Heres the deal. I live in Southern Iowa. Back in the early to mid 1900’s, a lot of houses were brought in from a neighboring coal town that went belly up. I think mine is one of them. The floor joist are notched into the 8 x 8 beams, and the beams are supported by individual piles of rock, (i think limestone). I have a lot of floor issues and want to straighten it out. I want to start with the beam and am tossing around some different and more efficient ways to support the beams. The thought of crawling around under there and digging a hole for a thickened pad and using screw jacks to support the beam doesnt sound fun. Got any better ideas?
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Replies
Start by calling local house movers. They have the knowledge and equipment to do this safely, promptly and correctly.
-- J.S.
Be sure to sort out any code issues. In theory the foundation probably needs to go down maybe 2-1/2 feet where you are, I'm guessing, while the existing piers may just be rocks sitting on the ground.
Whatever you do, don't scrimp on the number or size (cross-sectional area) of piers. Especially in unstable soils if you have too few piers then the house will settle, and it always settles unevenly.
How hard to fix depends on how badly it's settled, and how much of the settling you want to correct. Fixing this is something that can be a DIY job, if you don't mind grubbing around under the house. But it's a lot of (often miserable) work, and a house moving company can usually do a better job and a lot faster.
My house was like that... too low, supported on fieldstone piers, all the posts rotting out at grade. I had housemovers lift it, and then poured a new perimeter foundation and piers for the girders. If you want to improve the house long-term you should consider similar.