Anyone ever have to jack up a floor before?

[iamwiz82]

Our houose has a slight dip that occurs in one spot of the wall shared by the kitchen/dining rooms and the living/master bedroom. We had an inspector out and he said that one of the piers that the house is one has sunk, and repairs were attempted many years ago with wooden shims. These shims have compressed and rotted to nothing. He suggested we get a house jack and raise up the area. Also suggested were metal shims instead of wooden ones.

How much chance will I have of getting the floor level after this? Should I prop up the joists that are under there?

Any other suggestions?

 

[T3C]

That does not sound like an easy job.

 

[Barrak]

They sell jacks just for that sort of thing at most hardware stores. The important thing to do is go slow. And if you jack it up to much you will could get cracks in the drywall on the walls above which will need patched. And if there is a door near by they might need work as well.

I had to jack up my sister's house to replace some rotting wood from where a deck was attached. It was not hard to do, just take your time. Metal shims do sound like the way to go in your case.

 

[iamwiz82]

Well, Home Depot doesn't carry floor jacks nor metal shims, in fact the 4 people I tlaked to all looked at me like I was an idiot when I asked about them. I did take a good look at the pier that has sunk. The entire joist looks very solid, and only one pier sank. There looks to have been some shoddy repair job dun in the past, but the wodd shim did compress to pretty much nothing.

 

[tyler811]

I had to do my aunts house and used a car jack. A hydraulic bottle jack, one lifts 10,000 pounds.

 

[tyler811]

Rochester Hills Hello neighbor lol

 

[Willoughbyva]

Yeah a good jack will do it. It doesn't have to be a special jack. I'm not sure where to tell you to get the shims from, but perhaps you could rent the jack from somewhere.

 

[KarenMarie]

We had to do that... the floor boards were rotting and the entire house was affected. The inspector that we paid $400.00 seemed to have 'missed' this as well as a lot of other things, too. When we pulled up the floor to sister or replace the joists we came to find out that the column footings or posts or whatever (i am not sure what they are called)... for the entire house structure were not put on anything but the dirt under the house... so we had to jack up the house, and the b/f poured concret posts/footing... whatever they are called. Leveling the floors were easy after that. But it is correct, wooden shims are not a good idea for a house.

funny thing is...once he did that through out the entire first floor... i could finally close the upstairs bedroom door.

 

[Otaking]

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
We had to do that... the floor boards were rotting and the entire house was affected. The inspector that we paid $400.00 seemed to have 'missed' this as well as a lot of other things, too. When we pulled up the floor to sister or replace the joists we came to find out that the column footings or posts or whatever (i am not sure what they are called)... for the entire house structure were not put on anything but the dirt under the house... so we had to jack up the house, and the b/f poured concret posts/footing... whatever they are called. Leveling the floors were easy after that. But it is correct, wooden shims are not a good idea for a house.

funny thing is...once he did that through out the entire first floor... i could finally close the upstairs bedroom door.

:laugh:

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Well, Home Depot doesn't carry floor jacks nor metal shims, in fact the 4 people I tlaked to all looked at me like I was an idiot when I asked about them. I did take a good look at the pier that has sunk. The entire joist looks very solid, and only one pier sank. There looks to have been some shoddy repair job dun in the past, but the wodd shim did compress to pretty much nothing.

i got the same look when i asked where their cat5 cable was. i think it's just their friendly reminder that you are, in fact, in home depot.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: tyler811
I had to do my aunts house and used a car jack. A hydraulic bottle jack, one lifts 10,000 pounds.

I dont live in New Mexico! I have a feeling your profile is out of date

From what I read, the minimum you want to lift is a 12 ton jack, with 20 being preferred.

I'm pretty lucky because none of the wood is rotting in any way. The entire structure looks really good/

 

[cavemanmoron]

I used a car scissors jack,and a 4x4 to slowly lift the beam I wanted higer.

At Home depot what you want is an adjustable-post.

After you get the floor leveled,you should use a solid post.

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN...addfdfmgmgicgelceffdfgidgnl.0&MID=9876

Tiger Brand
4 Ft. 7 In. Super "S" Series Jack Post
Model J-S-55



JS-55 Super S Series adjustable jack post. Adjusts from 4 ft. 7 in. to 2 ft 10 in. and is tested to 14,000 lb. at maximum extension and 18,000 lb. at minimum extension. Corrects sagging floors, supports basement beams. Support for room additions and remodeling projects. Takes weight of large furniture or appliances. Support for porches and decks. Levels and supports RVs or manufactured homes.

Catalog/ Internet Only

Store SKU # 646326
Internet # 161272
Catalog # 100010962
Price: $20.98/ea

 

[iamwiz82]

My guess is I have about 18 inches to work with. It's a very tight fit in the crawl.

 

[Squisher]

A rental place will have a house jack. Most are just screw type jacks with a shallow pitch.

Doing this is easy.

What size is the pier and how much do you figure you're going to need to lift it?

 

[iamwiz82]

I'd have to rent it for a long period of time thought, wouldn't I? I assume I have to go slowly to keep the drywall fromcracking.

 

[Squisher]

What size is the pier and how much do you figure you're going to need to lift it?

 

[richardycc]

didnt you just buy this house? did the seller disclose this info? if not, sue them and have them pay for it!

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
I'd have to rent it for a long period of time thought, wouldn't I? I assume I have to go slowly to keep the drywall fromcracking.

You might have a lost cause when you try to keep the drywall from cracking. It took years for the house to slip into the position it is now, unless you wanna take years to lift it.

 

[tyler811]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: tyler811
I had to do my aunts house and used a car jack. A hydraulic bottle jack, one lifts 10,000 pounds.

I dont live in New Mexico! I have a feeling your profile is out of date

From what I read, the minimum you want to lift is a 12 ton jack, with 20 being preferred.

I'm pretty lucky because none of the wood is rotting in any way. The entire structure looks really good/

No thats just there to throw off the CIA, I really live in Mich. DOOOOOHHHHH

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Squisher

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
I'd have to rent it for a long period of time thought, wouldn't I? I assume I have to go slowly to keep the drywall fromcracking.

You might have a lost cause when you try to keep the drywall from cracking. It took years for the house to slip into the position it is now, unless you wanna take years to lift it.

I'd have no issue going under there every week and jacking it up one pump at a time.

The pier looks to be about 12" x 12"

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: Squisher

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
I'd have to rent it for a long period of time thought, wouldn't I? I assume I have to go slowly to keep the drywall fromcracking.

You might have a lost cause when you try to keep the drywall from cracking. It took years for the house to slip into the position it is now, unless you wanna take years to lift it.

I'd have no issue going under there every week and jacking it up one pump at a time.

The pier looks to be about 12" x 12"

I don't think you can do this with a hydraulic jack, because chances are that there might be some bleed back through the seals and you won't be getting anywhere.

You'll need to push off of something solid, like a cinder block otherwise the jack will settle in after a while.

How far do you figure you'll have to raise it?

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Squisher

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: Squisher

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
I'd have to rent it for a long period of time thought, wouldn't I? I assume I have to go slowly to keep the drywall fromcracking.

You might have a lost cause when you try to keep the drywall from cracking. It took years for the house to slip into the position it is now, unless you wanna take years to lift it.

I'd have no issue going under there every week and jacking it up one pump at a time.

The pier looks to be about 12" x 12"

I don't think you can do this with a hydraulic jack, because chances are that there might be some bleed back through the seals and you won't be getting anywhere.

You'll need to push off of something solid, like a cinder block otherwise the jack will settle in after a while.

How far do you figure you'll have to raise it?

1 1/8" to level, judging by my measurements.

The entire crawl is covered in cement, how deep, I dunno, but it seems solid enough to put a jack on. My plan was to lift it a notch, throw in a scrap piece of metal or metal shim, leave it for a week, and then do it again, with a bigger piece of metal.

 

[Squisher]

1 1/8" is a ton. Give it a try, take it slow.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Squisher
1 1/8" is a ton. Give it a try, take it slow.

And there really isn't a guarantee that it won't continue to sink either.

 

[skyking]

The entire crawl is concrete? Does it look like the concrete cracked out to allow this settlement?
A hydraulic jack will work fine. I have used them to move and lift houses before. If the beam is in two pieces with the joint over the post in question, you'll need two jacks.

If there is a pier block under it on dirt that appears to have settled, then consider bringing in some solid block concrete, like 4"x16"x16" and put in a couple of piers adjacent. jack the whole mess up, re shim the existing, and split the load onto those other piers also. Put the two jacks between the three piers.
A 10 ton jack is plenty, and you could easily buy rather than rent.
here is a 20 ton for 30 bucks.
You will not move the house 1.125" without cracking plaster, it does not matter how slow you go. Get it over with and fix it.