"You may think this is something you cant do but you can do it, you wouldnt be watching this video if you didnt think you could at least a little bit" man, I kinda needed that !thanl you! ❤

67 year old widow. Gonna do it my self. Yours is the best video so far.

My home was built in 1930 and I am starting this project tomorrow 3/27/24. This video better explains the process to get my home completed. Thank you

Great video! My wife and i are in the process of purchasing an 1857 home. The rear corner has a slightly crumbled brick foundation causing the floors to sag about 2 inches. This video really helped me with my "plan of attack". Stay safe!

Dude. Thank you so much. You are so humbly informational it makes me believe in mankind again.

I work on foundations like this for a living. You did good man!! You can throw a vapor underneath that home as well to prevent moisture from getting up in the beams/sub flooring. Another good footing that will hold is 16 inch abs pads!

Hello! Thank you so much for you video! My mom and I are going to attempt to do this ourselves. Our home was brought over to our land in 1965. It has never been leveled again. Last year we had water sitting under our home and did not realize it. Once we did it was too late. Now it is time to get to work!

outstanding video, i've been doing a lot of repair on my early 1900's house ... paid less then twenty grand for her. so i haven't complained too much about foundation issues and rot and termite damage just lit in and replaced what i had to.. had to repour some concrete on top of the existing foundations as they were poured beneath hand hewed beams which the termites ate.. and they were not square flat nor level so i had no level place to put new beams.. the concrete repour worked gangbusters... got it all squared away new beams joists and plywood put down.. i actually made a stain out of steel wool, distilled white vinegar and a little baking soda that stained all the new wood... it fooled the inspector when he came to inspect some of my plumbing.. i was afraid if he knew i replaced a bunch of joists he would have required a permit and made me bring the whole house up to today's code standards.. my lil house has stood since about 1907 and i truly just wanted to repair what was there and keep the integrity of it.. didnt want to tear it to the ground and rebuild.. so far its looking great.. i got one area that i may take some photos of and send you if you don't mind i need a bit of advice.. anyways thanks for the video its been very informative.

I need to replace the sills on one side of the house(it's a double sill) so I'm watching YT videos that best match my situation. Yours caught my attention because I'm probably going to be using jacks. I appreciate the tip on raising the jacks a little at a time because too much could cause the sill to break. I know it's common sense but silly mistakes still exist.Your video was made with first timers in mind.Thank you for making it look a little more easier. Have a great day.

Big help sir. I had one Jack and was having concerns so I looked up a video. I’m going to get another before I begin. Thank you for your help!!

You did a good job with this video. Just plain ole explaining what you did and why. I'm having to add some piers on my porch for failure on my part to plan ahead. I didn't think about using metal plates and didn't know or think of using cedar that way. Thanks for posting!

4/30/24 I have to do this to my house and I have never done this type of work. Thank you for posting

Termite shields are preferred with most homeowners and contractors. One little 1/2" or 1/4" piece of wood will not stop at termite from crawling up it. A termite shield is not 100% effective, but it covers the whole pier/post.

This is a great video!!! Extremely informative! It really opened my eyes to exactly what I may be paying for and gives me some knowledge (power) as I either try to negotiate a contractor to level my 72-year-old house (or perhaps even attempt to do it myself with the help of some ambitious friends. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

Thank you so much. There is not a lot online to show in detail how it’s done. Thanks again. Super helpful. 👍💯

In the middle of leveling an old home. Just wanted to pick someone else’s brain and I see that I’m right in line with my thinking. Thanks for the video 👌

I'm currently having my old house on cinderblocks leveled. This is very helpful for questions for me to ask the foundation company that is doing if for me.

I love the tip about the cedar. You are correct they hate it. Great advice.

Thank you for the tips on working with an external beam. I’m a complete beginner so still not clear on how to take this do’s and don’ts excerpt, and use it to level the entire house.

When you are under it in the middle fixing the midspan beam is the best part. Nothing quite like listening to the house crack and pop while you're laying under it lol. For those that are wondering, no I'm not in any real danger doing that. The jack could magically disappear and the house would just fall a short distance and hit the piers. Worst actual case is a seal fails in the jack and the house slowly settles back down.

getting ready to do this tom. This seemed REALLY helpful and simple. Hope so in my case too. THanks for posting

I have an older home I bough and will probably need to level it. Thanks for the info now I can ask informed questions and know who does and doesn't know what their doing.

Nice job. I'm in the process of lifting a old house it's sagging about 4" . I'm using same system but only required 4 20 ton stubbys

I rather pay you to repair my house, you do seem so honest in what your sharing & doing. My old home was wrecked by Hurricane Harvey. One level man wants $10,500 to repair all except adding more them long long thingies, he wants 1100 more for 4 more additional and he's not laying the subfloor. I don't know the first thing about fixing, building or repairs to a house. All I do is cook, sleep, dance, eat in them. SMH.

Very informative... im a first time home buyer and i will have to do this sometime this year... this video a great starting point... thanks for sharing.

Thanks for putting this together, great information.

i have a 20x20 cabin i am about to level, and i just upgraded to toe jacks. they're great

Thank you in 2020, year of hell. Your videos are still helping people. I subscribed because of this one.

Thanks, I'm going to the country to do this for my Mom & Dad.. Much Success to you..!!

Great vídeo. I am about to do this my self. Old house floor has water damage. Taking the subfloors off and leveling the house and reinforce foundation

Doing this to my house. Thanks for making the video!

Thank you for this video!!! I have been searching for hours to find some info on post and beam construction. I have a camp on a lake that needs a beam replaced. my situation is an uncommon problem. What happened is my uncle put a deck on the lakeside beam without flashing his ledger board!!! So the beam is totally rotten. If you can help me with a few questions I would really appreciate it. Some background : I inherited the camp from my grandfather who was a builder/contractor with a relatively big company (about 6-10 employees depending on the job.I was really close with my grandfather because I was his only grandson. My mother was his only child. So I spent summers working for him ever since I could carry a bundle of shingles. lol......so I'm just saying I grew up around a family of contractors and I am a contractor myself. But the only time I have done any foundation work was leveling the camp im talking about when I was around 12 years old (so very little experience). In my situation if the rotten beam was perpendicular to my joists I would be a lot more confident replacing the beam by holding up the joists with a temporary beam and cribbing. But the beam I am replacing runs parallel to my joists and its throwing me off. Im trying to figure out how to hold the weight to rplace both the beam and the rim joist. Its funny I have not come across a video with anyone replacing a beam like mine. lol I really need this camp to stay up because im so close to the lake I could never rebuild this. So if you could find some time to help me out corresponding with pictures and what not I would send you some $ through paypal or something. I really need to get to it this year before another winter (im in Maine by the way). Ive done all sorts of different jobs but never one like this. the camp is on a hill/slope making things more difficult. And the beam I need to replace is 75" so around 6 feet off the ground. So its just the worst case scenario for me. Ive contacted a few companies but they are all too busy. I can get help with friends and neibors to help lug cribbing and everything but im just nervous being the g.c. on this particular job. Let me know if you can help and I can send you some oics and get a few pointers from you. Sorry about such a long comment but its even tricky to explain my situation. lol

Great, realistic video. You have been of great help.

“10 years ago” what a legend

I have a shed built by Lowe's that was turned into a cabin. The contractors ran 3 rows of 4x4 beams and simply put cinder blocks underneath. One corner has sunk so I'm contemplating pouring a concrete pad for that corner. The difficult thing to figure out is the outside beams are about a foot in from the wall and I'm not sure where to put my jack or which way to turn the cement block under the beam (parallel or perpendicular). I've had it jacked up before so we could get under to plumb, and the person who did that thought it best to support both these beams and the end of the joists on the same single block pier. The beam is sitting right on the edge of the block perpendicular, while the weight of the outside wall is on the other side of the block. It doesn't seem the best placement of the blocks to me. I tried jacking up on the beam with the jack sitting on the bottom 4 inch solid blocks, but it just made one sink. So I moved over a bit but the jack is now NOT under a floor joist and that makes me nervous. So I've decided to move the jack to the outside wall about 2 feet from the corner since it will be under a joist and the wall. I'm also thinking of putting another jack around the corner, but the problem there is its just a single floor joist (no, the contractors did not double the rim, if you can call a floor joist a rim) and I'm nervous about it moving it I put a jack under it but I think this added support would be an advantage. Any suggestions?

Instead of wooden shims, I buy cheap plastic cutting boards and cut them up. They won't compress like wood and of course, termites don't eat then

Its my understanding that termites do not like the heartwood of cedar. The fence post you cut up I think is made of sapwood. This might have a small amount of termite resistance but over time will lessen substantially more than the purple colored heartwood. Thanks for the video.

Thank you for putting this video out. It was really helpful.

I'm thinking of purchasing a house that is over 100 years and the previous owner gutted the whole thing even removed the bathroom. The number one thing we have to do is foundation. They started and we're unsure for the reason they just stopped but its a serious project. This video gave me the confidence my husband and I can do this. Just curious if you answer questions and can give advice if we go through with this? Its always nice to have an adviser.

Man that looks just like my house. I have a similar project.

i'm a 66yr old man and not in the best of health but being on fixed income i have to start saving for the 20ton jacks

Lol I'm not moving a House why did I witsh this lol. Good job.

Thx Brah.. That really gave me great info.. I’ll take it step by step.

2 story 1960s house that is unlevel est of 15k to level we sre going to follow this video and attempt

Great vid... but at a lil after 4 mins in at top right hand is of screen you can see evil cat eyes lol

Hello looking for advise if you don't mind reading this I have a small 16' x 22" lake cabin built in the 1920's . I has vintage wood shiplap siding .It will make a good rental once I can fix this issue. The lumber is super high quality. They built it on one course of block laid on the dirt with no concrete footer . The idiots should have dug a footer 48" deep.. The corners of the cabin have sunk along with the corner block. 1 to 2 " drop at the corners. .There are slider windows that won't slide open until I get it level. I have some bottle jacks, and 4 auto jacks with steel posts to lift the corners. I want to jack the first 8' from each corner and level the corners ,so 16' front and back will be completely supported . The 22' side walls ,don't really need complete support which makes me think this method will be a big time saver option . The middle section of the 22' walls, is still level with the current no footer set up . I will have the option to work on supporting the middle later if necessary. Compared to this method, I was going to do more work than I possibly needed to, to get it level, and after watching this. I am curious if lifting structures like this is code legal in all states? I am going to look at some screw jacks for continuous adjustments also. Thanks for posting I gives me another option as long as it is legal in Michigan ? I am concerned with breaking windows also when lifting it. I will have to lift in small increments I imagine? Thanks

Execellent. Excellent. EXCELLENT! Thank You! This is very helpful. I have a question. Do you find that this causes seperation in your plaster or drywall?

Good video 👍 I’m gonna level our house 🏡

Im working on old house right now..wood post piers....100 yr old, water and termites allowed to destroy everything along side of house, just trying to keep it from getting worse. But, when you show one of the old original post's I noticed the dirt around it was not disturbed...for inspection... I had one that looked ok, poked at it a bit and the entire post was eaten all the way through by termites.... thanks nice video.

So, I live in Colorado where this type of construction just doesn't exist. I'm one of those jack of all master of none kinda guys. There's not much you'll her me say I can't do. I live in my grandfathers house. In the sixties he decided his one bedroom home was problematic for his growing family and he needed extra room. You're probably thinking addition story. To which you'd be correct, but you'd ask how does this relate? Good observation. Grandpa wasn't satisfied with building on a kitchen another bedroom a porch and a garage. This son of a bitch wanted a basement. So he jacked up the house and dug one by hand. I've heard the stories but never seen it. I'm heading out to visit some family in Louisiana here soon and they say their house is leaning a bit. I've never seen pier and beam before but one look at a picture they sent me I immediately thought about graddads story. Leading me to this video. I do have a couple questions. Are the beams attached to the piers at all? After you get the skirt lifted is it necessary to go under the house and shim the other piers? And last Louisiana is hurricane country. Do the houses or the floor of these houses have problems with wet rot or mold? Those are my big concerns if there's anything anyone can think of that I might should be aware of im all ears. Any info or help you might provide would be a huge help. First time round always has little headaches you learn as you go. So any little clues are a huge help. Thanks to any and all replies in advance.

Hi i was watching your video and i enjoyed it but i have a question will i need cut waterline before I do a foundation on the old house frame house

Thanks for the info. My grandma's house is very unlevel, even though she's paid twice to have it leveled by ripoff artists. This time I'd like to do it myself. So I buy at least 5 or 6 jacks, the square concrete pads, cinder blocks, the shims, the cedar, the iron squares, and a bug bomb. Is there a general rule of thumb on the spacing, like one block/pad every 4 feet? Or is it 6? How do you determine at first just how high to jack it up? Isn't there something like you find the highest corner and use that as a guide on how much to bring the beams up? The floors are so messed up in the house that I'm wondering if using a laser light/level would work. Do you only jack up the outer part of the house, or can you also go under specific rooms toward the center and add support under there too? Sorry for so many questions, but you seem so honest and helpful!

Lovely home

hey aaron. our question is: when you are lifting the house, does it disturb anything inside the house and can a family just live there while the lifting is going on? important detail to us. thanks.

Great Video,,lots of teaching,,Learned a Lot,My house is close to the Ground,would be hard to get under neaf,,any Ideal ,,THANKS

Great video! Can you lift a house that on pier and beam that is in a flood zone and adding dirt underneath it, so it becomes above the flood zone?

Where did you purchase the 16"x16"x4" pads for your concrete blocks? I can't locate them anywhere here in central Ohio! Are there alternative materials to use for the pads? Thanks, Tom

I get the basics of this, but how do you make sure that the house is level? We bought a house that needs work, but you can tell it is not level, it tilts to the rear and left side.

Thank you. Great info.

Thank you!!! About to do this on Monday.

I am purchasing a 1935 farmhouse in Oregon that has a pier and post foundation. Thanks for the video. When you jack the beam, is there a particular order that you followed? Thanks in advance.

Good tips... Congrats on being an Active Amputee! Look up Douglas Bader and a book called "Reach for the Sky". Thanks again!

ok so I have a question.........The new beam you have here?? 2-2x6's ? My fiance' (we were together 13 1/2 years) just passed the end of April.......and we were in the midst of a remodel.......I have to finish myself and have no $ to pay anyone......Our perimeter wall to our kitchen, 8' (very small house) it HORRIBLE!! termite and weather rot.........I understand I can put a beam under the existing floor joist, and we do have those same jacks........but I'll also do the same exact (is what we planned actually) pad, block and the cedar was new to me, but I like it. Can you possibly let me know if I'm on the right track? My search stopped me at your video, its the closest "view" of what I'm gonna have to deal with. I would so much appreciate it and would be very thankful. I'm 63 and I dont want my house to worsen cause I'm not gonna get any younger. Thank you

Did you use shims to re level it or what and don’t you have to jack it up slowly over a few days time?

We need to do our 1910 home. The central 3 room fireplace is holding up the center & all other rooms have slanted off from there. Even the attic! My question is when we start lifting should we only adjust a small amount per week to allow the house to keep up? I was told if not we will crack all windows & door frames/walls & so on. I just need to know how slow, like 1 inch per week slow? lol Thank you, great video! 😊

How do you jack the corner of the house? Since you can't place two jacks on the bearer. I'm trying to level my house and having a hard time figuring the corners out :/

Great Job! I do have a question: Can you use 4x6 or must it be (2) 2x6?

We have a building and half of it is sagging about 6 inches over about 60 feet. Actually, half the building is sagging and the other side is fine. How would you level half the building. You only have a foot under the house. Would you have to remove the floor and use the jacks on the inside of the house? Thanks

Good Video , it really help and you did give out great advice ,maybe I should hire you my brother .

Greetings, great video among many! Ive just bought a 1920s house in an old woodmill town. Beams are huge and burly, but sitting on regualr bricks that are crumbling, sunk, or the edges of the wood are rotted. The floor is slopping in corners. My question is about installing the new 2x6 beams youve added. Where did you jack/support the house in order to remove the old and install the new. That is vital knowledge and was skipped over in the video. Do you support each joist? Maybe put a pieace of lumber or metal spanning across multiple joists so you can lift them all at once? Thanks.

Excellent Thank you!

Where did you start? The front of our grandparents house is just inches off the ground and the it is almost 5 feet in the back. Do you check the inside of the house first to see what is the most uneven? Any and all help would be great. Do you have any other videos? Thank you!!

Did you just do the outside or did you do another section four feet in?

How thick of cider wood? Thats a great tip. My contactor is doing my foundation , my house waz built 1940.

How would you do one that has a very small window to get underneath the house? The floor is sagging 9 plus inches in the middle of the room

In the process of doing this. Exact same construction. How did you tie the joist to the beam? Vertical 2x6’s ran across the end of the joist?

great video.. thanks for the vid

Any points on a three-beam or four beam scenario? I just moved into a 9050's Texas build with my mom (The food is good!). I guess I'm curious if there's a faster strategy to taking up carpet and flooring to achieve inner house beams. Also, apparently, we came from a build of infrastructure where these houses just ran pipes according to necessity. I have a single sewage pipe running laterally with the house that broke. to a septic tank. I'm pretty keen but you seem wise to this regard, I fix guitars for a living. I appreciate the knowledge.

Im about to take on my own house here in Louisiana thanks for the info. Just wondering though what you did to ensure beam was level? Water Level? Excuse my ignorance lol first time Ive done it and wanna make sure I get it right. Just as you said........ guy that built this house and didnt center the blocks and one side sinking on the pad and other pads have completely sunk in the ground blah.

how do you know how much off the house is? Where do you measure to figure out where it is sloping etc

I have an old house that needs to be lifted and leveled. Should I have jacks all round the whole house and slowly lift one then the other down the line all the way around or do I need some one on each side of the house front and back and we all lift slowly down the line of jacks on every side?? Also do I have to get a permit to do it? I prefer not to but just wondering. Thanks in advance for your response, Kim

I am considering buying an older home built in 1959. It is unlevel. Some of the supports (cinder blocks with the holes in them) have fallen and some are broken. It is a very small house, 960 sq. feet. You said there was another beam under the house that you would do the same. How many feet are there between beams? Is it according to the size of the house? I really would like to save money by doing this myself, but even if I can't, at least I will have this info so I will know if it is being done correctly. Also, some of the beams have rotted and are going to have to be repaired. Any DIY info on that project? The video was very informative and I appreciate it.

Thank you for your video! Where do you get your steel plates?

I know this video is old, but i have a question. I am looking a leveling a house where the addition, which is 60 years old has sank around 4 inches. Do you work from out in to in ? or in to out when leveling ? to give you an idea about how bad this house has settled, the Kitchen counter snapped.

Great video. What if the beam is rottened out. How would you replace it?

How did you get the beam in all at Once

I like your video I’m try to leave my house

I was able to gather quite a bit of information needed along with several great tips to at least start my project. Any ideas on how to lift the middle when there"s no clearance to get under the house?

I love your videos man

When you say concrete blocks always break are you referring to the 4" solid block or just the hollow block?

How would it work if I'm trying to raise a whole foot through out my house

Is this house full of furniture and we really need to do ours and im not sure where to start..

I'm pretty sure you put the blocks on their sides. When you do that it loses it's strength.

My 1906 house has two brick fireplaces that have settled. How do you lift them in conjunction with lifting the house???

What’s the best way to precisely find a sagging wall that needs to be raised from your crawl space? Thanks

Say the house is elevated three cinder blocks high. What do you extend the reach of the jack with? 4x4? Is it better to elevated Jack or to have a long post?

Have a cinder block foundation supporting two old army barracks where on section sagging. Is there any way to do this without removing the original foundation?

When it rains, rain water collects under the house for weeks. Sinking further the house. I’ve lifted and leveled but water still collects what do you suggest I do? Lifting entire house isn’t an option. What do you recommend?

Did you use a lazer level?

I've been swindled out of about $3,000 now trying to get my house repair I've attempted on my own got an estimate just yesterday at a quote of $19,000 I really want to learn how to do this on my own with the help of a few friends I recently buried my mom who had no insurance and all the money that I was saving for the house to be lifted I had to pay to put her to rest and it still pain so it's only feasible for me to reach out and ask how do I start and where do I start and what type of materials do I need my Foundation has gotten worse and I'm afraid my house may fall in