capt.Ron

Anyone here level the floor of a house??
I recently bought a house and land on a foreclosure deal.
The ground is sloppy wet on the lowest corner and I can see some wood rot on the piers there. I've got access to 10 good sized bottle jacks (largest is 20 tons) and plan to move slow so I don't crack anything. I'll block it up as I jack it.
I'll also be using a laser level to check each point under the house.
Just wondering if anyone has any tips to add.
What size pads should I put down under the blocks?
How should I secure the house to the ground when using blocks?
Should I use something other than blocks for a permanent fix?
Thanks guys!!

Clayten

Pour concrete pads 24 x 24 x 6 inches minimum, where you plan to put your supports. You may find that a 20 ton jack will be at it's limits.

capt.Ron

I don't know...the house is a small wood frame house. 40K lbs is a lot of force.
Combine that with several jacks...I would hope that would do it.
If not I'll have to try to rent something bigger. Any suggestions as to what to look for?
It seems I heard of a set of hydraulic jacks that run off of a pump and equalize the force between them.

J. Edgar

you will also need levels inside the house on the floor and watch your doors and windows, making sure they open and close as you increase your height. Just did some portables on an Indian Reservation (Premiere Nation stuff) in Northern Ontario. Lowered, moved a few thousand feet, and raised four feet off the ground. Big units, 40x24. Used 20 ton bottles three on each side, two under on the center beam. they went up and down, no problem.

capt.Ron

Kewl!!
This house is about 30 X 30.
The perfect situation would be to get some big steel beams (used for house moving) and run them across the beams.
Unfortunately I don't have the equipment to move something like that around.
Harbor freight has 20 ton bottle jacks for 30 bucks right now.
My wife suggested that I go get 10 of them!! Gotta love that woman!
I don't think I need that many.
I gotta pull all of the underpinning and get the level on it to see how much needs to be raised.
What about shimming to the right level?
Boards, cut stone??

1-2-3

Use a shim that won't decay. Redwood is expensive, but good shim material. Bugs don't like it. Also, make sure everything is dry and stable under there before you start. It won't do any good to lift it onto a block that will just sink. Also take steps to make sure it stays dry. Make sure there's adequate ventilation. Grandpa never knew that blocking those vents to keep the house warm was making it hold moisture and rotting it away.

I did a small house several years ago. I had access to about 3-100 ton bottles. I used fat landscape timbers spanned across as much as I could. Go slow, tripple check everything. Don't set the house down on a finger. That'll hurt.

J. Edgar

Also I have used cedar shims for shimming and they work fine, have used 8 x 8 landscape timbers (also called Railroad ties) 24 inches long, double stacked, side by side, and cross-stacked, to block up with as I go, have also used cement blocks same stacking method, if they are available. you can do a couple pillars at a time, set your blocking, and take the jacks to the next pillars and work your away around if you have the time to do it that way, but if you are doing this, don't go to high at once or you will cause interior damage, maybe 3 or so inches at a time. By all means go slow and be cautious. Gravel under your pads helps a great deal to keep the moisture drained away.

J OOPS

Don't worry about the doors. If they were hung correctly. Pull the trim out from around the door and you should expose the shims, remove these and then jack the house. Block and shim. Square and level the door and reshim.