Floor Leveling

[ONEBADGN]

I recently purchased a small starter home of approximately 100sf. The floors on the first floor sag pretty dramatically. The main support beam appears healthy (it is wood). The only problem location that I can find (which just happens to be below the worst part of the sagging) is a MAJOR cut out in the beam. It appears to have been done when the original gravity furnace was installed. The current furnace has the gravity ductwork attached to it. I am planning on replacing both the existing Furnace & ductwork.

My question is where can I find House jacks to level up this beam? I have already fabricated a steel brace and I have the posts to support the beam once it is level again.

[grover]

100 square feet? That's definately a small starter home!

I once used a car jack on a pile of cinder blocks to fix a sagging main beam under the crawlspace in my parents house. Worked, mostly, until the jack split in half... Guess a jack designed to lift 1/4th of a 2500lb car can't quite handle the stress of a beam that's been sagging for 50 years, huh?

[Jack the Contractor]

I would first of all try a Rental Center, and get 2 - 20 ton hydraulic jacks. If they do not have them, they can be purchased for about $40.00 each. Make sure they are at least 20 ton. Anything less will not handle the job. You are alos going to need something very had to set the jacks on. 6" x 6" blocks are great. Have someone watching you while your doing the job incase something falls on you, they can call for help. Good Luck

[IBM5081]

Here is the article that I used to gather equipment to do this type of task:

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/framecarp/supplement/floor/joist1/raising.htm

I ended up with a 12-ton jack. I already have a 6x6 and some thick steel plate pieces to spread the force. I had the local borg order two jack posts from Pa. since I live in Texas without basements.

What kind of footings will support the posts under the steel brace? Planning on some concrete footings?

[Jack the Contractor]

One jack will not be enough, you will need at least 2 of them each placed about 8 to 10 feet apart. Again I am not sure that a 12 ton jack will be enough. You are jacking up a house. I will stand by my 20 ton jacks, since I have jacked up over 100 houses in my time. This is experience talking. but, maybe you have a LIGHT HOUSE. You will need concrete footings under your post jacks. At least 12"x12" and I would probably go 18" x 18" x 6" thick with rebar in them if I were doing the job. It may take a day or two go jack this beam into place. You do not want to lift it all at once. In most cases you only jack up maybe 8 to 10 pumps on each jack, then stop for at least 8 hours before pumping up again. If you lift too much at one time, you will do damage to your house. Good Luck