Project Basement - Jacks!
As you can see, Mike has supported the center of the house using a combination of posts & beams and jacks. You can't see behind the ductwork but there's a beam that is being supported by those 4x4s. If you follow the joists towards the back of the photo, you'll see two jacks atop two 6x6 posts - those are keeping our house from sagging. Mike put this in because of the general lack of support down the middle where the old post & beam used to be (you can see that one post in the middle of the photo ain't doin' much these days...the white one).
We have an interesting decision on our hands. We've all known for a long time that the house isn't level. That's part of being old & settling. However, the theory has been that the bowed/cracked beam by the chimney/vent was the culprit. It turns out, however, that there's a bit more at play. Using a laser level - this VERY VERY cool toy that stands on a tripod and runs a laser in a circle at a high rate of speed (basically gives you a 360 degree level line all around the line of sight from the tripod) - Mike showed me that the main floor is sitting at different levels depending where you're standing in the downstairs. For example, the high point (read: least settling) is the southeast corner. The northwest corner, by contrast, is a full 4 INCHES lower. The southwest corner is about 3, and smack in the middle of the house is about 2 inches. So the decision is to level or not to level. Leveling will involve jacking up much of the house and inserting pressure-treated wood between the original framing and the foundation/concrete. Simple enough (for a professional). The downside is that there's a very, very high possiblility of cracking a lot of the plaster we have remaining in the foyer, living, and dining room. Even with the two jacks downstairs right now and the minimal movement on Mike's part, there are about 8 new, obvious cracks in the plaster. The other downside is that the crappy front porch, which was already sagging a bit, will likely be even worse if we jack up the house to which it's attached by 4 inches.
In any case, Mike said not to worry about the plaster, that it's easily fixable, and I believe him. I'm more concerned about the porch because although I fully intend to replace it, now isn't the time and I don't think we have time anyway with wombat on the way. Interesting dilemma.
Since we love this house and are committed to it in the mid-long term, I'm pretty sure I'm going to tell him to level it anyway and do the best he can to minimize aftermath.
Happy almost Friday. More to come.
We have an interesting decision on our hands. We've all known for a long time that the house isn't level. That's part of being old & settling. However, the theory has been that the bowed/cracked beam by the chimney/vent was the culprit. It turns out, however, that there's a bit more at play. Using a laser level - this VERY VERY cool toy that stands on a tripod and runs a laser in a circle at a high rate of speed (basically gives you a 360 degree level line all around the line of sight from the tripod) - Mike showed me that the main floor is sitting at different levels depending where you're standing in the downstairs. For example, the high point (read: least settling) is the southeast corner. The northwest corner, by contrast, is a full 4 INCHES lower. The southwest corner is about 3, and smack in the middle of the house is about 2 inches. So the decision is to level or not to level. Leveling will involve jacking up much of the house and inserting pressure-treated wood between the original framing and the foundation/concrete. Simple enough (for a professional). The downside is that there's a very, very high possiblility of cracking a lot of the plaster we have remaining in the foyer, living, and dining room. Even with the two jacks downstairs right now and the minimal movement on Mike's part, there are about 8 new, obvious cracks in the plaster. The other downside is that the crappy front porch, which was already sagging a bit, will likely be even worse if we jack up the house to which it's attached by 4 inches.
In any case, Mike said not to worry about the plaster, that it's easily fixable, and I believe him. I'm more concerned about the porch because although I fully intend to replace it, now isn't the time and I don't think we have time anyway with wombat on the way. Interesting dilemma.
Since we love this house and are committed to it in the mid-long term, I'm pretty sure I'm going to tell him to level it anyway and do the best he can to minimize aftermath.
Happy almost Friday. More to come.
posted by dave at 8:44 PM
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