, you need heavy-duty 20-ton or 40-ton house jacks, which can be expensive to buy outright or rent out due to the risk of bending screws. Screw jacks can be used, but they require cribbing, which can be dangerous if not done correctly. Certified house lifters have the best equipment and know-how to use it correctly.
Loading a house is a lengthy process, and it’s important to give the home time to settle between lifts. This can lead to longer rental periods for jacks and the risk of DIY lifters speeding up the process. The best option is to hire a house lifter who knows the protocols and can handle the lift safely. It’s crucial to give the house enough time to settle between lifts to avoid unnecessary costs and delays.
How do you jack up sunken concrete?
DIY mudjacking is a DIY technique that can be used to fix sinking concrete slabs. It involves injecting a slurry of concrete below the slab to provide support and lift it to its proper level. This method is also known as concrete lifting or slabjacking. The process involves cutting the concrete slab, drilling injection holes into it, mixing or ordering mudjacking cement slurry, pumping the slurry into injection holes, checking the concrete elevation, and continuing pumping if needed.
The goal is to fill cracks and injection holes, ensuring the concrete is level and not wasting the cost of the concrete slab. This DIY-friendly method can help prevent the sinking of concrete and improve the overall aesthetic appeal of the space.
📹 How I Use Wall Jacks To Lift A Wall ALONE By Myself! Qualcraft?
How to use wall jacks is not what this video is intended to show you. This is how I use qualcraft wall jacks to lift a wall alone by …
Caution: Make sure your temporary post on the floor jack is fully plumb (use a level on 2-sides). Do the same with your new lolly column. Personally, I would not use a car jack on wheels—the wheels on the car jack are designed to allow the jack to “roll-out” as the jack is lowered. You don’t want your jack to roll anywhere when lifting a floor joist or loaded beam. I prefer a good quality bottle jack. Great article and website. Stay safe people.
My split level’s main floor was rather bouncy. Quick and dirty was to visit the local scrap yard and get a half dozen scissors jacks for $5.00 each. The crawl space was a nice gravel from lots of bucket hauling I did a decade and a half ago. A base of two sections of 3/4″ plywood screwed together, tees made of 4×4, and the scissors jacks solidified that floor like no one’s business! Cheap, simple, quick, and extremely productive; it’s the way all home fixes should be.
I am a silly woman living in an old, old house in Maine. I need to put some jack posts in the basement under those logs that they used to build the foundation. I can see where the beams are sagging. Much like me, however there is hope for the beams. I’m finding these instructions great and I’m searching for my drill, my plumb bob and my screws. No reason that I can’t do this myself because I’ve done everything else myself. You are very good at these instructions. I need some support. No pun intended.
I had to do this in my crawlspace to replace a 5 ft section of sill plate (termites). I used a 12 ton bottle jack, which was scary because I had to get my head next to the lifting post. I was afraid it would snap or kick out, especially when it started creaking. Not fun. A car jack lets you stand farther away but would be a bear to get into the crawlspace. Great vid as always.
A house we lived in several years ago, you could put a marble on the floor and it would roll all the way to the window at the front of the house ! When I got into the crawl space,some of the support piers had been removed ! I had to jack it up and build new supports In several places ! I have no idea how this was missed by the surveyor!
Thank you for yr articles …. I have a question ….we have a family home in newfoundland on the avalon….the house is approx 175 yrs old …it is built on a rock foundation….the kitchen has dropped by about 2-4 inches and on top of the kitchen you have a bed room…..would the car jack system work for that as well over a time period of a few months …bearing in mind theres only a two and a half foot crawl space ….
Having once witnessed a 4×4 post gave way with the center beam of a two-story house lifted about 1/2″ off of the adjacent column, I’m pretty strongly opposed to using a floor jack for this purpose. Having the post ever so slightly off plumb can cause the jack to roll forward and dislodge the post. A heavy duty bottle jack is a vastly better choice for this task, and should be set on wide lumber – a couple of short 2x12s, 1.5″ of 2’ x 2’ plywood, etc. – rather than bearing on the slab across a relatively small footprint. Otherwise this was a pretty interesting article.
I had to replace some load bearing posts on the back on my beach house. The posts were 8′ 3″ long. I have an hydraulic jack and when I saw this article I thought, cook, I can do that! So I used this jack and a 6′ 4×4 post to lift the house up – – just a couple inches, but enough to put the new post (actually 2) in place, and then ‘lower’ the jack to ‘lock’ the posts into place. Very very cool. You guys saved me a ton of expense, and the results were amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I have purchased a house that was built in 1912. The basement has a variety of different home improvement left overs throughout the years including an old built in freezer with a compressor from the 1960′, an old furnace from the 1940’s with its updated counterpart from 2016. Same leveling issues going on but also the concrete foundation is crumbling into dust. Should I tackle the foundational issues then level the joists or tackel both at the same time?
Question: Do you get special funding to come in a do this kind of structural work on an old house? We are limited funds ourself and wondering if you would be interested in doing an educated article at our location in Vermont? There are some of the support beams in the basement already but really need more in place all over the basement. The last owner went in and placed those support jacks in the basement and the floor is still uneven. Your help and services would be greatly appreciated and would love to have you make a article for others to learn from. I know nothing about structure support other than there are many temporary support jacks in place.
Jacking up a floor that has sagged over decades can create a whole new set of problems . things like doors no longer closing, countertops and other level surfaces going off level, tiles cracking, walls and ceilings cracking, floorboards lifting and squeaking or splintering . Beware if you do this in a finished house . You might have to deal with other issues . This should be mentioned in this article .
Good Job on the article, my first time seeing logs used as floor joists! One suggestion which is a must is to use a level on the side of the post before securing it. Adjust one edge until it is plum, then rotate the level around the column 90 degrees and confirm that edge is plum. This will confirm that the base of your post is exactly below the top plate, now your post is pushing straight up, especially important if using this on floor joists that could buckle if you are pushing on an angle. If the post is not straight it may not hold its rated capacity. I kept seeing your level in the background of the article and waiting for you to use it lol! Also worth mentioning that if install on a concrete floor, the slabs in basements are not very thick. If this is a permanent install, it is to most codes and worth it to pour a concrete footing under the jack stand/ lally column. Otherwise with time the floor may buckle, (google for images of this) on my drawings they wanted a 18″x18″ at 18″ deep footing. Oh and I purchased those same columns at Home depot. Much better than the others I have purchased in the past from other stores just like you said. Thanks for the article! and 400K + views is impressive!
Tyler, you have my same hours. House foundation occurred when I had no interest to repair. Entire load has been on me, since 2007 came n made (mother’s home) mine. Many repairs later am exhausted. Not looking 4 steep cost. Oftentimes, job poorly done. So need insight into ‘the Ins n outs’. DIY’s life’s savers. Could write a book about selfing responsibilities.
I’d suggest checking the thickness of the concrete floor below that post, or at least using a couple of pieces of 2×12 or such to distribute the weight a bit. It’d be a real pain to have that post break through a chunk of hollow or weak floor on 1″ thick concrete and erase all of your hard work! I assume for a final fix, you’ll be digging down and pouring foundations right? Great articles – keep ’em coming!
Jeff- Great article. We need to jack up our floor from the basement but we are wondering about the quality of our basement floor. The house was built in the mid 40’s and the basement has flooded at least once that we know of. The concrete is becoming crumbly. Would we be wise to cut and pour new concrete “pads” under each support? If so, how does one go about that?
Jeff, I have a house with a ” wonky ” ( yes terribly technical term, I know ) cement basement floor. It goes from nearly 9 ft in places to just about 6 ft I others. I thought about having the house raised and a new basement floor poured,but it is way too expensive. Outside of jackhammering the existing cement floor is there anyway of making this a usable space ? Thanks, Sylvia, Cape Breton Nova Scotia
Now when you say you don’t want anywhere in your basement going more than 16′ with out a structural post… I’m in a situation where I have a 40 by 23 basement with an I-beam in the middle and one post is 11′ away from the foundation wall and the other one is 14′ away from the other foundation wall leaving 14′ 9″ between them. If I move the one at 14′ just 2 feet away from the foundation wall making it 16′ away from the foundation I’m not jeopardizing serious structural integrity in my house am I? I’m assuming even if this is even possible I’d need an engineer to approve this sort of thing anyways but I’m just curious what my options are.
To anyone jacking up their house. Just be careful. Make sure the jack is on a flat ground and you’re jacking straight up. I’ve seen bottle jacks fly out like a dam cannon ball which could’ve easily killed someone while they’re jacking up a house. I have no experience in this method with an automtoive tool but i’m assuming if the wood post flys out due to it not being straight, it’ll do the same thing and whack you so hard it’ll hurt you really bad or even kill you.
MAKE SURE THE JACK CAN’T MOVE, it is on wheels it is designed to move as a vehicle is lifted, in your application it is able to be scoot out from under the prop. By placing the jack on a substantial block of wood lifting the wheels off the floor it will not only immobilize the jack but also avoid the point loading from the wheels.
Years ago, my parents wanted to have my house raised up and set back down onto concrete pillars in the crawl space to make the house last years and years longer. This was at the recommendation of the pest control guy since the house was sitting on wood. My parents hired a crapy contractor who did garbage work. He jacked the house up, did not put in concrete pillars, then just pulled the Jack’s out and left. The house then settled and twisted. Walls cracked, cabinets fell off walls, ect. That’s the state it’s been in since. It’s safe to live in, but it looks bad, and it’s going to cost lots of money to repair, which I don’t have and it’s taking forever to try to get. If only this article was around all those years ago. I could have shown it to my parents and may have been able to fix the garbage work that idiot did to my house. At least now, I know, so whenever I can get money together to remodel and fix the house, I’ll know what to watch for.
From past experiences, seeing beams like that gives me anxiety. I set up a laser level and set up floor jacks across any beam found sagging. I use 10 and 20 ton bottle jacks. I try to set up temporary supports and jack everything together. Crazy seeing what all leveling beams does upstairs! Good thing it wasn’t in a crawl space!!
Ha ha you made me laugh today, as I am preparing a sister floor joist to my 1965 A-frame foundation repair – you said, You’ve gotta be ‘creative in your structure’. ha, yes, unfortunately, the smart/dumb guys who built this, failed to place a concrete pier at the peak of the front angled wall, and the center point is simply lying on the joist, which has a bit of water damage, as the other smart/dumb guys who replaced the front decking with ‘Trex’, failed to add flashing!!! Oh, if they only had a brain I would not be doing this on my day off – Thanksgiving 2020!, But give thanks in all things, thank you GOD that I have a house!
I wouldn’t recommend doing it this way at all tbh. I would use proper house jacks, two magnetic levels for the post and the proper bolt sized screws for the top and the proper concrete anchors for the floor. idk, that’s just me. And to know if the floor is level I’d have levels placed on the floor upstairs and have a spotter tell me when it’s level. Or go back and forth making adjustments, cause idc if the ceiling if level, I want the floor level.
“Make sure you have the right tools” Says the contractor using a car jack to lift a house. You need a need a screw jack to do this. An automotive hydraulic jack, especially a consumer model, could blow a seal and drop the load. Car jacks like this are wheeled because the arm doesn’t lift vertically –it swings upward. If those wheels bind and the jack doesn’t slide while lifting, you will drop the load!
For a temporary fix, this I oK however, to fix permanently, you will need to install a Center girder to support the entire width if the structure. This girder must be appropriately sized to support the entire load of the beams and be supported at each end into the foundation and having 2-3 concrete filled steel lally columns on individual foundations-of at least 2-3 ‘ depth. Once this girder is in place( you should have slowly raised the beams slightly above your finished girder height.) the temporary Lallys can be released so the beams then rest upon the girder. D9 not believe that your installation of this type of lally column is a permanent repair.
You really make articles of everything a homeowner needs to know!! I have a similar issue going on in my place that’s stopped me from installing new flooring, and this article will be very helpful for fixing that issue! A couple of questions: 1) What should I do if we don’t have concrete on the ground? 2) Do you have a plan to do a article on addressing crawl space/basement issue? DIY Encapsulation, maybe? Thank you!
Good info. I just got 2 posts replaced and installed. This year I started my basement reno. Gutted the 60+ year old build, the things I saw. It was built and rebuilt before, reused and mixed (mill cut) 2x4s and 2x2s with scraps, wires like spiderwebs. But the kicker was when I removed the 4 inches of subfloor they made. Once it was lifted, my jaw dropped. Who ever owned it in the 70-80s removed 1 of 2 support post. And built the subfloor up and over the height of the post footing. The other post was original 6×8 wood. The 2 story at that time was supported one side 16 to 8. across the 24ft beam (instead of every 8) Bro, in my head I knew what to do. But decided to subcontract someone in. Best money spent. Got 2 HD posts installed (used the original footings), set and leveled, and scoped beam. Also explained how to adjust. 1 hour, no stress. The process is pretty cool scoping the beam with a laser level to adjust post. Almost forgot, you did not say anything about the footings where the posts should stand. Please do not place posts anywhere other than the footing for it. If not placed properly, post could puncture basement floor, like a straw in a plastic lid. Side note, keep up these articles. Good information is good information. There are a million things to do as a home owner.
Great article as always.. one question though I have a home Built-in the 1920th Sections of the floor sag in certain areas after if I jack them up do I need to have a perminent poll put in? Or can I just leave the temporary support in For the wood to reset or would the floor start to sag again after removing temporary Support is removed
That nail he shot into the concrete did not go well at all. He likely used the wrong LOAD. Then, the screws he put into the log were all wrong! A bottle jack is wht most pros use for this and they also use concrete filled steel posts in many cases (where, I suppose, they are available). Watch a few more articles before following this fellow’s lead.
I had a previous owner take out three 2×4 studs on a support wall in my finished basement on a small three story townhouse. He must have recently done it before I bought the house and within months the floors on both levels above started warping. My plan is to use a 4×4 and two 2x6s a a header at the top or the new door frame and use a pole jack to push it all up before placing two king studs and some jack studs to hold it all up. Love you website and would be interested in you thoughts or helpful ideas.
👍 How to find the lowest and the highest points of the joists? What are the reference points? Every time when you move your laser it seats on tripod on the floor. Floor can be crooked or purposely have a slope to collect the water if it flooded. The dirt floor can be uneven as well. If your reference point is the top of the joist then it’s hard to trace from one joist to another or along 1 joist because the laser beam will be blocked by obstacles. Also, how to avoid the concrete slab to crack under the pressure of the supporting posts if there is no concrete pad foundation underneath?
Anyone know what the temp columns are called? Yes…In the text it says to see material used here “click show more”, but it doesn’t say that anywhere, and it’s not clickable there. Do I have to join to see that??Any help appreciated! To the makers: Love the article!! I’ll be doing plenty this myself, starting asap (part of my house has sunk so bad it’s pulling away from the main structure…fun! ) So, Thanks much for the great tutorial!
I have a problem with my foundation, as I’m jacking up a floor joist the floor sheathing is separating from the rim joist subsequently not lifting the sill and rim joists so I can add another sill plate till my floor is level. Please help with any advice you can provide me regarding this problem. Thanks for all your hard work in these articles. They have helped me immensely. Take care of yourself, bye for now
I would have notched a flat surface out of the tree or made a block that match the tree surfac on 1 side and then on the side make sure its flat. Also if you secure to beam use lag screws. If you are securing to a joist like this id use structual screws Likely simpson structual ties brand much longer than the ones he used. I hate ramsets. Use tapcom screws. Drill 4 holes with a hammer drill and use the appropriate size tapcoms. Dont jack up the home as hard as much as he did that was very stupid to do. As for tightening the screw jacks dont do it every week. Do it every 2-3 weeks.
I have a side by side two family built in 1907. There are three 8×6 beams in the basement supported by nine old locust trees. The two outer beams have cracked through the center. The house is sagging hard toward the center two stair cases. Each side of the house has two floors with three small bedrooms and an attic. Could this process work on a house like this? Is the house too heavy for this DIY process? The previous owners installed some columns, but they are single pin columns which I would like to replace at minimum even if lifting up toward level isn’t an option.
I’m looking into buying one of the Montreal-classic little shoebox homes (25’x30-45′ & 1910-1940 construction, typically 6′ unfinished basement). Specifically one I’m looking at right now looks like a DIY nightmare, the wall between the kitchen & living room looks like it’s made out of melamine?? Is my estimate at 100k to basically gut it down to studs & start over with decent fixtures reasonable? In Quebec we aren’t allowed to touch electrical and I don’t want to touch plumbing, but demo, drywall, and possibly tile if we can also get the wonky floors corrected/looked at by an engineer (this method looks promising!) seem within the realm of possibility for us to do. The price is right, similar places that are fixed up go for ~500k and after 100k reno we’d be at maybe 400 all in. Would love to hear your thoughts.
This was common building practice in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. There were no such thing as building codes and people didn’t have much money. So, tbey used whatever resources were available. In Amsterdam, New York, people used to go down by the Mohawk river after the spring floods and grab whatever floatsam and debris along the river bank to use as building materials. The irony is many of those buildings are still standing.
3 ton jack, on wheels, with a tall post on it. That’s asking for it to roll and kick out, possibly dropping the 4×4 onto someone. At least get a 20 ton bottle jack at Harbor Freight and set a piece of 1/4″ steel plate on top so it won’t punch the ram into the end grain. I’m working on a kitchen and bath rennovation in a bungalow built in 1945. It was not built to the best, or apparently any, standards. 2×6 floor joists on 2 foot centers. Parts of it have been blocked up on 4×4 beams, but poorly done (some have fallen off their supports), and the wall between the kitchen and bath was down about 4″. Got that up to almost level (I doubt any of it ever was level when new) and the heaviest part it was all two 20 ton bottle jacks side by side could do to lift it high enough to get a 13″ length of pressure treated 4×6 atop a base of pressure treated 2×12 under the beam. Now I can work on the other 4×4 beams to pick things up as close to level as can be, then sister the old joists with new 2×6 atop the 4×4 cross beams, then add 2×6 pieces to grid the floor so when the new plywood and particle board layers are glued and screwed down it will make a strong and rigid floor. It’s all going to be very well supported when it’s finished. What there was for floor was the original 1/2″ tongue and groove, rotten in places. On top of that was the original 1945 oilcloth, then a layer of Masonite, a layer of Linoleum (the real stuff, made with boiled linseed oil), a layer of 1/8″ plywood, badly worn vinyl flooring, 5/8″ particle board, and another layer of vinyl flooring.
This was awesome. But how do you level off a regular raised house with 15 or so inches of crawl space? Now, that’s what I call a challenge. Yes, that’s my house and the soil is shifting because of the drought. When there is plenty of rain, the soil raises the house, but when there is a drought, the soil contracts, and the floors shift.
I had jacks without 2nd hole in support cylinder, so used three jacks … a hydraulic jack (without wheels), and railroad track tie plates (welded together by my neighbour) for the ground as it’s a dirt floor crawl space; just to prevent further sagging of the floor … can be raised as mentioned here over time, I figure one year to allow stress adjustment of the old beams. House built in 1901, still solid. But take time, check things out, if not sure what you’re doing don’t do it … this can be risky. Get a professional house builder to check things out for your if you’re unsure … it can save you a major headache, and expense.
here is a homeowner tip for you if you have a breakfast nook that is leaking after 20 years of home owner ship and your drywall ceiling leaves dark marks on your ceiling. The flashing above my breakfast nook has separated from my roof by about a 1/2 inch. I climbed up on my ladder and squirted clear roof sealant in the gap. It took a couple of tubes to do the length of the house but I will not have to do it for another six years or so. When it rained the wind drove water up into the separation that I filled in. I did not want to add nails into the flashing so chose sealant instead.
I’ve Never lived in anything other than an antique home.The beauty of old, massive logs for floor joists is they will bend incredible distances without breaking. It will never fall down. It must be pulled down. It’s obviously survived hundred some odd years before the repairs. The benefit this guy has is a basement he can access. Most pre 1800 homes were a small root cellar and near inaccessible crawl spaces.
My problem is I have around 700-800 mm or 2ft-2ft 4in clearance and the bearers are supported on concrete round pillars, theses pillars are many and are approx 9 inch in diameter. These pillars are embedded in a clay so the surrounding ground is unstable to hold any weight from a jack as it would start to sink in the soft soil, any clues and would I measure up the correct pillars?
We have an uninsulated extention on the house that had a corrugated plastic roof, water proofed with swimming pool canvas. Real creative. Of course it leaked like a coffee filter so we built a proper roof and I suspect the added weight of the plywood and 2×4 beams and shingles has made it sag a bit because the doors have become wonky as hell. It’s supported on jacks so I’ll give this a try, thanks.
An old carpenter once gave me a few pointers on doing this with vintage homes. You bang a few nails into those logs at a measured distance below the floor (say 3″) and do this across a 10 ft span, then stretch a string tight between the nails. You have 3″ from the string up to the floor at both ends and you keep jacking over a period of time till you have the same 3″ in the center. You do it this way because the log is not smooth enough to use a traditional level… and your post is in the way.
Just bought a 145 yr old farm house in Eastern Ont. have this issue. Previous owners or someone decided to cut a number of beams for various reasons plumbing electrical heat vents etc. I have probably 6 or 7 jack points that need to be fixed, some spots they actuall have a 2×6, 2×4, and various thicknesses of plywood under old tree posts. Question, do you set all your shore posts at once? Do you have a article on shouldering up joists? it seems logical to just bolt a sister to the old, more so on the backs of some that have only 2-3 inches remaining of 6 inch beam.
I have a 1931 house that I need to replace the sill on in the back wall of the house due to water/termite damage. I was thinking of using this technique to lift sections of the joists slightly enough to take the weight off the sill so I could replace it in about 4′ sections. My idea was to put a 4×4 across 3 joists with a support post under the 2 outside joists and use the car jack (and 4×4) on the one in the middle to lift it, then screw the 2 outside ones up tight till we get enough clearance. Would this be a good strategy?
Awesome…do you recommend taking measurements upstairs to see just how much you need to raise? I have an 1895 farmhouse and some of the upstairs rooms pitch down to one side. I have the same issue as you, where they were just asking too much of their joists. I was thinking about running a string from one side of the room to the other with a string level to give me an idea of how much I need to come up.
My best friend went to America for vacation and came back with the story of the owner of the house he was staying, jacking the joists in the basement, because the doors didn’t close properly. Literally nobody here believed him and burst out in laughter, but I guess he wasn’t joking!! Living in the Netherlands, where even the sheds have brick walls this looks completely alien.
I live in a 20 year old ranch home on a cement crawl. The floors squeak and creek like crazy! Its mostly carpeted. I have tried gluing and screwing blocks into the joists and subfloor. I have driven screws into the subfloor from above. The noise seems to change with the weather at times. Any suggestions?
Great article ! Were going to jack up some support beams in our basement following your excellent advice. Used my 4 foot bubble level to determine the floors were sagging a bit on our 40 year old house. We’re gonna adjust it now to avoid any excessive beam or foundation concrete wall cracking. We’ve also found “hydraulic concrete” as a very useful solutions tool. Thanks again !
Awesome and timely too! I’m about to do this on an 1886 Chicago 2-flat. The beam is a rough hewn 6×8 with full dimension 2×10 joists. Very cool, but someone butchered it moving posts around and I want to put them back to fix a sagging/cracked lap joint (!!!). The sag is maybe an inch. Should I be concerned about cracking the plaster upstairs? Please keep up the great content!
This idea works. My Dads house was a long shoe box for say up on massive concrete pillars. Water started coming over the back side of the home roof when it rained This would be one of the long sides. So they used these type of steel screw posts. In one years time, the problem was greatly diminished. Somewhere less them two years it was completely fixed with no major cracking or any of the other stuff that can go wrong when done too fast.
Can those bearing rods be placed just anywhere on the slab without consideration for placing them on footings? It looks like that is the case, and as well with other articles I have seen. Maybe good to spread the weight out a bit on the concrete with some treated lumber like one commenter mentioned, and perhaps neaten that by beveling the edges of two layers, giving the wooden base a pyramidal look. Good advice on lifting little by little. I might have missed that.
This is completely irrelevant to this article, but I am about to renovate my half bathroom, including removing the awesome 80’s style pink floor tile and add a new one. The question I have is what can I do with the marble threshold? My wife and I don’t like it but I’ve never seen a article that focus on that. The tile I’m using is 6×12 so it’s not long enough. What do I do?
I have a two story house over a crawl space resting on pillars. I have experience jacking my deck. What was new to me was the GRADUAL lifting over time, a half turn at a time. There is one low spot that I want to raise to level the floor. I have two questions: Is a 3 ton jack adequate to to raise a beam on a house as big as mine (2 stories, about 3,800 square feet)? What do you do when you have you reach level; just leave the screw jacks in place? I was thinking shims between the pillar and the floor joist..
I noticed you didn’t seem concerned about the concentrated load at the bottom of the steel pole touching the concrete floor. What would the situation need to be like in order for you to be concerned enough to break up the concrete floor below the post to reinforce the ground to support the concentrated load?
This is great! I have some of those metal posts in my basement (as permanent structure). One of them the top is bending out of line (~10 degrees at this point I believe). Do you think it’s a good idea to jack the house up there and replace the post (or the cradle point at the top)? Or is this expected/safe over time?
They also make a plate for the bottom so the 2×4 can’t move around and retainer for the top to keep you from going too far should the wind catch and push the wall outwards….it’s advisable to be using both honestly as wind can take the wall away without either. I did on my article 12 years back on on my house and again later with garage.. I also had one of my 2x4s snap at 3 foot into the lift which makes you very aware of the dangers of being under or near that while pumping upwards. A new 2×4 for each lift is actually a good idea as the little crimps made as it climbs weaken the ability for load that’s going to be lifted if you were to lift with same 2x again.
I used these to frame my house and 10ft garage walls by myself. Just be sure to tie them at the top so the wall can’t get loose and go over the side in a gust of wind. Potentially dangerous, do not stand under the wall being jacked. I also used a couple of pieces of bent conduit with a pivot to reach the jack handles while staying out from under the wall while jacking it up.
You can always “pin” the bottom plate to the deck while it is down. You have to do it just before you sheet it. This will prevent the kickout at the bottom. Basically, you nail sinkers at a 45 ° and remove the nails once it is up. Also, before lifting, already have at the ends the bracing already tacked on and ready to go. To help prevent fall over, run a cable/rope that is attached to the top plate down to your deck. There are also safety cables that are made for the jacks that hold the wall to the jack itself.
1) I see that you have attached 2x4s to the outside rim of the deck to prevent the wall sliding off the deck as it is raised. Good. Necessary. 2) I note that you do not have a double top plate. ??? 3) Placing the jack against a header is asking for trouble. Place it under the top plate and it will not slip off. 4) You have not provided anything to prevent the wall from rotating past vertical. I suggest that at a minimum that you attach straps to the floor and to the top plate long enough to permit raising the wall to vertical but short enough to prevent it from rotating much past vertical, as insurance against over enthusiastic jacking or a breeze sending the wall over and gone. 5) The correct 2×4 to use with the jack is called “vertical grain.” The strength of a vertical grain board is on the flat side, and that is what you need. The board needs to be clear, ie, no knots. I note that you can, by yourself, easily, if tediously, raise a fully-sheathed-with-rated-plywood, 9′ tall x 64′ wall, with no fewer than 7 headers, with 3 of these jacks. I did, with no problem. Just tedious walking back and forth between jacks.
I’m a one-man show, and I never new this style of jacks existed. My buddy had the kind that uses a cable and winder like a boat winch. They were way more that what this part-timer wanted to spend. I found a pair of these new for $300.00 Your tutorial on how to use them beats any pamphlet that comes in a box. Thanks for the great vid on you actually using them. I’m building a 20′ x 16′ sunroom my my honey, and this will make it so much better in building the whole thing; sheathing and all rather than on ladders as I did in the past. Keep your great vids coming.
These arent cheap to buy (yeah could sell em after DIY), and they are a pain in the ass. Either pay someone(‘s) to help you, or better yet get a man lift or something similar to lift walls, as well as and other things needed (trusses, braces, sheeting, etc) and save yourself grief. And YES a manlift (similar) WILL SAVE YOU GRIEF!