Whew! It has been quite awhile since I have done any updates, and there is a number of things to report - most importantly, that the jacking of the house has begun! When we bought this place a year and half ago, one of its chief charms (along with the broken windows, see through bathroom floor and resident rat population, was a severe sag in the center of the house. We dealt with the other issues prior to moving in, the sag was sort of the elephant in the room.
Our weekly cocktail parties had an added element of surprise when you realized that the room was leaning - I always blame it on the drinks. In any case, we lived with the doors that would not close, and removed the rollers off all the dinning room furniture. So finally, I bought the floor jacks and some 4X4's, and strung up a masons line to see how far it had fallen. It turned out that it was over five inches, and to top it off ALL the posts minus one had completely rotted at the base, so we had a twenty foot span resting on one post - whose base was resting on sand. The main beam had sunk so low that the center floor joists were floating about 1.5 inches above the beam, so the floor had no support whatsoever. After researching all over the web and consulting with a number of contractors, I set four jacks on some precast concrete bases, and attached the 4x4 posts to the support beam using metal brackets. Then I started the jacking by screwing the jack one turn - which was 1/8". I have done one turn a day for the last two weeks and have lifted the house almost two inches. All the joists now are sitting on the beam, the bathroom door ALMOST closes, and the kitchen cabinets in the low corner of the kitchen have lifted 1/2 inch. So far so good and the plaster cracks have been minimal and limited to where it had already been patched before.
Our weekly cocktail parties had an added element of surprise when you realized that the room was leaning - I always blame it on the drinks. In any case, we lived with the doors that would not close, and removed the rollers off all the dinning room furniture. So finally, I bought the floor jacks and some 4X4's, and strung up a masons line to see how far it had fallen. It turned out that it was over five inches, and to top it off ALL the posts minus one had completely rotted at the base, so we had a twenty foot span resting on one post - whose base was resting on sand. The main beam had sunk so low that the center floor joists were floating about 1.5 inches above the beam, so the floor had no support whatsoever. After researching all over the web and consulting with a number of contractors, I set four jacks on some precast concrete bases, and attached the 4x4 posts to the support beam using metal brackets. Then I started the jacking by screwing the jack one turn - which was 1/8". I have done one turn a day for the last two weeks and have lifted the house almost two inches. All the joists now are sitting on the beam, the bathroom door ALMOST closes, and the kitchen cabinets in the low corner of the kitchen have lifted 1/2 inch. So far so good and the plaster cracks have been minimal and limited to where it had already been patched before.
In addition to the excitement inside, I have made some progress to the outside - I put in a hedge and a nice lion fountain, and it looks great! Sure beats the rusty chain link and weeds...
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