Jacking Up A Sagging Floor
Does anyone know the process and cost of jacking up a sagging floor, and what type of contractor I would look for specifically that would have the expertise in jacking up a sagging floor? The 1st and 2nd floors are sagging a little, but the 3rd is not. I think if I don’t get this done the house will eventually have a structural problem due to the sagging floor.
I recently purchased a property, large Cape Cod with basement, built in 1945. Floors were sagging mostly in the 1st floor. When a structural engineer quoted $750 just for an estimate, I decided to do it myself. The job is almost complete. I did not change anything, just placed jack posts (tele-posts) on the center beam and jacked it up to level, then replaced the posts with 4"x 6" columns. Then added two beams parallel to the center beam and used jack posts to level them and also replace the posts with 4"x 6"s. It has some tricks to it, but the cost was under $1,000. I don't want to know what the cost would have been to hire a company to do it. In my case, the sagging was due to poor construction, 2"x8" floor floor joists 24 O.C. and deteriorated beam supports. Hope it helps. If you need more info, please let me know. Good luck!
the problem is in your basement and it's actually quite an easy fix. find the main support beam and add adjusta posts to "jack" up the post, then i would add another "helper 2x10 to the side of the beam if you can get nailed to the side of the original beam and there you are. just remember to tie the new adjusta posts to the concrete floor in the basement because you don't want anyone knocking them out after you put them in that could be real bad if you suddenly pull out the new support. and there are a few ways to attach the posts to the floor. 1 you could chisle holes into the existing floor set the posts and then fill in the holes after you get the posts in, just remember to chisle only abluot an inch out of the exsisting floor or you'll have new problems.2 once you set the new posts on the exsisting floor you could drill holes into the concrete and drill screws through the adjusta posts into the concrete. this is the method i would use.
Beams that are posted (such as the one described above are typically carrying a considerable amount of weight. To merely set them on an existing concrete floor most likely will not last. The area of floor that is bearing the post must be dug out and receive an adequate footer under it to insure that the aforementioned weight transferred from the beam will be sufficient to carry the weight If not, the floor will crumble under the weight and the sag will reappear.
Get a general contractor although a handyman could do the job. THis is not a real brain teaser type of job. Generally you get into the crawlspace and jack up the house placing posts at different intervals. There are a few tricks, I jacked up a two story last week. Generally depending on where the sag it there is a lot of weight involved. A oured in place 12" pier or 4x4x16" pier pads dug down to bedrock or hard pan would be sufficient. To jack I use a 12-16 ton pair of jacks with a 4x4 to lift with, on the jack end you want a 5" piece of channel iron as you will bury the head in the wood if there is much weight involved and it will lift better with the 4x sitting in the channel iron and the jack underneath. I wouldn't try and remove the sag, take some of it out and maybe in a few months try a little more. Trying to take out decades old sags all at once can cause some real problems iwth walls, rooflines, etc.
Good Luck
PS send me a digi pic if you need further help.
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I recently purchased a property that has sagging floors due to setteling conditions. The estimate to level the floors was around $15,000, this doesn't include the city inspections which I am told can run into the thousands.