# Wanting Tips on Jacking a sagging floor beam



## andrewcocke (Feb 7, 2008)

One more thing:

What about cinder blocks stacked instead of timbers? Would they hold up better, I plan on living here probably the rest of my life and would rather not have to deal with this again when I'm 70.

Also, this summer I want to frame up a little room down there, to which I planned one of the walls to run underneath about half of the girder and planned to frame the whole room with 2X6's, I can only assume this would offer additional support over the years.


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## Kingfisher (Nov 19, 2007)

use two 8-12 ton bottle jacks and a 4x4, one by each 6x6. As you lift the wieght off the 6x6 use wedges to place the loan back on them. Just lift a little at a time over a few months. You may still expect some wall and ceiling cracks though. When you are happy with the level replace the 6x6 with new one cut to the full size and fasten in place.


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## andrewcocke (Feb 7, 2008)

Thanks for the reply. It's been a gradual process. As it stands, I already have one door that wont close now. I will go a little more, but as I stated, things are so far out of level its not my goal to make it perfect, really I just want to prevent further sagging.

The old timbers have been knocked out now. But don't panic, they weren't being used anyway, and I discovered once I removed them, they weren't even touching to footer anyway. They were actually in a hole in the basement floor about 5". However the whole bottom of the post was just rotten wood. The house was holding the timber up, not the other way around.

This means for the 5 years I have lived here, the whole center of gravity of this home was been resting on one solitary screw jack. Scary.

The good news is the problem is being rectified.


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## justdon (Nov 16, 2005)

Are you sure they rotted off,,,or termites ate the bottoms off?

I would be tempted to replace those with solid large diameter heavy wall pipe,,,it doesnt rot off,,,with large heavy steel plates both top and bottom.

OR I see NO problem in a house as small as yours with leaving the screw jacks in there,,,you can always give them a turn or two IF needed another day!!

Were there any piers or footings under those 6X6 posts?? Did they sink thru floor just based on weight??IF you decide to go back to wood support,,,suggest a concrete pier so wood is 4-6" ABOVE floor level so moisture cant accumulate OR contribute to a further failure.

If It were "I" doing this,,,I think I would jack slowly to perfect level,,,then repair or redo any needed items,,,because in the long run YOU will be happier and MORE satisfied than with your 'marble' floors.(MY term for them)

What you say are marble floors??? Kids play marbles on their bedroom floor,,,when they take their hand off them the marbles all roll into the closet,,,a self room cleaning effect!!!

Have FUN with the house,whatever you do!!! Resale WILL be higher on a straight house vs a crooked one!!Even YOUR estate sale!! Living there forever sounds like a GREAT plan to ME!!!


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## andrewcocke (Feb 7, 2008)

Well, my first thought was termites, however in order to get the old post out, I actually cut them about 5" above the floor line so I could beat them out of their hole.

When I looked at this cut from the inside, the timber was actually in good shape. I didn't see any termite evidence in the post even as far as 5" up the. The basement used to leak quite badly until I sealed it up a bit. I can only assume that water got down inside of the hole and rotted it. The timbers don't look as though they were treated, and wood seems soft, like pine, so it wouldn't have taken much to rot. Also, the timber that was near the point of leaking was in much worse shape than the other. It is for this reason I don't favor placing the new post in the old hole, if it ever gets wet again, the water will just seep in the hole and there is no way to dry it out.


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