My son and I both had time off due to Covid19. We had been talking about lifting this house for years. Suddenly we had no excuses to not do it anymore. It was a bigger job than I thought it would be because of the rotten sill plates but overall I think it was a fairly easy DIY project.

Great job! But for everyone else watching, BE CAREFUL. Bottle jacks will KILL you if they kick out and hit you. Set them on a level footing, and plumb them accordingly. As the pressure increases with each pump, check them again and again. I've seen jacks kick like cannon balls. It sounds like a 12 gauge going off. Shooting upwards of 20 feet through a crawlspace. If it were to hit you, there is no possible way that you would be okay. If you're lifting to replace a structural support, think about what would happen if that jack were to kick out and allow the weight to fall 12 inches or more. There is no tool as dangerous as a bottle jack when used in a construction application.

The moment you earned my utmost respect… “I’ve never done this, learned everything from KZfaq…”. And carried on. GOOD JOB !👍👍

Dude, you're no KZfaq wannbe. This is legit, and you are a star. Thanks for doing this.

Excellent job. I have to repair the foundation on my house-built in 1891. You gave me idea and hopes. Thanks.

Currently doing the same thing and your video was very helpful and motivating, thank you!

This video was so helpful. The back of my house has sunken and foundation repair keeps trying to give me these exorbitant prices. You proved my point that there is a more efficient and less expensive way

Great video, has encouraged me to attack our sinking garage foundation (was a water issue that led to problem). Although I would need to get under the footing in my case...

Good job. I have a similar with my house. My house was renovated 7yers ago and GC didn’t add enough support to under new kitchen so it’s been sinking as the support settled.

Great video! Good job!!

Good job guys !

If anyone wants to save money on the laser, you can use a clear length of hose nailed at one end above the level reference height and filled with water to just below or at reference height. Wherever you take the other end of the hose around the underside without deforming the hose, the level of water inside will give you a reference

this has given me the confidence to give it a go for myself.. thank you!

Great work Scott, congrats! I'm doing the same stuff right now on my garage by Lac Lovering near Magog. Same as you, I watch KZfaq to get some know how, I've never done anything like that before. You did absolutely great!

You were great on Family Ties! ;)

I got 6 bottle jacks and lifted a 6 foot by 12-foot bathroom addition about 2 inches and then put in two laminate beams to hold the room up. We then poured concrete with rebar for a new section of foundation under it. Hand-mixed and carried in through a hole in the hallway outside the bathroom. Fun stuff. The room was added in 1973 and was sitting on blocks with no foundation under it. It is my wife's mother's home that she inherited. We have always noted that it sloped down in that added bathroom. My son thought I was crazy especially since we got the jacks from Harbor Freight. But, it worked like a charm and the hardest thing was getting under the house to place the jacks and dig out for the foundation with some shovels and buckets. I think it took us a total of 4 days to get it all done. House is 2 blocks from the Atlantic ocean and on sandy soil. The entire house was on three slabs each one a different height (not sure why) and the bathroom was added at some point and no slab just blocks. Crazy. Thanks for this video. It gave me the confidence to do it ourselves. The bathroom is now level and we fixed the hallway and we did end up adjusting the door frame to get the door to work again. It had been hard to close for several years.

Very cool! Thanks

AWESOME JOB!

Awesome! Thank you!

Amazing, sir! I cannot even imagine how many thousands of dollars (regardless of Canadian or US dollars!) you saved. All I am trying to level is a 14x20 shed. Bravo Zulu, sir....on a job well done!

Great job!

Great work Great info Lots a help to others Thanks

Too cool, great work

EXCELLENT JOB ‼️‼️‼️‼️

Thank you for sharing

Well done! Hard to get it perfect, but that's much better! Saved at least $4,000 and honestly you prob did a better job!

You guys are brave!

Doing the same thing my door sill was a termite damage. Ordering those bottle jacks.

Liked and subscribed

We generally use underpinning here in the UK but that's for 2 storey brick built houses. You should be fine just keep an eye on it.

Great job! Don't know if you read comments anymore but would be thankful for information. What brend of the jacks and adjustable posts you got and where? We have a problem with sagging floor and carrying beam destroyed by termites of two story house so tones of work ahead 😓

This just gave me Hella confidence for lifting my sagging floors lol.

Surprised Mike Homes was not all over this video with his sarcastic demeaning comments. He would take everything you've done apart, and fixed it for $50,000 getting the same result you did. I stopped watching his shows long time ago. I always appreciate innovative INEXPENSIVE solutions to house renovation projects. Well done Scott and to think you did this for your ex...

Amazing jobs

Best movie I seen in this, thanks for sharing.

Great job Scott thanks for sharing God bless you bud

Well done

Well done. I applause you.

Impressive!

Waht did you do with the sand base? Did you put in a good footing? Did the Inspection satisfy your Permit?

Nice job, and affordable 1st phase of work. Over time if the footing continues to sink a final and affordable solution may be to instal approx 8 helical piers. Approx cost is $300 per pier, the rest is manual labor for which you have a good team.Wait and see, every spring you can take you lazer level out and verify the current situation. Good luck, always better to start with the simple solutions first..

Surprisingly, no big surprises!

Are you still active? I now live in quebec but have a similar issue. Most of my house is on a nice solid slab foundation, but they renovated and added an addition a long time ago, and chose not to put a foundation in the back corner. The house has sagged a little because of it. When I got the home inspected, the inspector suggested I just put in a sonotube 5 ft deep, fill that with concrete, and then put in a jackpost in the back corner. Was wondering if there is anything else I should do.

Damn! Can’t believe they built in sand like that…even here by the beach in SoCal we don’t do that

I have the same problem with my house. it's a small house like the one seen in this video and I'm having the same issue with sagging on one side I can't find anyone in my town to help me do this type of a job no one seems to know what they're doing when it comes to lifting and restabilizing. I haven't even been able to get a quote. I wish this guy in this video would just come and I pay him to do it LOL looks like he's a Jedi master of sorts.

Perfect example why i NEVER attach a deck to a house when the deck is that low.... Ive had my deck floating beside my house for 5 years and it hasnt moved an inch and the water runs down between the house and deck. Snow and Ice dont build up and destroy it either..... Good job on the lift.

thank you

Man bud I keep looking at those videos saying it easy idk where to start! Been waiting for two years to do mine might wait another unless someone on here from punxsutawney pa and can help 😂

Is it possible that side off the house is near a large under ground sink hole?

I wish you could do something with my sagging at my house. It was hand-built in 1950. The crawlspace floor is muddy. I now am not sure what footing my foundation is on right now. And also the addition of the house has wood foundation and the wood joists and foundation are in direct contact with the ground (dirt and half patio concrete)

I'm subbing, this is a man after mine own heart, "I've never done this but f** it, let's have a go.."

WOW ! Excellent work! You dont need a special permit to do this? One of those probly dont ask dont tell kinda things.

THANKS

I have been facing same issue weeks. The side door of the house not closing properly. The crack has shown in the foundation wall. The engineer quote me already $10000 to fix the foundation also advised me to adjust the tele-post of the basement. I wish you are here in Winnipeg. Is there any way I contact with you that would be very kind of you.

well did!

Glad to have stumbled on this. I'm on day2 of youtube videos seeking how to jack up a house. Looking to set a foundation under a 104year old log cabin. Anyone with resources on this please comment

I hope you guys fixed drainage in deck area, number one cause for foundation failure,

I plan to lift my 24' x 48' off-grid cabin bc I would like more space underneath to assist in renovation. What size bottle jacks did u use?

i just need this to lift a floor joist cuz my house is sinking do u think it would do that with just one??

Any suggestions for lifting wood floor and base that sits on a peat bog. All wood, ground always wet.

Awesome job glad ya didn't do the underpinning.

I think my only concern is, and please don’t take this as criticism because it’s not, I have a similar situation with my house but when you went to make it look pretty I would worry about that wood did you put it on the outside of the house before you put the mortar on it. We have a terrible problem down here with insects, specifically termites. I’m afraid that if I did that with mine it would be close to the ground and we would get that problem again. Pressure treated lumber only resists insects but it’s not full proof and I have seen pressure treated lumber get paid up with insects after a certain amount of time

This is very helpful. What capacity bottle jack did you use?

The foundation was already settled best to leave it on the ground and add to the top like in the video in that situation.

Hi Scott, what were the bottle weight capacity Jack's rated at.

Can you give links to the videos that helped you the most please? I have to fix my foundation and need as many GOOD vids to help as I can find.

I’m here to work out how to level my garden cattery shed, as the foundations are sinking ( I voulunteer in cat rescue). I’ve been dreading it. But if you can level a whole house! What am I worried about. I’m going to order some bottle jackets lol.

How are things now, 2 years down the line? I just bought an 1800s cottage that's sunk about 4" in the back corner, about to have an interesting adventure.

were there no hurricane bolts holding the house to the foundation?

Where abouts in Quebec, I have a cottage that has done the same as yours !

Level on a counter top is not a good idea as they are made out of particle board and laminate. If old they will tend to bow, and the cabinet it sits on may not be level to begin with. Also, the issue causing the sinking should also be taken care of by getting the water away from the footer/foundation with French drains.

Can you guys come to Virginia to help me with my sinking house? Lol #seriousquestion

If your foundation is sinking and you're jacking up from foundation, are you expecting to have to do this again after some years?

No cement between the solid concrete blocks?

Never start with a corner. Move atleast 3 feet in with inspection.

Can you lift the one side of the house just with jack or you need to do the whole hosue

Would this work for a brickface building?? Its 2 stories and a lot heavier I think. Please let me know? Manny

Nothing wrong with learning and doing from KZfaq. It is the new community college/university.

Scott- what about the floor joists - seems you just lifted the sides - how did the middle if the floors get lifted??

👍 what’s the laser device please? Thanks

Thanks for sharing your experience with bottle jacks on houses yet learning about the tool. I bought a 4 ton bottle 8000 lbs. Do u think it's enough to lift a house ....

Looks like it’s sloping on that side and the soil will slowly water away. Keep vegetation further away because it lock moist. Consider digging for better drainage. The basic issue for a lot of houses is that the ground can’t support the weight.

old wood cribbing, my house is sagging the exact same way with exactly the same measurements. i haven’t fixed it and have no experience but sure am learning watching these videos. i’m in alaska and these winters and summers make the silt rise and sink. my house is on cinderblocks and wood timbers

No shortage of beer. My kinda guy

Interesting When jacking a house how do u keep the pipes from busting

Good talk through but wish it was more shots & close ups of the actuall work done..

Man remember droping stuff in a sloping house things would roll away to a low point😬

If you had lifted the foundation It would have broken, concrete has great strength when the weight is spread out on it, but it breaks easily with a pinpoint force. Take a sidewalk panel 4 inch thick concrete, place a brick under one end and you can break it in half by hitting down on it with a wood 2 x 4 , don't ask me how I know.!

How would you fix a leaning pole barn?

Any drawbacks if this method were to be tried on a slab foundation? Asking for a friend ...

How has it held up?

Must not have code out where your doing that

You jacked it back up, yes. But won’t it continue to sink?

Those small bricks used to level the house will not last in sand. You should have made 24x24x24 cement pads to carry the load which would be harder to sink into the around or build a 2ft wide cement chain wall to carry the load. Weight on small blocks will sink where as weight spread evenly across a wider block will not sink. Its like liftboats if you know anything about them..the 8ft wide/round legs with shoes on a lift boat is 20x20 which allows it to sit evenly on top the seabed where as the 8ft wide/round legs without shoes will sink into the seabed resulting in stability problems

a bottle jack will lift a house?

Did you see the bubble?

Great idea! But how were you able to fit the bottle jack in there?

Is this house built on a slab yes?

2 years later, how is it holding?

What if their is no block.. seal plate on foundation.