How to Raise and Level Sinking Front Porch Deck Handy Manny
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2019
- In this video I teach you how to raise and level a sinking porch deck. In this case one corner of a neighbor's porch sunk about 1.5 inches over the last couple decades. The corner was only being supported by one column.
Using a few half-cinder blocks, a couple concrete pavers, and a 4-ton jack I was able to level the porch in a couple hours by myself.
This is a straightforward DIY solution for a common problem with old house porches.
For more details about this project visit:
notwaitingtolive.com/how-to-r...
Check out my other tutorials on notwaitingtolive.com and more about houses on:
www.notwaitingtolive.com/house-blog
If you're looking for useful home improvement tips check out my videos to learn:
The Best Way to Wrap and Extension Cord: • How to Wrap an Extensi...
The #1 Mistake DIY Painters Make: • #1 Mistake DIY Painter...
How to Raise a Sinking Porch: • How to Raise and Level...
How to Cut a Basement Floor: • How to Cut Basement Fl...
All these videos can be found in my Home Improvement Playlist:
• Home DIY Tips and Tricks
#porchrepairs #porchfix #notwaitingtolive
I just want to emphasize that if you are using hollow cement blocks in columns you should never have the blocks oriented so that you can see through the column sideways as in this video. The two vertical side walls might be strong in compression but cannot resist a side load. The block can suddenly collapse like a parallelogram.
It's so easy to just orient the hollow vertically which results in four vertical walls carrying the load. This gives the greatest vertical strength and side load resistance. For your sake and for the sake of your loved ones, use hollow blocks properly.
This video was exactly what I needed. I'm not so nervous to tackle my own now. Thanks!!
Thanks FOr the video, I am getting ready to help a neighbor level his porch deck that stands already off the ground about 5 feet in front. Well over the years the deck has sunk in the middle of the front of the deck. Efforts were tried to support it but as you explained no effort was made to put concrete under the support, so this video gave me an idea to raise that area and level the porch and put in a larger piece of timber with a concrete base under it so it won't sink anymore, so thanks for your efforts, I really appreciate it. JD
Thanks, Manny. You're taking a load of concern off my mind about this at my house. I'm dealing with a much smaller wooden porch. That I can do this with stuff I already own is wonderful. I thought I'd have to rent a floor jack or something.
Thank you.
Thanks so much! Soon, I'll be moving to a house with a porch that needs leveling. Your video was fabulously insightful! I'm grateful for you and your video!
Lucky that hollow cinder block didn't implode having it on the collapsing angle.
Yeah, blocks only take vertical force in one orientation, and that ain't it! Next time buy 2x blocks!
First thing I noticed. Yeah don't listen to this guy unless you want to die. Smh
@@mjkulikow I agree that the blocks are in the wrong direction for their intended use. However, their application in this video is not their intend use. I disagree that the blocks can only support a load when vertically aligned. They clearly supported the load in this situation for reasons beyond luck. The side wall still has a shear strength >1,000 pounds and the jack would slip through the center hole of the sash block if positioned vertically. That means the failure point becomes the shear strength of whatever is directly underneath the jack. I think a better solution in hindsight would be to stack the blocks vertically and put a material with a higher shear strength than the sidewall of the block to support the jack. What would you recommend?
@@andrewi6445 how would you support the jack in this situation?
What is the shear strength of the sidewall of a hollow concrete sash block? And how much weight do you estimate the jack is supporting in this video?
no clue how to fix my sinking deck. this video helps me visualize what I need to do. thanks
Thanks brother! This has been extremely helpful for me!!
Thanks Manny, this video was very helpful!
Great visuals and a excellent demo video
Thank you I appreciate your feedback.
Awesome! Thank you .Helped a lot.
I need to fix my sagging porch, this very helpful. I'll let you know when its done
Thank you. It would be great to hear feedback on what works for you.
I’m going to be tackling my front porch this summer it’s sagging and it has a huge heavy overhang so it’s going to be a slow process moving it carefully up to level, but this video helps with the information, thanks.
Super helpful. I plan to raise my porch this summer and would very much like to avoid the $1200 price tag. Any tips related to safety as I dig /expose the support beam?
Great work!
This has to be in Cleveland with your Cavs hat 💪 I have a house to do exactly like this so thank you for this video
Thank God for video's like this or I would be as helpless as a schoolgirl! LOL!
Good work!
ty ! very informational.
My deck is sagging where the footings settled, tilted and the support posts fell over. I’m looking forward to using your method to level it back up.
Let us know how it turns out.
Nice! I’ve got a similar issue
Just got money together to finally get a lil vacation home,, to now spend more time working for over time to maintain it
Congrats! Remember to enjoy it for what it already is even though it might not be perfect!
It worked .thanks
Thank you man 💪
Thank you Manny. I have an old house house with a sinking corner on the front porch. It needs to come up about 2". The porch has concrete piers at the corners with crawl spaces in between. The old floor joists are about 10' apart. am in Florida so we are pure sand - no clay. Any suggestions for adding new support on sand.
This is our exact problem. Now just to find someone who can do the work!
That is the hard part indeed, especially for the little stuff that the full time crews don't want to bother with.
Most excellent explanation, I have limited experience but I can learn. I would make this suggestion for future excellent vids--if there are similar pics if you could label them as connected or different--1a, 1b etc or whatever is easiest for you it would help my following the thread. You have a pleasant delivery, calm and easy. You also project the belief that yes, even you can do this (the jack lifting the car yeah, it can surely lift my porch, didn't know that). Thanks now if I can only please the damn useless code enforcement igits...
What needs to be considered with the roof? Can you potentially damage it if the porch needs to be raised more than a couple inches?
Excellent
glad you found this useful
I’m going to have to redo my porch piers on a 125 year old home. As I’ll need to replace 8 piers I hope to create a temporary interior support. I was looking at jacks today and wonder if I’ll need to use Jack stands also?
Found this helpful however how would someone address the roof also kind of pulling itself away from the house due to a corner sinking? Just trying to figure out if I can do this myself or if I need to hire a contractor.
If I’m creating the support myself should I just do a sonnet tube (filled with concrete) with 4x4 pressure treated mounted to the top?
Hi, what type of paver blocks are you using? We have similar use case, but also the only pavers we have (in our yard) seem very brittle and I would not have thought they could serve as a sort of footing for a post. We also cannot possibly get post holes dug where we would need them for a true concrete footing so would like to try this approach.
They are Historic old house with lots of Beautiful feature that they don't make today , lie double porch in front , Domers in attic , big rooms 2000 sf but they can be costly to repaired to what they look before , especially Foundation support and old wood that been thru Carpenter Ants , sometime i want to let go but i like the challenge putting it back together , no hurry .
Manny, Our enclosed front p;orch has slanted to one sidee and is a little bit rickety or shakey when you walk near the sinking end. I wonder what it would take to fix it and how much it would cost to hire a contractor to reair it.
How do you raise a 6x6 porch post that’s cemented into the ground and is finished around both sides. I’m considering trying to get a straight cut thru it all the way. Then jack up the porch an inch and slide in a 1” board. Then band the post to keep it in line from settling out of alignment with the porch. Any input would be appreciated.
what is the name of your jack your using is a a bottle jack thanks for video very helpful
dude are you a Cavs fan? I'm about to fly out to C-town to repair my dad's front porch. Also a 100+ year old home. Any thoughts on straightening the porch posts themselves (like the support posts holding up the porch roof)? Great video man, thank you!
Thank you, how would I go about quoting a job just like this? I don't want to overbid or underbid myself. Thank you/
What caused it to sink in the first place and what did you do to address that? If the soil conditions are not stable it will just continue to sink.
Shouldn't the support post be on the vertical 2 X 6 and not the porch floor boards?
Does there need to be a slant away from the house for water not to pool and rot floor?
I have to do this to my porch. I haven't been underneath to determine what needs replacement in terms of supports. I have required tools, but my question is, was there any issue with the windows breaking when you raised he porch. My house is also about 100 years old and the windows are painted in, removing them would be somewhat impossible, but I'm concerned about jacking the porch and the windows not being able to readjust. It's amazing that they haven't completely cracked in the present state. Any thoughts?
James Durham the windows were not damaged in this instance. Most porches are attached to the house and not a part of the framing of the house itself. For this reason it’s unlikely the window frames would pinch or shift from the adjustment of your front porch.
Century old windows are often a lot easier to remove and replace than you might think. The 100 year old type with the counterweights are kept in place by a vertical trim inside the window frame on the inside of the house. It may not seem like it’s easy when it’s painted over, but this trim piece is easy to get off with a small molding crow bar ($10) and a hammer. When you remove that trim piece the window comes out easily. (This is how you can replace window panes) You can jack up the porch, pop the windows back in, put back the trim and repaint the trim a quart of paint. You could even take the opportunity to reset the trim (which warps over time) and make the windows easy to open and close by giving them just smidge more room, they’re often (but not always) being pinched shut by the trim. If the counter weights are broken you can use a sash spring to keep the window in place when you want it partially opened. www.homedepot.com/p/Prime-Line-Wood-Window-Sash-Spring-F-2537/100195289
I build decks, and depending how you porch is attached to your home either wood or concrete will help in that decision. The porch shown in the video would not have affected the windows.Ledgers generally are attached to wood or concrete, and are never lifted in a porch repair depicted in the video. He is lifting the porch from the front, not the back, so he would not disturb the house or windows.
Did you have to brace the roof of the porch? The foundation of my porch is brick, will this technique work?
You will commonly see people using a ~100" adjustable jack or 2x4s to brace a porch roof when replacing the porch columns.
The method in this video raises the wood deck itself. The jack can raise the deck off lower supports. If your concern is that it will also raise supports on top of the deck, below the roof, then you're looking at bracing the roof and replacing those supports. My guess though is if that's the case then the porch roof has sunk as well.
Has the porch roof started to separate from the house?
ENJOYED your video very much !
I would only make one polite comment: the particular orientation in which you placed your concrete blocks was (is?) in fact INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS :-O
Mold-Poured concrete "cinder blocks" like that are meant ONLY to support their loads with the HOLE ORIENTED UP & DOWN.
That you oriented not one but ALL of your blocks with their holes oriented horizontally will almost GUARANTEE they will eventually suffer CATASTROPHIC FAILURE of the load being placed on them - particularly if you continue to use only that "small-footprint" jack which is pushing down IN-BETWEEN the vertical "walls" of your blocks !!!
PLEASE take some time to RE-ORIENT your blocks at your earliest opportunity !
Kind regards,
-Mark Vogt | VOGTLAND OUTDOORS Channel
Thank you for your thoughtful reply Mark. I’m sure others reading the comment section will find your insight helpful.
I agree with you. And you can rest easy knowing the blocks were only temporary to support the jack. They are no longer under the porch.
I oriented the blocks that way to support the base of the jack as it’s so small it fits through the center of the blocks. For what it’s worth, it worked. You get lucky sometimes...
Thanks for that reminder to me, as well. I'm an amateur. My house was built in 1917, but the parts that need repair, like the porch, were built in the late 60s early 70s. Lesser quality. Thanks.
One of the first things that caught my eye. The other is that those supports are not under the joists, as required to properly bear load.
thanks. I think we can handle the sagging corner of our deck and save some $.
I hsve a 1930s house with a basement underneath and you can see where the corner of the house is about an inch above where the porch boards are. The porch on that area in graded towards the house and even though there is a overhang the water has been flowing from the outside edge to where the pirch meets the house. This has been happening for years i wiukd guess since the wood there is rotted at the ends andyou can see light in the basement ceiling. So i have thought flashing may help but then i know it wont because the porch is still leaning towards the house instead of away. There are some 7 ft jacks supporting about 6 areas in the basement, but not on the beam that is supporting that corner of the porch. It is about an inch low, meaning that i probably need to get a jack or two and slowly raise this beam about 1.5 inches to get the grade correct, need to put flashing in and seeal underneath with spray foam until next year when i can start replacing the rotten boards on the porch. I have a few other projects that are more of a priority. So i am going to buy a few jacks and maybe even raise some of the ones that are already in place. The support beam may have dry rot so i may need to attach another support beam next to it to help carry the load. I am hoping to also get top soil and grade the yard to prevent the water on the ground to flow the other way and to prevent any more damage. I have never done this type ofvwork and thank you for helping me formulate a plan. I cant afford a new porch and i like the one i have. Itbis a big covered porch and i want to enjoy it . Some day add planters and other pretty things. I am hoping it will help the second story also where the floor has actually dropped halfway in the room above the porch. The hard woodcactually comes to a pointninnthe middle of the room. Thank you for your video and if amyone has suggestions please feel free to comment and let me know. Ty
If you need to raise a floor/deck two inches should you do it in steps? Like raise it one inch then wait a month and raise it another inch?
I’d just go for the whole two inches up front. The original settlement was caused by the same weight that will be applied after you raise the deck. If you think it will continue to settle more you can spread the load out by adding additional supports before raising the deck.
I have the exact problem
Will this work if the porch is enclosed?
Woodglut has very good and accurate plans.
Good to know
@@notwaitingtolive Awesome you like it dude !👌
My front porch is sinking but they put the posts in the ground with no concrete foundation long before I bought the home.
I know I cant do this myself. Who would I hire to do this?
Looks like a bottle Jack is in my future
Can you offer any other help,, I can't afford the 3000 they are asking and my deck is slowly dipping on one side,, it's like a trailer home
I have a porch that has been enclosed. I want to open the enclosed porch to the living room. When the porch was enclosed, the floor was not leveled. so should i shim the flooring or lift the front of the porch and level it?
I think shimming the floor is less likely to create a new problem. How much of an height increase do you need to level out the room?
@@notwaitingtolive I have a similar situation, but my enclosed porch was already extended to be part of the living room, however it was never leveled. From the highest point to the lowest is about 2" towards the front of the house. The flooring company I plan to have the LVP installed will shim the area to level. Would this be your call as well, or is your method better? Post leveling, looks like I have to raise the baseboard heater pipes, and probably adjust the door and entry way due to the new floor height.
I have a porch almost exactly like that!
Problem I have is during heavy rains, water gets underneath the porch and softens the ground.
Not sure the ground will be hard enough to support the weight of the supports without sinking into the 'mud'.
Excavation is out of the question as I am not rich. Nor can I do that myself.
I think the water issue was coming from leaking downspouts so I replaced one with a larger one just to see if that was the problem.
Won't know till we get another heavy rain.
I wonder if a 'screw' type house jack could remedy the problem?
You need to pour or install pyramid blocks. The flare at the bottom prevents them from sinking. It is upon this technology that buildings on the Florida Coast are built. I've used the Dek block brand and they are fine if you follow the directions. They have to sit on well-drained, compacted gravel, so you'll still have to dig a hole for each one. Movement can be minimized by putting the blocks 3 inches below grade (in a bigger hole) and surrounding them with gravel. Make sure the deck doesn't have running water under it or the blocks can be washed out. That would need to be addressed first if so.
@@sheabernard1962 Those pyramid blocks are presumably very heavy.
I won't be able to move them in place.
Bags of cement are even too heavy.
Only have about 3 to 3-1/2 feet of head space on a very lumpy ground.
But I can place a patio block and concrete block though.
Digging might be a huge undertaking as well.
I really do not want to take up the porch floor just to shore it up.
@@crazysquirrel9425 You can use the deck pyramid blocks, easily moved by hand. Frankly anything without a flared-base is not going to work long term, although (2) 12x12 concrete pavers, stacked, then a 8x4x4 cinder block cap would probably work as well. Anything that is downward tiered to spread out the weight.
@@sheabernard1962 Grandpa just said to look up "K-Type shoring"
I'd like to see a step by step video on how to raise my 100 year old porch
Had a lot of ppl over for prom and they got to jumping on the porch and my porch need lifting
👏👏👏👍👍
I say, it looks as though the before and after photos of the bubble level, (3:45) indicating the difference between the deck sagging and the deck repaired have been tampered with. The left end of the level is a little higher off the deck in the after photo, suggesting an adjustment was employed to center the bubble, thus giving the impression of the deck being perfectly level :)
Thanks for your efforts. A moving video would have been better. Still, photos did not help me as much.
Yep..i gotta do this... hope i can
Kj allday The jack does the work and the setup is intuitive. You’ll figure it out.
It's a go today is the day wish me luck
Kj allday good luck. Let us know what did and didn’t work for you. Someone reading the comment section will find your experience useful.
Yes.. phase one is to drill holes between the cinder blocks to be removed... nearly 100 holes... only 50 drilled... tomorrow chisel the rest to remove the blocks... wish me luck imma a noob and only going off what I seen in this video
Hi. thanks for the info on this, but mine is a bit more I am replacing an old floor that was way more than I thought (2 o3) rotten boards turned into all because each layer I got to was so badly repaired before I didn't want to put a new floor(deck Boards) instead of a way to expensive tounge&groove.(original) floor. Trying to brace roof to hold up while I removed boards rotted under posts on an all-ready unlevel layered rock foundation to house its self. Since the whole house has shifted here & there due to city rainwater runoff flooding my yard, basement & furnace Unlike my ducks who love the moat time after time Being a vet on a fixed income I grab & recycle other peoples used wood or what I rehab with needs repairing, pros are not affordable i do all my repairs though I love fixing things my body wear-n-tare & military service only lets me do bits at a time, cold weather this early & rain has put me behind. The roof is old & needs to be replaced also the more I tear into it to brace it the scarier it gets. it's hard to know where to brace it since the roof frame is rotten in spots to can I put bracing on the ceiling part to support it till I can afford to redo the ceiling & soffit areas? that looks natural or good & not a band-aide job like the previous idiot did who sold me this nightmare? & what do you do when the floor frame boards weren't cut to meet the outside frame & the board is too high to level the rest of the floor like it was each time I jack up the outer frame roof seems to get worse?
Sounds like you’re in a tough situation. I have seen people use metal and wood temporary supports to hold up a porch roof for many months at a time. I’ve never seen a decorative design, just enough to get by.
It sounds like this deck requires making more than simple repairs. Contractors are more expensive than ever, but some jobs do require previous first hand experience making these repairs.
Will work , but I don't think this would pass any city codes
I agree. Don't expect this quick fix to be the reason a porch passes an FHA inspection. In general I think most people looking for this solution are trying to avoid or delay the $3,000+ quote they just got to repair their porch.
From what I saw under the porch and home , Buy your own jack forget borrowing , you are going to be using it for this house , or who ever own this house , most old house 80yrs or more like this have Foundation issue , that what im dealing with .
I agree. The porch on this old house is every so slightly pulling away from the main structure over time. Eventually it will need to be torn down and replaced.
@@notwaitingtolive True but until that time...You!😊 Showed us a Great!😊....
quick fix!😊👏👏👏✌
A farm Jack works for this. Just put it under the rim joist
Thank you for pointing that out. That would've been the better tool for the job. And I see they're less than $100 at a couple supply stores.
Cinder blocks get there strength when laid the other way. You're lucky it didnt break.
With the interior channels vertically oriented the compression strength of a hollow concrete block is 1,900psi.
www.uop.edu.jo/PDF%20File/uop%20[Architecture_Ebook]_Masonry_Design_and_Detailing_For_Architects_and_Contractors-20615_Part279.pdf
Do you have any guess what the compression strength of the same block is with the channels horizontally oriented?
@@notwaitingtolive tried the same and my cinder block busted no were near 1900lb. Strength. That was for a deck that weighs less than that porch. I also recommend against even using these type of blocks at all.
@@HookSettinHooligans thanks for sharing your feedback. What material did you end up using?
@@notwaitingtolive some boards I had stacked together.
Striker Thunderlick still waiting on someone to shoot from the hip about how much weight those stacked blocks support...
How much does a project like this call for those of us who are not handy?
Then again I can use a jack--
That can vary greatly.
I charged $200 for labor and materials for this job of raising and leveling the one corner. I spent a couple hours on this start to finish.
Nowadays in the Midwest a good handyman charges ~$50/hr. They may charge a minimum fee of $200-$300 if the job only takes a few hours.
A licensed and bonded contractor may not even entertain a project this small. If you need multiple post raised they may accept the work but more likely they would only be interested in a full rebuild of the porch for $5,000+.
If you have trouble finding someone to level the porch for less than $500 go to the pro desk at Home Depot and ask if they can refer any independent contractors who could level a porch.
Didn't show what I need. Need to figure out how to put in the supports.. Our deck hasn't sunk just the supports aren't supporting cuz they sunk...
@@sbziel raise the deck with a temporary support and dig out the permanent support so you can get under it or replace it then adjust the permanent support by shimming the bottom or replacing it with a new longer one. In this video I added a ~1” concrete paver underneath the existing support to raise it.
@@notwaitingtolive to bad your not in Colo. Wife was thinking it would be thousands to fix... But my deck isn't sinking just the supposed supports sank.
Sad , so many old home sinking into the ground by pillars that were not done correctly because of James looking for short cut .
Yep and here I am jimmy rigging it back in place.
All that pressure on hollow bricks.
Using a concrete block to support the jack is bad idea. Hollow concrete blocks like that can easily fail. You would be safer building cribbing out of railroad ties or 8x8's.
Nathan Esbeck even hollow concrete cubes like this 8”x8”x8” may surprise many people with their compression strength of 2,000+ pounds per square inch. If you really wanted to be safe you could go with the 8”x8”x8” solid concrete cubes with a compression strength of 4,000 psi.
I agree. I never use cinder block. I like wood 6 x 6s cut at about 18" wide. either side by side.
Mine failed recommend against it
Cinder block is fine, but that's not how you're supposed to use it... The hollow part should be aimed vertically. You're putting all that weight on a 1 inch thick SIDE wall! It could definitely crumble and drop the porch on top of someone and KILL them.
@@wasclywabbitgaming6875 My though exactly. Stack them the same way they would be used if building a load bearing wall.
Do not use a hollow block like that to support the jack. It may fail. That would not be good. Use a solid block.
I completely agree
👌
Cinder blocks are not load bearing unless they're filled with concrete...very dangerous, use car jacks
Blocks are not meant to be structurally sound the way you had them , lucky they didnt collapse
I agree. The blocks do not have their maximum strength the way I ranged them. The jack was smaller than the hollow core of the blacks block and could not be arranged as intended. This porch was sagging but still supported all the way around. Even if that jack collapsed the porch would still be back at its original height.
When stacking the block this is the weakest way and is very dangerous and can result in catastrophic failure and death. Do not stack blocks on their side stack upright and cap with a 10 by 2
Totally correct , these weekend warriors are dangerous.
Way to go using the concrete blocks the wrong way. That could of been bad. Real bad.
I agree that the blocks are in the wrong direction for their intended use. However, their application in this video is not their intend use. The side wall still has a shear strength >1,000 pounds and the jack would slip through the center hole of the sash block if positioned vertically. That means the failure point becomes the shear strength of whatever is directly underneath the jack. I think a better solution in hindsight would be to stack the blocks vertically and put a material with a higher shear strength than the sidewall of the block to support the jack. What would you recommend?
Never use a jack on top of a "support" like this AND please take this video down, before you lead someone to an idiotic death by doing this.