House Leveling... yikes!
 

Me and a friend are going to attempt to level my pier and beam house. I'm too fat to get under there but he can so Im gonna watch while he works.

Damage doesn't look too bad. One pier has fallen over and a couple others need an adjustment.

My question! Harbor Freight has 2 and 6 ton bottle jacks for around 12 to 20 bucks. Would they last long enough to get the floor done..say a month or so of being under there so the floor can be lifted a little at a time? House was built in 1943 and I think its settled all its going to.


Any resources out there besides youtube videos? (already watched them lol)

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

If your house is worth more than $12-20, then I would consider using a quality bottle jack(s)...this sin't the project to cheap out on with cheap parts. Just my .02

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

real house jack are only about $20 each, you can leave them in place if you wish also...

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

Don't know much about the subject, and I don't know how big your house is. But FWIW, a few years ago my neighbor replaced the original wooden piers under their 100-year-old Victorian with concrete piers. IIRC, he used 20-ton jacks. There's no way I would try to support a house with anything much smaller.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

Small jack, BAD IDEA. I and my father moved a house in and set it on a basement wall, years ago. I can tell you get the right stuff and do it, so you can live to tell everyone how you did it, when you are done. Small bottle jacks is just not going to do it, UNLESS you live in a small camper trailer.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

You need to determine what actually sank. Is this a foundation with a crawl space and piers, or just all piers, etc?

Are these piers that are driven into the ground, or above ground (falling over... above ground?)

Did they sink because of the soil (is there concrete or gravel under the piers?) or did the pier material crush/rot (very old cinder blocks and wood?) Are they just sitting on the ground or are they on top of concrete poured bases? Gravel bases?

How bad unlevel is it? You can find a low spot, attach a string line, the pull a string line across to the high spot area, and with a string level, level it out, then you can see how much the low spot really dropped. An inch or so, maybe two depending on the length of the house, actually isn't too bad. Several inches is a lot.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

The bottle jacks he is referring to are just to lift for a few moments to set the piers back up or adjust the height. No bottle jack would be left AS a pier. I have set a couple of trailers. Go for the 20 tonner. Maybe two.

Bad foundation leads to bad results. 67 hit it. Why did the piers fail. A pier falling over is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling. Flooding? Erosion? No concrete? Temporary fix is a temporary fix.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

I did this job for a friend a few years back... at that time it was cheap enough to rent those jacks from Home Depot.. ones that could support a house

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

When we had a leaking fridge about 20 or so years ago my brothers who will be refereed to as "Lucy and Ethyl" apparently replaced two piers but made them too tall. It wasn't all that apparent until another pier located close by, shifted. It did not fall all the way over, it is leaning. There was a plumbing leak years ago too. There has not been any other work done on the foundation since we moved here in 1958 so im sure settling has something to do with it.

I was only going to use the jacks to lift it up a little at a time to get new piers under it. Not permanently. Didnt know if I could trust "Harbor Fright" t
o last for a month or so since my friend works and would only be available one certain days.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

I would bet any new jacks you find will be made in some other country. you find the same brand stuff at wal mart- lowes -home depot & harbor frieght ect. heck two two ton jacks used side by side = 4 tons. There is a guy around here who repairs damaged foundations and levels floors ect. he buys dozens of cheap hyd jacks. He will dig a trench right next to a foundation with a backhoe. set the jacks up and level everything and fill the trench up with concrete leaving the cheap jacks to be entoombed. the problem ive found with cheap jacks is they soon start leaking or the pump plunger gets worn if you use them a lot. The screw type jacks that are original equipt for our trucks might work for you. they are tough and you don't have any of that pesky leaking hyd fluid. I weld a large nut to them so I can fit a socket. that way a rachet or air impact can be used in place of the crank handle.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

Last weekend I bought a HF air/hydro jack http://www.harborfreight.com/http-ww...5553-html.html. My front porch and roof was sagging and in need of repair. It worked good for me. The ability to lift it with air helped because in my case there was not enough room to use the pump handle. The bonus for me is that I can use it in the shop or throw it through a window later.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

Fix it for ya. ;)

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

For a month? No way I would trust a hydraulic jack for a month. They often creep. Lift, set pier, drop. A screw type jack I would trust if it was the proper size.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

Absolutely! My brain interpreted that the jacks would lift just long enough for a permanent pier to be placed, and that the entire project could last a month. If we're considering leaving any hydraulic jack in place for up to a month -- then, no no no.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

Screw type house jacks is a wise investment.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

i had a 150yo house and used to jack it up with hydraulic jack then put stacks of cement blocks and wood for shims/// i would not trust a hydraulic jack but for the 5 minutes or so of jacking it up

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

I grew up in a old house and my uncle would use a 4x4 and a bottle jack to slowly jack up the house then set a new 4x4, basement. We did this several times and often times the jack stayed there for a month or longer. There may be a jack still holding in place now, lol. Honestly I don't know that I would trust the jack to hold it there that long now though. I think I would jack it up, support the beam, build the pier and set it. Little bit by little bit. House settle and very old house really settle.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

I used the pier blocks with the adjustable saddle. They can be snugged up and adjusted later if needed providing they are placed at their lowest setting when installed.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

We had a house moved about a month ago. The contractor had to make some minor adjustments and used some 20 ton bottle jacks. The jacks they used to set the house down were huge, the hydraulic lines ran to a large trailer. No idea what those jacks were rated at.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

I don't recomend what I am about to share,,but by now Bill you either have the job done or at the very least listened to some of the good ideas and are being safe with what way you chose..

This is what I did once to repair a sunken corner to a barn ,,cow poop rotted timber out,,some of you for sure has seen this ..I took an old car screw jack and put it under the timber as close as I could to the end that was rotten, I jacked it up to level and just a bit more ..I then put blocking in and around the jack while I built concrete forms to hold the wet cement mix..
At this point I took the blocking out and nailed in a form on both sides where the blocking was and just left the jack in the pour.. never got to do that again ,,it worked just
fine and I would of done it for a house if that same thing ever came about,,but it didn't so I never got to do it for a house..

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

Well of course you couldn't do it again Larry.... you couldn't get to your jack! :D


Just pullin your leg my friend, that is a great story and makes a lot of sense to do it that way. :)

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

Screw type is nice as you can get it dead level easier, got em at Menards for like $20-$25 each and levled our addition.

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

You are right ,,cant get to that jack anymore ,,I cemented it in,,lol That jack was a jack I got from a guy who said it came from a 67-72 truck like ours ,but he must of been kiddin cause it wasnt ,,so I used it for the corner pour and I got some use from that ol jack anyways cause it wasn't the one for my truck..

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

That jack and Jimmy Hoffa have something in common Larry. You didn't once live in Chicago by any chance?

Re: House Leveling... yikes!
 

shhhhh! lol