home repair question

[Bloodman14]

Have a similar situation on a house built in 1987!!! Watching with great interest!!

[ascast]

Battis - I have done several of these lifts for houses, barns, garages. It's no big deal. A couple pointers:
1) do not assume your local Amish will do you right. Some of them in the community are geniuses with wood, some could not make firewood. Most are farmers first. Ask around get refs from the English, I have seen some horrendous work......
2) you may have a codes issue to deal with. generally adding wood is OK but do not remove anything. It then becomes replacement. Permits are cheap enough, but they may make you get a real Engineer. $$$

I would lift from the outside of possible-no codes guys watching LOL- I have spiked 2x10" to the side of the house to provide a beam to lift. This can be 6" or 6 feet up, what ever works best. I use hydraulic jacks as they are fast and incredible powerful. Use several, 10 ton should work but 20 will surely get it. Lift one a half inch, then follow up with the next. Have screw jack columes in places and catch them up every 2" or so. You don't need to lift any more than really needed as your horsehair plaster will start to stress and fall off. Have lots of cribing on hand. hope that helps a little

[Battis]

I removed the clapboards and insulation up to the base of the window on that side. The rotted wood only goes in 2-3 inches of the 6" beam. I think I will just cut the rot out and reinforce it with a new piece of wood bolted into the sill. There's a coal chute door under the window - I put a brace from the concrete base in the chute to the cross stud under the window. I'm still waiting for contractors to call me back, but it might be a simple fix.
Thanks for all the responses.

[DocSavage]

My house is 175 yrs old10 years ago we had the first floor rehab for handicap access for my wife. The floor was in serious need of leveling,contractor used 2 screw jacks and a steel beam to lift the floor then they sistered the joists back to the sill then used Lally columns to support the steel beam. Field stone foundation btw.

[ulav8r]

The rot can continue up to 2 feet into solid wood. Treat the wood to KILL the rot.

[john.k]

Also look into the possibility of epoxy impregnating deteroriated wood...this is an accepted way of repairing old structures.

[Plate plinker]

It’s not rocket science. Router to remove 2” of rot if you can set the router up. A set of good sharp chisels is a good idea. Bed in some treated wood.
Second cut off rotted studs if it’s just 3” of rot and lay two treated 2x(6) or whatever cut to the correct width the length of four feet or whatever and button it up. This is a simple repair.
I have jacked lots of buildings up. Don’t mess with that unless necessary. It’s always a bit hair raising. Did a AMISH BUILT barn last year. Crap work, they have lots of shoddy workers like every other group.

[Battis]

I've used West Systems epoxy alot over the years, mostly on boat repairs. I'll use some on the good wood once the rot is gone.
The previous owner of the house took out a load bearing interior wall to open up a room and didn't support above for two weeks, then they used 2x4s. When I bought the house, the upstairs was like a trampoline. That was the only time I used a house jack, and ended up having a contractor do the work the right way.
My wife and I met some Mennonites at a farmer's market this summer. They were, hands down, the nicest people I've ever met. Not fake nice, but truly good people.

[samari46]

I had mine done from the inside by the contractor. Jacked it up, made two cuts with a demolition blade in a reciprocating saw. and only two nails from the rough cut 2x4's and managed to pry it out and in went the new pressure treated sill plate. I redid the old stucco outside coating and black jacked the area. Frank

[MaryB]

The foundation is rock on the inside, brick on the outside. It's over 6' in height in the basement. There's an old coal chute door so I don't think the house was ever raised. The house right next door was built by the same builder, in the same year (1892), and are (or were) identical room for room. That house still has the slate roof.
I'm pretty sure it's "balloon construction.
I've been checking it out thoroughly. The sill that needs work is 6" wide, and only about 2" is rotted (on the outside). The other four inches are fine. All that's resting on the rotted part is the outer edge of the wall studs. The backs of the wall studs rest on the good, solid sill. I really don't see how I'd jack or raise anything - the next floor joist in the basement is only 6" away and raising that won't move the sill with the rot - they're parallel.
I'm waiting to hear from two contractors. I'm thinking that I could cut away the bad 2" of rot (which wouldn't change or move anything) and replace that section with a PT 2x4 for the rest of the wall studs to rest on.

They make an "epoxy" that you mix and work into the rotted wood and it makes it as strong as the existing wood. Saw it years ago on This Old House... in a case like yours where most of the timber is good it is a good option over replacing it. Sister in new pressure treated studs with as much overlap as possible and use a LOT of glue and fasteners to hold them together because those fasteners will be in shear...

[jonp]

Still wrapping my head around this project. With screw jacks, isn't all the weight on the threads?

I used an 8x8 and two screw jacks to hold the corner of a 2 story house when i poured a new footing and built the block wall. Just make sure to lift a little then let set then a little more to let the house adjust.
Floor jacks like these https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Fl.../dp/B00D1W5IRO. More than strong enough and i keep a couple on hand.
One house i used a wood bean, metal plate and 2 bottle jacks with no problem.
BTW as others have noted, cut past the rot.
Dont over think this. Ive done this multiple times and the hardest part is to get started.

[Battis]

The contractor/mason called as I was working on the project. He said that he'd do the repair the same as I was doing. Basically, I cut the rotted wood, about 3" out, leaving another 3" that was fine (Sawzall, small chainsaw, chisels - couldn't find any hand grenades), sanded the good wood flush (16 grit disc on a 7" sander), then fit a 4x4 PT board. Almost a perfect fit. I used 7" carriage bolts to join the new and old wood, with plenty of construction adhesive in between. I'm sistering in new wall studs (5 total). Nothing moved up or down, the plaster is fine inside. No jacking.
If I got paid by the hour, I would have made approx. $490,000. I am slow. And I'm not done.