!! hello all
Will soon be in the process of replacing a foundation. I want to lift the whole house about three feet in the air to facilitate work.
House is 20′ * 38′ ( built in 1926) with 2*8 floor joist on 16″ centers running on the short axis,they are about 10’6″ and lap at a double 2*6 that runs the length of the building . access is moderate to very poor.
I will be gutting the interior prior to lifting
? any advice/wisdom
jbird33
Replies
jbird go for it.
can you borrow, buy, or steal some I beams? They will make the work easier and safer. I talked to some fellows on the net about doing something like this a while back. Will try to find them. Skip
thanks for your thoughts
steel is what my gut tells me to use also
? any ideas on how to calc size
thanks again
I haven't figured out how to calculate but am working on getting some figures from a local house jacker. Haven't found any books on jacking up houses.Maybe there is a need for one.Any info I find I will gladly pass along. Skip
My house was lifted by a local Amish crew. They used steel I-beams and bottle jacks. They even raised a chimney on some smaller I beams they welded between their main beams. I didn't see these guys consulting any span charts, and from their talk I really think that they had only one set of beams. Scary?
Don't gut the house first!
You need all the structural integrity the house has to offer for safety.
Gabe
I have also been looking for books on jacking up a house. In the Taunton book: Renovating Old Homes there is a chapter on foundations. There is some good info in there.
I am planning to do it myself. I talked to a couple of guys, do it yerselvers. I learnt: "take your time. common sense is your guide and if something doesn't look right or make sense, stare it a while, it will come to you."
Have you found any books yet? Any info on the jacks?
Pay a house mover to do it. You might even be able to rent the jacks, timebers, etc. from them and avoid buying a bunch of specialized material you'll only use once.
thanks for your thoughts
take care
I second Uncle Dunc's suggestion. While this is something that you can do, if you are only doing it one time, you will be getting a lot of material (mostly cribbing) that cannot be used for anything else. I have done a number of smaller buildings and would gladly have someone else do it, but the jobs are usually too inaccessible, small or too far away from the nearest housemovers. I sleep very poorly for the few days of raising the building. And I've done this before. If you can, get someone who sees this a a routine job.
Is this a one story house? How is the roof framed - rafters and ceiling joists? Is it a straight gable? How many layers of roofing? What do you mean "...access is moderate to very poor."? Can you get under there to work, or not? What's the soil like under there?