Trying to level my house and the wall is pulling away from the floor. Yikes!

[Donny]

Ok so I tried to level this house myself. My problem is that when I lift on the beam in front of the house,the wall bows out and pulls away from the floor. I then tried to install some 2x6's under the wall. Attaching them to a joist then bracing that joist against the next. I installed a temp 2x6 to jack on,hoping to take the weight off the beam and push it back into place. Needless to say it did not work. Any ideas?

Here are 2 pics on the outside. Then a pic of my temp bracing that failed. 2 pics to show how the foundation is framed. The last shows the interior wall bowing,I have tape covering the gap

 

[oldognewtrick]

Houses settle gradually over time. Trying to jack it up quickly can cause problems. Every action, has an equal and opposite reaction. Jacking in the wrong spot can cause issues. If you are not familiar with load points in a structure, stop, consult an engineer or contractor before you cause catastrophic failure. You don't want to drop it on your head. : eek:

 

[nealtw]

Catastrophic failure is near.
Was there a gap between the floor and wall before you started?
Is the bow out directly above the jacking point?
Can you post a photo from further away so we can see the roof line as well as the bottom of the wall?
Is someone living in the house now?

 

[zannej]

I'm no pro, but on something like jacking up a house-- which others have mentioned could lead to catastrophic failure-- you might just want to call a professional house leveler in.

It's not exactly a DIY job unless you absolutely know what you are doing and have the right equipment for the job.

I'm also wondering if that sort of thing requires any permits...

 

[Donny]

Catastrophic failure is near.
Was there a gap between the floor and wall before you started?
Is the bow out directly above the jacking point?
Can you post a photo from further away so we can see the roof line as well as the bottom of the wall?
Is someone living in the house now?

No gap pre leveling.
I used several jacks but more or less yes.
Will take a few pics in the morning.
Yes the gf and I.
I will add that while the wall pulling away from the floor is new. The beams on the front of the house have been angled since before I bought the house 12years ago.

 

[nealtw]

It appears that you cut away a piece of 2x6 in order to install your blocking. If that's true was it down with the beam when you started.
And is it the rim joist?

 

[Donny]

Here are some pics from further away. The piece of trim on the side I pulled loose to remove some siding. The 2x6's I installed from the backside. I cut the one old one because my Helper got a couple to long and it was easier to cut the facing 2x6.

I do not know what a rim joist is.

 

[bud16415]

How many inches did you jack it up and over how much time?

How far out of level is the house?

Has the house always been out for as long as you have had it? 12 years?

What do you think caused the out of level condition? Piers sinking slowly into soil?

Is there a plan if you did get it up to build a better foundation? Or just shim again to old piers?

 

[Donny]

How many inches did you jack it up and over how much time?

How far out of level is the house?

Has the house always been out for as long as you have had it? 12 years?

What do you think caused the out of level condition? Piers sinking slowly into soil?

Is there a plan if you did get it up to build a better foundation? Or just shim again to old piers?

I started at the easiest places. My plan was to start by the high side. Raise it enough to get a 1x and termite shield under it. This would allow for less digging. I wanted to faux level the house. Neaten the higher spots and bring up the low spots no more then 4inchs,as to do as little damage as possible. No more then an inch and a half at a time. At this point the front is with in a quarter inch of start.

I did get some bids on the job. One contractor said I am 7in from lowest to highest. He said the house will be level when he is done but it will damage all my sheetrock and maybe my metal roof. Another contractor said not to completely level the house,as to not risk damaging the roof and he will faux level for about $400 less but that's not much less on a job this size.

House has prob settled about 3/4 inch since I bought it over the 12years. Now the wall bow is not completely new but it just pulled away from the floor after starting on the front.

Cause a combination of improper building and settling. I doubt the house was level and square when built 60years ago.

I was going to put bigger blocks,termite shields and replace any joists that are needed. Add bracing for a master bath and later add on a room.

 

[nealtw]

It looks like you jacked the floor up insted of the beam under the wall.
The rim joist is the joist under the outside wall..
Looks like this was an addition and it wasn' tied to the house very well.

There are to many things to look at and wonder about, to many if, buts and what abouts never mind the danger of sending someone under the house.

I do think you have to hire an engineer .

 

[nealtw]

We all see movies of poeple pushing buttons and raising houses but that's not how you do it when you don't have all that equipment.
It's more like 1/8" a day and see how it reacts and adjust the plan to fit the situation.

 

[Donny]

We all see movies of poeple pushing buttons and raising houses but that's not how you do it when you don't have all that equipment.
It's more like 1/8" a day and see how it reacts and adjust the plan to fit the situation.

Picking up the house isn't a problem. I just need guidance on getting the wall in so I can brace it and start lifting. The contractors range from doing this job in 1 to 3 days. I think this is a bit quick and would prefer to do it myself. However I do have a contractor picked out just incase.

 

[Jungle]

They forgot to put foundation in your house, oh well always time to do it again and again and..

 

[slownsteady]

2x6 lumber is not up to the task of bracing the house. Someone here can probably give you more details. Stop & research a bunch before you continue.

 

[nealtw]

Picking up the house isn't a problem. I just need guidance on getting the wall in so I can brace it and start lifting. The contractors range from doing this job in 1 to 3 days. I think this is a bit quick and would prefer to do it myself. However I do have a contractor picked out just incase.

Like he said, there will be some damage to drywall.
When I have levelled houses, first you look at what can go wrong and where to start. We always pick on the low spots first and figure out where the bearing points are to plan on where best to put the jack. Once we have the worst low spot coming up we start to look at the next low and then the next. 1/8 to 1/4 at a time and move from one jack point to another.

What scares me about your house. It seems the wall was holding up the floor, and when you jacked it, correct me if I am wrong, you jacked up the floor joist instead of the beam that is down so far. That I think bent the floor in a curve and the wall feeling the pressure slipped side ways.

The cure if there is one, well the only thing I can come up with is to lower it back down. Run a saws-all under the wall plate to remove debree and bent nails and push the wall back in place. Might be easier said than done but it can be done. Replace the missing rim joist and then jack up the beam while keeping a close eye on the wall.

 

[Donny]

Like he said, there will be some damage to drywall.
When I have levelled houses, first you look at what can go wrong and where to start. We always pick on the low spots first and figure out where the bearing points are to plan on where best to put the jack. Once we have the worst low spot coming up we start to look at the next low and then the next. 1/8 to 1/4 at a time and move from one jack point to another.

What scares me about your house. It seems the wall was holding up the floor, and when you jacked it, correct me if I am wrong, you jacked up the floor joist instead of the beam that is down so far. That I think bent the floor in a curve and the wall feeling the pressure slipped side ways.

The cure if there is one, well the only thing I can come up with is to lower it back down. Run a saws-all under the wall plate to remove debree and bent nails and push the wall back in place. Might be easier said than done but it can be done. Replace the missing rim joist and then jack up the beam while keeping a close eye on the wall.

I started with the 4x6 lowest beam. It was slated before I began. At first jacking on it began to straighten the beam but bow the wall. After that I tried the extra 2x6's ran from the rim joist to the next 2 floor joists and jacked up on that close to the 4x6. I used 6 jacks there and had 2 just incase holding a tidge on the 4x6. The idea was to take the weight off the beam and push it back into place. No matter how I try to lift It pulls the wall away.

 

[nealtw]

Am I correct in thinking the roof line above the door and window was fairly straight before you started?

 

[nealtw]

Let's confirm a few things.
A platform house, the floor is built first and the walls sit on that.
A balloon frame the walls are built first and the floor is hung off of that in some fashion.
Can you confirm which you have?
Is there no sheeting behind the siding?

 

[Donny]

Let's confirm a few things.
A platform house, the floor is built first and the walls sit on that.
A balloon frame the walls are built first and the floor is hung off of that in some fashion.
Can you confirm which you have?
Is there no sheeting behind the siding?

Roof line still looks pretty good.
I think it is platform and sub floor replaced pre my ownership.
No sheeting

 

[nealtw]

Replaced, as in cut out removed and replaced. The old sub floor went under the walls, the question is how did they attach new to old. If they did a questionable joint there that will explain alot.
When You were under there did you happen to take not of the joint between the two or anything to hint at what they did?
I have had a few plans on how to pull the wall back but I keep coming with reasons they won't work.