Lifting a house with bottle jacks. This saved me $1000’s
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2020
- The house sank about 5" because it was build on sand. The footing was only 10" deep. Once we raised it a few inches we realized the sill plates were also rotten. We separated the house from the foundation by knocking out cinder blocks and lifting it with bottle jacks. We then replaced the sill plates and leveled it. 6 days total and about $1000.00 in material.
- แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
My son and I both had time off due to Covid19. We had been talking about lifting this house for years. Suddenly we had no excuses to not do it anymore. It was a bigger job than I thought it would be because of the rotten sill plates but overall I think it was a fairly easy DIY project.
How did you deal with plumbing under the home while lifting?
It was a none issue. The plumbing sank with the house over the years but didn’t actually break. So jacking it up just brought everything back in line.
Did a better job than the professional.
@@Asian_Connection thanks man!
@@scrosby1000 ....
I'm getting ready to do this. The house was built in 1850!! Wish me luck!! 🤞
😂
The moment you earned my utmost respect… “I’ve never done this, learned everything from TH-cam…”. And carried on. GOOD JOB !👍👍
Great job! But for everyone else watching, BE CAREFUL. Bottle jacks will KILL you if they kick out and hit you. Set them on a level footing, and plumb them accordingly. As the pressure increases with each pump, check them again and again. I've seen jacks kick like cannon balls. It sounds like a 12 gauge going off. Shooting upwards of 20 feet through a crawlspace. If it were to hit you, there is no possible way that you would be okay. If you're lifting to replace a structural support, think about what would happen if that jack were to kick out and allow the weight to fall 12 inches or more. There is no tool as dangerous as a bottle jack when used in a construction application.
Thank you for this. I am about to attempt to lift some floor joists but have never used a bottle jack and was wondering if I should do this or have some expertise. This comment decided that!
@@janicephynes We were able to use one bottle jack to lift up the cracked joists and sistered it with new lumber, it works. I could attach a picture in the comments but no option to do so.
There has to be brackets you can buy that will help with that
Is there an alternative tool to bottle jacks that should be used, or are bottle jacks the go-to, and just require education and caution when using?
@@iridescentsea3730 It really depends on the lift. A floor jack is much safer, but they aren't nearly as strong as a bottle jack. With a bottle jack and a 4x4, you can screw the 4x4 into the joist/girder and chain the jack to something sturdy (like a structural support). This takes some time, but it is much safer if the jack were to kick. As long as everything is level and plumb, you shouldn't have any issues.
Dude, you're no TH-cam wannbe. This is legit, and you are a star. Thanks for doing this.
Thanks for support. I don't know if showed in the video but it was a rather fun father/son project.
Excellent job. I have to repair the foundation on my house-built in 1891. You gave me idea and hopes. Thanks.
If anyone wants to save money on the laser, you can use a clear length of hose nailed at one end above the level reference height and filled with water to just below or at reference height. Wherever you take the other end of the hose around the underside without deforming the hose, the level of water inside will give you a reference
Totally agree, lasers are no good pillars get in the way. I just fasten the pipe ends to a pair of axle stands, leave one alone away from the building as a single point datum then drag the other one around with me for levelling ,the entire building is then perfectly level.
This video was so helpful. The back of my house has sunken and foundation repair keeps trying to give me these exorbitant prices. You proved my point that there is a more efficient and less expensive way
The house has not moved a mm since the repair over a year ago.
@@scrosby1000 did you NOT mortar those concrete bricks? I’m about to do this just gathering all the info I can.
@@Mortone71 I did mortar over the new bricks. How is your lift going?
@@Mortone71 absolutely mortar over the bricks. It’ll give compression strength to the foundation as it ages
I got 6 bottle jacks and lifted a 6 foot by 12-foot bathroom addition about 2 inches and then put in two laminate beams to hold the room up. We then poured concrete with rebar for a new section of foundation under it. Hand-mixed and carried in through a hole in the hallway outside the bathroom. Fun stuff. The room was added in 1973 and was sitting on blocks with no foundation under it. It is my wife's mother's home that she inherited. We have always noted that it sloped down in that added bathroom.
My son thought I was crazy especially since we got the jacks from Harbor Freight. But, it worked like a charm and the hardest thing was getting under the house to place the jacks and dig out for the foundation with some shovels and buckets. I think it took us a total of 4 days to get it all done. House is 2 blocks from the Atlantic ocean and on sandy soil. The entire house was on three slabs each one a different height (not sure why) and the bathroom was added at some point and no slab just blocks. Crazy.
Thanks for this video. It gave me the confidence to do it ourselves. The bathroom is now level and we fixed the hallway and we did end up adjusting the door frame to get the door to work again. It had been hard to close for several years.
WoW! That's the best comment yet. I love the feeling you get after you've analyzed and listened to the naysayers and then suddenly you just say "fuck it". I'm doing it anyway. Way more rewarding than paying $1000´s to engineers and contractors for something that TH-cam university can teach us In a few days. Best of all you did it with your son, had fun doing it and it worked!!!! Congratulations Kevin.
My addition of the house (built by seller's idiotic son (who owns construction company) has wood foundation and one section has rotten wood foundation, No footing or other kinds of footing. The joists and the wood foundation are in DIRECT CONTACT with the ground (1/2 dirt on one side and 1/2 patio concrete on the other, but it had flooding once a while which allowed the water to contact it, sometimes go under the floor. I have limited income and been thinking about lot of options what to do with the addition. Demoliton of the addition is on the table but the problem is that the mast and the curcuit box is in the back of the addition and it would be dangerously expensive to move them off the addition in order for demolition. Other option is to lift it and add blocks to it without footing bec footing is dangerously expensive also. We also could consider tagent compsite lumbers but hard to find for strugureal use.
You were great on Family Ties! ;)
Omg, that’s funny.
Currently doing the same thing and your video was very helpful and motivating, thank you!
Good job guys !
Great video, has encouraged me to attack our sinking garage foundation (was a water issue that led to problem). Although I would need to get under the footing in my case...
Good job. I have a similar with my house. My house was renovated 7yers ago and GC didn’t add enough support to under new kitchen so it’s been sinking as the support settled.
Great video! Good job!!
this has given me the confidence to give it a go for myself.. thank you!
Amazing, sir! I cannot even imagine how many thousands of dollars (regardless of Canadian or US dollars!) you saved. All I am trying to level is a 14x20 shed. Bravo Zulu, sir....on a job well done!
Thanks, the approved engineered solution was ball parked at $20,000.
Great work Scott, congrats! I'm doing the same stuff right now on my garage by Lac Lovering near Magog. Same as you, I watch TH-cam to get some know how, I've never done anything like that before. You did absolutely great!
Thanks, make a video of your lift.
Very cool! Thanks
Awesome! Thank you!
AWESOME JOB!
Great work
Great info
Lots a help to others
Thanks
Thanks, I appreciate the comment.
Great job!
Surprised Mike Homes was not all over this video with his sarcastic demeaning comments. He would take everything you've done apart, and fixed it for $50,000 getting the same result you did. I stopped watching his shows long time ago. I always appreciate innovative INEXPENSIVE solutions to house renovation projects. Well done Scott and to think you did this for your ex...
Hey Ed, After reading your post I immediately send the link to Mike Holmes. Hoping he blasts me or supports me. I’m good either way.
@@scrosby1000 good idea, I’m wondering if he’ll reply; let me know.
Thank you for sharing
Too cool, great work
EXCELLENT JOB ‼️‼️‼️‼️
This just gave me Hella confidence for lifting my sagging floors lol.
Well done! Hard to get it perfect, but that's much better! Saved at least $4,000 and honestly you prob did a better job!
Perfect example why i NEVER attach a deck to a house when the deck is that low.... Ive had my deck floating beside my house for 5 years and it hasnt moved an inch and the water runs down between the house and deck. Snow and Ice dont build up and destroy it either..... Good job on the lift.
Deck to house is fine but ledger must be flashed properly and they often aren’t.
You guys are brave!
Nice work. Useful the next time raise my house 🙂
Nice job, and affordable 1st phase of work. Over time if the footing continues to sink a final and affordable solution may be to instal approx 8 helical piers. Approx cost is $300 per pier, the rest is manual labor for which you have a good team.Wait and see, every spring you can take you lazer level out and verify the current situation. Good luck, always better to start with the simple solutions first..
Indeed we will continue to measure it. So far so good. No sinking. It has been a year now.
Doing the same thing my door sill was a termite damage. Ordering those bottle jacks.
Well done. I applause you.
Best movie I seen in this, thanks for sharing.
Surprisingly, no big surprises!
Great job Scott thanks for sharing God bless you bud
Thanks
We generally use underpinning here in the UK but that's for 2 storey brick built houses. You should be fine just keep an eye on it.
Liked and subscribed
Amazing jobs
Glad to have stumbled on this. I'm on day2 of youtube videos seeking how to jack up a house. Looking to set a foundation under a 104year old log cabin. Anyone with resources on this please comment
Enjoy,
watching how other people do it is half the fun. Please post a video of your lift.
Great job!
Don't know if you read comments anymore but would be thankful for information. What brend of the jacks and adjustable posts you got and where?
We have a problem with sagging floor and carrying beam destroyed by termites of two story house so tones of work ahead 😓
Impressive!
Waht did you do with the sand base? Did you put in a good footing? Did the Inspection satisfy your Permit?
Nothing wrong with learning and doing from TH-cam. It is the new community college/university.
Couldn’t agree more.
Well done
Is it possible that side off the house is near a large under ground sink hole?
thank you
I have the same problem with my house. it's a small house like the one seen in this video and I'm having the same issue with sagging on one side I can't find anyone in my town to help me do this type of a job no one seems to know what they're doing when it comes to lifting and restabilizing. I haven't even been able to get a quote. I wish this guy in this video would just come and I pay him to do it LOL looks like he's a Jedi master of sorts.
I feel like jumping on a plane with my low profile jacks just because of the Jedi comment. MTFBWY!
THANKS
Damn! Can’t believe they built in sand like that…even here by the beach in SoCal we don’t do that
I think my only concern is, and please don’t take this as criticism because it’s not, I have a similar situation with my house but when you went to make it look pretty I would worry about that wood did you put it on the outside of the house before you put the mortar on it. We have a terrible problem down here with insects, specifically termites. I’m afraid that if I did that with mine it would be close to the ground and we would get that problem again. Pressure treated lumber only resists insects but it’s not full proof and I have seen pressure treated lumber get paid up with insects after a certain amount of time
Thanks for the comment Kevin. Up here in Quebec we don't have too much of a problem with bugs as long as the lumber stays dry. We were able to seal the fondation quite well with the wrap and definitely made sure any rain water was directed away from the repair. The rotten wood was full of bugs . Not termites, but ugly critters just he same.
WOW ! Excellent work! You dont need a special permit to do this? One of those probly dont ask dont tell kinda things.
The foundation was already settled best to leave it on the ground and add to the top like in the video in that situation.
I wish you could do something with my sagging at my house. It was hand-built in 1950. The crawlspace floor is muddy. I now am not sure what footing my foundation is on right now. And also the addition of the house has wood foundation and the wood joists and foundation are in direct contact with the ground (dirt and half patio concrete)
well did!
Never start with a corner. Move atleast 3 feet in with inspection.
Hi Josh, we didn't really know if the order of jacking was important so we decided to jack 1/4 inch a time starting at the mid point and working our way out. Once we had a bit of pressure on all 8 jacks we went back to the middle and started over again. The house creaked a bit but I swear it was saying thhhhnnnnkkkkkkks.
i just need this to lift a floor joist cuz my house is sinking do u think it would do that with just one??
Man bud I keep looking at those videos saying it easy idk where to start! Been waiting for two years to do mine might wait another unless someone on here from punxsutawney pa and can help 😂
My take is that the hardest part is just starting. Sometimes you’ve got to just say “hold my beer” and swing the hammer.
Are you still active? I now live in quebec but have a similar issue. Most of my house is on a nice solid slab foundation, but they renovated and added an addition a long time ago, and chose not to put a foundation in the back corner. The house has sagged a little because of it. When I got the home inspected, the inspector suggested I just put in a sonotube 5 ft deep, fill that with concrete, and then put in a jackpost in the back corner. Was wondering if there is anything else I should do.
I have been facing same issue weeks. The side door of the house not closing properly. The crack has shown in the foundation wall. The engineer quote me already $10000 to fix the foundation also advised me to adjust the tele-post of the basement. I wish you are here in Winnipeg. Is there any way I contact with you that would be very kind of you.
I'm subbing, this is a man after mine own heart, "I've never done this but f** it, let's have a go.."
Hey, what’s the worse that could happen? Lol!
I hope you guys fixed drainage in deck area, number one cause for foundation failure,
We did, the poor drainage is what rotted out the entire sill plate. Aluminum now goes below the wood.
Awesome job glad ya didn't do the underpinning.
Me too
Looks like it’s sloping on that side and the soil will slowly water away. Keep vegetation further away because it lock moist. Consider digging for better drainage. The basic issue for a lot of houses is that the ground can’t support the weight.
Thanks for your input.
Level on a counter top is not a good idea as they are made out of particle board and laminate. If old they will tend to bow, and the cabinet it sits on may not be level to begin with.
Also, the issue causing the sinking should also be taken care of by getting the water away from the footer/foundation with French drains.
I plan to lift my 24' x 48' off-grid cabin bc I would like more space underneath to assist in renovation. What size bottle jacks did u use?
Been a while now but they were the short version from Canadian time.
@@scrosby1000 How many tons per bottle jack did you use, please ? I have a 1985 single wide mobile home 14 x 68' and have two walls wanting to separate from the ceiling, rotted wood, some deep cracks down the wall. Looked at another video and the guy said 12 or 20 ton bottle jacks. Also, can I just leave the jacks under the trailer? I'm on cement block columns as a foundation. Thank you. Enjoyed your video!
@@AndreaWestlake306 the 12 tons should be fine. No, you can’t just leave the jacks there. Hydraulic jacks were not meant to hold the load for an extended period of time. You will need to shim/support the home. Sounds like an easy job on a mobile home.
This is very helpful. What capacity bottle jack did you use?
I used the 12 ton but that was probably overkill.
@Scott Crosby you can never use too much overkill for safety! Better to have a 12 ton lift it with no problems, than have a 2 ton explode on you
Can you give links to the videos that helped you the most please? I have to fix my foundation and need as many GOOD vids to help as I can find.
Here's the best one, by far: th-cam.com/video/Qnr5v0farM0/w-d-xo.html
were there no hurricane bolts holding the house to the foundation?
Hi Chuck
Hurricane bolts? I didn't know there was such a thing? I live in Quebec and have never actually seen a tornado. Had I have know I would of tried to put some in. Although I don't know how I could have done that without lifting the house 6 " higher and I wasn't too keen on going any higher than absolutely necessary.
I'll know next time, thanks for the comment.
Any suggestions for lifting wood floor and base that sits on a peat bog. All wood, ground always wet.
Sorry no, beyond my expertise
Hi Scott, what were the bottle weight capacity Jack's rated at.
I used the smaller 5 ton jacks. They were plenty strong.
How are things now, 2 years down the line?
I just bought an 1800s cottage that's sunk about 4" in the back corner, about to have an interesting adventure.
So far so good.
Can you guys come to Virginia to help me with my sinking house? Lol
#seriousquestion
Where abouts in Quebec, I have a cottage that has done the same as yours !
We are in the Mont Tremblant area.
Scott- what about the floor joists - seems you just lifted the sides - how did the middle if the floors get lifted??
The Sill plate carries the load of the floor joists.
@@scrosby1000 Ah yes, but if you also lift on the joists simultaneously you will be taking some load off the sill plate and thus lowering the amount of pressure you need to lift it and increasing the overall safety of the job.
If you had lifted the foundation It would have broken, concrete has great strength when the weight is spread out on it, but it breaks easily with a pinpoint force. Take a sidewalk panel 4 inch thick concrete, place a brick under one end and you can break it in half by hitting down on it with a wood 2 x 4 , don't ask me how I know.!
No cement between the solid concrete blocks?
Hi Charles, no we didn't put any cement between the blocks. I thought about it and didn't really see the need. I can't see how there could be any lateral movement with the weight of the house holding everything in place. I'm sure it's not earthquake proof but could The bricks actually move with time? It's already sitting on poured concret? Let me know if I'm wrong.
Good talk through but wish it was more shots & close ups of the actuall work done..
Thanks for sharing your experience with bottle jacks on houses yet learning about the tool. I bought a 4 ton bottle 8000 lbs. Do u think it's enough to lift a house ....
A couple of contractors recommanded 20 to 40 tons bottleneck jack. Some of youtubers do use them. I'd prefer at least 20 tons or above.
@@robpittstop1797 thanks for the info container homes weigh less than 3000 pounds empty ...
Container Homes
Definitely use a higher capacity bottle jack. 5 or 10 times what you think you need is a damn good idea. Imagine a jack failing on you or exploding
Would this work for a brickface building?? Its 2 stories and a lot heavier I think.
Please let me know?
Manny
Two story and brick is a lot more weight. I’m not qualified to give an opinion other than watch 25 videos and take your time making a plan. It’s all about the plan. Show the plan to everyone before starting. There’s a lot of smart people out there.
Can you lift the one side of the house just with jack or you need to do the whole hosue
We only did the side that sunk. All seems good so have.
Those small bricks used to level the house will not last in sand. You should have made 24x24x24 cement pads to carry the load which would be harder to sink into the around or build a 2ft wide cement chain wall to carry the load. Weight on small blocks will sink where as weight spread evenly across a wider block will not sink. Its like liftboats if you know anything about them..the 8ft wide/round legs with shoes on a lift boat is 20x20 which allows it to sit evenly on top the seabed where as the 8ft wide/round legs without shoes will sink into the seabed resulting in stability problems
Hi Bc, thanks for the comment. The house is still sitting on the original fondation which is close to 2 feet wide. The bricks are on top of the fondation so they don't actually touch the sand anywhere.
old wood cribbing, my house is sagging the exact same way with exactly the same measurements. i haven’t fixed it and have no experience but sure am learning watching these videos. i’m in alaska and these winters and summers make the silt rise and sink. my house is on cinderblocks and wood timbers
If your foundation is sinking and you're jacking up from foundation, are you expecting to have to do this again after some years?
I am expecting to have to jack it up again at some point in the future. However, it’s been a couple of years already and it’s holding stable.
Man remember droping stuff in a sloping house things would roll away to a low point😬
Lol, the floors were so slanted the microwave wouldn't start. There must be safety switch that prevents it from starting if it's not level. The owner had wedged a piece of wood under to get it to work. Once the floors was level the microwave stopped working again. I thought I had damaged the wiring but then I noticed the wedge.
@@scrosby1000 Good Job,you really fixed that house!If dropped a jar,I had to run across the room to get it was so bad!
Great idea! But how were you able to fit the bottle jack in there?
You need to look for low profile bottle jacks. They fit perfectly in the space of a cinder block. Canadian tire sells them for $45.00
If in USA harbor Frieght has tgem for 40 usd for a 20ton. I have q 1903 house in missouri the back right corner dropped a few inches so i pretty much did exactly the same as my guy in the video.
Hey Torremth, good to know you used the same method as us. Did you also use bricks like us? If so has there been any lateral movement on the bricks. I only ask because a few people have commented that I didn't cement the bricks together. I didn't see the need and have not had any movement so far.
@@scrosby1000 concrete piers dont get cement they rarely have problem.
I’m here to work out how to level my garden cattery shed, as the foundations are sinking ( I voulunteer in cat rescue). I’ve been dreading it. But if you can level a whole house! What am I worried about. I’m going to order some bottle jackets lol.
Any drawbacks if this method were to be tried on a slab foundation? Asking for a friend ...
Not an expert but I don’t see any drawbacks at all. Was it the sill plate that rotted or the fondation that sunk or both?
@@scrosby1000 Foundation is just sunken an inch or two. Imma try your method, thanks for the inspiration.
Interesting
When jacking a house how do u keep the pipes from busting
The house was moved back to its original location so we didn't need to do anything. The sewer pipe was rather crooked before we started. The electrical comes from the roof so its wasn't a problem.
@@scrosby1000 thats how they do it thanks
No shortage of beer. My kinda guy
Lol, I had to go back and take a look. Yup, lots of beer there…..
How has it held up?
No sinkage yet
How would you fix a leaning pole barn?
Beyond my TH-cam expertise I’m afraid.
Matches and lots of fire starter
Yes it will lift the home, but what about the footer settling? You could cause the home to rack doing it this way.
I think it’s a pretty cool idea, but as a foundation specialist I don’t think I would trust this.
The ideal situation is to lift the footer back up into place
I think we all agree that the “ideal situation” is to lift the footer. However, the house is now level and it cost $1000.00. Do I trust that it will stay level for another 15 years? I think so but maybe not. Could I just do the same procedure in 15 years for a couple of hundred dollars. Sure.
👍 what’s the laser device please? Thanks
It’s an electronic level. You can rent them for cheap.
Is this house built on a slab yes?
No slab.
Yeah, half a bubble off over 18 inches is still like 6 inches off 🤨
Awesome. How is the house now?
Thanks for asking. It's been 8 months now and we are just coming out of winter. The roof had a ton of snow it so I was wondering if it it would settle a bit with all that weight. The doors still close properly so as far as I can tell there has been no more movement. Best part is that the house has gained resell value. I don't think many people would have considered buying with the previous slanted floors.
@@scrosby1000 Love what you said - "Best part is that the house has gained resell value. I don't think many people would have considered buying with the previous slanted floors." Not really wanting to sell this place, trying to keep it from collapsing though !
@@AndreaWestlake306 Thanks Andrea, it’s been well over a year now since I made the video and there has been no movement yet. I’d feel comfortable saying that it’s not going to sink significantly in the next 20 years so yes, that should help the resale value.
You jacked it back up, yes. But won’t it continue to sink?
General consensus is no. The sinking has stabilized over the past 16 years.
a bottle jack will lift a house?
It's only lifting a small part of the house, probably wouldn't weigh more than a car
It was 6 bottle jacks plus two telescope jacks inside.
No. But a dozen of them will lift a small house.
Did you see the bubble?
What bubble?