Can I Repair My Floor Jack

Cost, Time, and Skills:

This job took two people one afternoon. Nosotros got muddy because nosotros were in a dirt crawlspace doing just that, itch. We used 18,000-pound screw jacks, four×4 lumber, a circular saw, power drill/commuter, and cement blocks. Total toll was less than $200, while a pro would charge $500-$one thousand.

The Story:

This past Sat, my brother had me over to help move some of his article of furniture during the annual rearranging of the tv room. The photograph below shows what we saw when nosotros moved the couch abroad from the wall.

Expect for the ane inch gap between the floor and the base board

Apparently, information technology's been that mode since they bought their xc-year-old bungalow and it's been nagging at my brother always since. Yous may have similar areas in your dwelling house. Yous probably feel the same way my blood brother did: "it's not THAT big a deal and it'll cost at to the lowest degree $1000 to repair, so permit'due south buy diapers and food and gas with our coin instead." Well, information technology isn't THAT big a bargain now, but it could develop into a whole host of problems downwardly the line, especially if the sagging is acquired by a larger issue.

Iii 18000 lb screw jacks and solid concrete blocks for support

The truth is, it will cost you upward of a yard dollars to hire professionals to do annihilation to your foundation or the under-construction of your domicile. Just plan on that. Plus, it's difficult to find the right people to do this work, because it requires on-site problem solving and a certain amount of chance assessment (don't hire anyone that seems kind of stupid). I know this. Nosotros paid to have some piece of work done on our sill plate concluding summer and information technology injure the wallet. A lot. Withal, watching the coiffure work on my house let me know that I could certainly do that work myself the next time the need arose.

We ripped the 2×10's in half to make four 4 ft joists

As a homeowner with an middle for and interest in how things work, I've learned an extremely of import thing: my firm is actually really simply built and nothing in here is all that complex. The trouble is knowing what to practice and what tools to purchase. If you lot aren't skillful at figuring stuff out on your ain, hire someone. . . once. While they're working, ask them questions about the process and about what they're doing. Assess whether y'all recollect you tin can do it yourself. I learned about of my skills out of necessity (it's a cash menstruation matter) and past watching professionals.

As with many quondam houses, my blood brother'southward has a tiny crawl space door. I'm big so that makes me unhappy.

For this job, equally with whatever job, nosotros kickoff needed to figure out what the root problem was. The sagging floor was the symptom, and somewhere under the business firm there had to exist a cause. Well, after doing the navy SEAL crawl upwardly under the house, we found that the joists that were supporting that floor were not really fastened to the sill plate any longer, as seen in the photograph below. This is an obvious problem, considering the fact that the sill plate is the starting time line of support higher up the foundation wall. Yous tin run into that the joist had dropped about an inch below the sill, explaining the inch the floors had sunk.

The joist had slipped about an inch from the sill

In order to elevator this section of flooring back upwards an inch, we needed to purchase a few spiral jacks, which tin can be purchased at your local big box hardware shop for about $30 per jack. The ones in the photos above are actually non the ones we ended up using. We had to buy shorter ones. Merely hey, what's a habitation improvement project without at to the lowest degree 2 trips to the store?

Moving effectually under old houses can be tricky. My brother's crawlspace opens upwards quite a fleck once you're within. It used to be a dry out cellar for storing produce during the summer, with a trap door in the kitchen.

As yous tin run into in that last photo, my blood brother's crawl space is rather spacious in spots. Unluckily for united states, the spot we were working wasn't 1 of the spacious ones. Here he is squeezing through the little trap door. Note the coveralls. I'd recommend covering yourself when working under the business firm. Information technology's nasty and there are spiders and junk.

A gift my blood brother and I both possess: flashing a goofy smile at a moment's find.

Here's where we were working. The two″x8″ joists you see in the photograph (the boards running from left to correct above my brother for the lay men) are the ones we would exist supporting. We decided that we wanted to sister a new 2″x10″ lath up against the existing joists and support the new joists. We chose this method because of the small amount of old termite damage we saw in some of the old joists. What nosotros did was lay the new lath flush with the flooring boards and with the old joist. We then attached the two boards together with 3 inch forest screws.

The crawlspace was really tight in the surface area we were working. Luckily, information technology was pretty dry. The vapor barrier and exterior drainage had done their task well.

Below, yous can run into my brother prepping one of the new joists past partially driving the screws into the wood. This is surprisingly difficult to practice when belongings a twenty pound joist and a drill to a higher place your caput while lying on your dorsum.

I used to balk at the drills and power tools that come with a light. Non any more than. That piffling light came in very handy.

With the mud and the muck, I didn't become any photos of the side by side step or two. In the photo beneath, yous run into the final product. You lot can run into how the new joists are attached and, if you look towards the background, how they overhang the quondam joists so the support beam is only pushing on the new joists.

Here's the completed job. The new joists are attached to the old joists and are supported past the 4×4's and screw jacks.

Once the new joists were up, we found locations where the concrete blocks could sit flat on the ground and so the force per unit area wouldn't cause them to fissure. Afterwards they were in place, nosotros hoisted upwardly the 4″x6″x8′ beam so that it crossed all four of the new joists, sliding the screw jacks underneath. With the beam resting nicely on the jacks, we slowly turned the red handles until the beam was in contact with two of the joists. Then we kept turning until it was in contact with all four of the joists (the lower ii lifted upwardly to be in line with the higher two). By yelling through the floor to my brother's wife, we were able to coordinate our slow turning of the spiral jacks until the scissure between the floor and the base board was gone.

Here'southward the concluding production. Full, this  job cost my brother $150-$200, where a pro would easily accept charged $800-$1000. I'll admit, this is probably non the task for a showtime time do-it-yourselfer, but folks with a petty experience and confidence can hands repair the sagging floors in their homes.

Await for the 1-inch gap betwixt the flooring and baseboard. It'southward not there any more.

The before and later is below. If you've got questions or comments, get out them below or contact united states of america at oldhousecrazy@gmail.com. Also, feel costless to get out united states a annotate on our facebook folio www.facebook.com/oldhousecrazy. Thank you for reading. -Robby

Earlier and After

Can I Repair My Floor Jack,

Source: https://oldhousecrazy.com/2012/01/23/lifting-up-a-sagging-floor-diy/

Posted by: kingbroas1999.blogspot.com

Share this post