no slam to this guy , but that is not the proper way to do a foundation. It is a quick way , but not the right way, if the ground sunk lifting up is not fixing the problem. It will happen again
I have a floor that needs this. Sequence of events: 1. Set off a bug bomb in the crawlspace. 2. Put a fan under the house to air it out. 3. Put down tarps under the floor everywhere. 4. Get a LOT of dust masks. 5. Fix the floor per the fix it guy. I can do this. Thanks for the info on what to use. I'd have never known.
I have watched other subfloor contractors. Hell they are almost walking in the crawl space. They are on clean plastic and all lighted up like a hallway. This is more realistic!! Thank you
Ha! I sent this link to my husband who is crawling around this week trying to see how we fix one of our old floors. He's 74 now and if he wasn't fit and slim he'd never make it. This particular crawl space is much smaller than yours and if he had an extra 10 pounds and got hung up it would require the jaws of life to get him out. Thank you. He'll feel good knowing he has a buddy in the underworld.
I learn to take a old firm seat cushion to lay my head on while working. Your neck and shoulders ends up being so tight that it gives me a tension headache .
SALUTE to you sir...As a remodeling contractor for 30 years, I know that feeling of being under a too small crawl...That's not a crawl space; that's a slither space...Bless your tenacity to take that on... I worked with a guy doing insulation, out in No Cal when I was in the service; He'd say "That's more'n you need!" if you could slither under a joist...:)...But; Tyvek suit, head sock, best mask you can afford, safety glasses and GLOVES makes it a bit more bearable.
Thanks man. Yeah, I should have suited up better, but in doing the vid I figured it'd get in the way. I worked for years on commercial buildings. Being the skinniest guy on the crew I always got handed the tight crawls. I didn't really mind, but now that I'm not as young its more challenging.
@@ItsFixable :)...Thanks for the reply...I saw further down in the comments that you're out in Cali Do you mind telling me approx where? ...Beautiful state! I was living in Napa Valley/ Vacaville area for around 3 years...But, that was the 80's.. One word of advice, if you will...DON'T GET OLD!...:)...Good health and freedom to you and yours!
You should see mine. Ugh. I can't even turn over without turning longways between joists. And I've been working on it every chance I can since January to try to encapsulate it. It SUCKS!!! And I've had 2 back surgeries... but I can't pay anyone what they are asking to do it. They know it is a pain in the arse. $$$$$$ Get at least a vapor barrier under there man.
Excellent Job !!! I learned a lot that I can use on my house......I love those Simpson Strong-Tie J57 .........did not even know they existed. Thanks for the info.
I'm about to put an offer in on a pre-civil war home out in the sticks that has serious brick pier problems. I'm calling in the big guns to give me an estimate before I make my offer. Whatever the cost is, that's what comes off my offer. I fear they're going to have to lift the entire house up to do it because the crawl is so tight even I couldn't get through it and I'm just 100 lbs. I anticipate it's going to cost a bundle. This was the best video I've found so far. Thanks for making it!
A left handed saw man is a saw man in his right mind. Great video. Every young man should watch this. Taking care of one’s home can save you thousands $$$$. What is the width between beams? Looks to be at least 32 to 36….wow!
Man Dad, I am wondering why you didn't call me. . . . Next time please don't hesitate! I kind of enjoy crawling, in a sort of masochistic way. I spent the last week in crawl spaces, and I love fixing stuff thanks to you.
Parents don't ask for help because we don't want to be a burden. If you took the initiative to stay in routine contact with your dad, you would have known to offer help. Your dad won't be around forever so learn to cherish time spent together whether helping out or just staying in close contact.
Sure wish you were here lol. We have a a pier and beam home that needs leveling so bad! Thanks for sharing this and it’s teaching me how important it is to fix our home and we will be getting someone here ASAP! Btw-you’re a good teacher!
@@chelseafox4751 I'm located in the state of Maime and I need help with my uneven floors. My crawl space is 3 feet in the shallower part, the rest is 5 to 6 fr.
Thank you for putting in the work to share this video! I'm getting ready to redo my mothers homes foundation. Your shared experience will help me along the way. Her home is 115 years old with not just cracked bricks for pears but also rotten beams from leaking pipes. This is gonna be one big job and I appreciate your video, amongst many others I've watched, to help me prep for this job!
Great video. I am also jacking my house up,. though I have a bit more headroom to move about. I found it easier by putting an unfolded cardboard box down to ease sliding in and out.
Man as someone that has done many low crawls i do feel your pain. My own house needs this and a year on i still haven't mustered the courage to get at it. Im 54 now and dont move as well as my younger self. I forsee lots of Tylenol in my future when i work up the nerve to start. Mine is so low i may have to dig my way to some supports. House is on piles of rocks. Built in 1943.
Sounds like quite a challenge. Remember, you don't need to do it all in one day, or one week, or in one month. Take your time and you won't kill yourself. Best of success to you!
FIRST OFF, TO YOU GREAT SIR. THANK YOU for this video! I'm having to level my house due to termite beam an joist damage and also soil settling. I want sure how to make sure level from under the house till this video. You have me the source I needed to get heeerrr done. As a disabled VET I CAN'T afford the cost to have it done so knowing I can do it right myself is relief, something I don't get much of. THANK VERY MUCH AGAIN FOR VIDEO!
I’m so glad I saw this video. I’ve got a similar issue at my place, particularly in the kitchen. This has made me much more confident to give it a go. I appreciate the effort.
Thank god I found this video before I need it. Was recently under the house doing some plumbing. All the columns are still in place and no sags or shifting. Honestly I wouldnt have had a clue how to fix it. Now I would. "Adjustable floor levelers". Im giving you a sub for sure. And thank god I have the house jacks if I ever need them.
Excellent. Thank you. I have similar problem. Half the house tilted from 0 to Max 4" at edge. For earthquake house was tied down to the foundation. So when ground settle down it took the house down with it, I am 68 and planning to getting down by myself. Wish me luck!
Great .. .Fantasic ... work. Amazed you stuck with it instead of calling some contractor for help. One thing I might have done is buy a couple 12' lengths of treated 4x4 and cut all my short posts first (after measuring underneath first. This way, I could have them all down there with me as I needed them instead of crawling back out to cut the old ones down to size. After all, the cost of a couple 12' 4x4's would have been worth it if it saved me 3 or 4 crawls out of and back into that crawl space. I could have taken the old ones out and either tossed them or used for campfire wood. .... ..... .... But main thing is, you got the job done and need not have that worry upon your shoulders anymore.
That's a good idea if you have more jacks to lift and level everywhere in one shot. But because I took the cheap route and rented only two jacks, I had to lift, remove old post, measure, cut new post, install new post, then remove the jacks and setup at a new location.
Thanks for the tip on the Simpson floor beam levelers. We got a $12,000 quote from a contractor to fix our sagging center beam. I put temporary floor jacks in there for now but yours looks like a more permanent solution. Thank you sir!
If I'm getting quotes from contractors, I pay attention to what they drive. Right or wrong, that's something I do, albeit not the only thing. Just yesterday I saw a private contractor pull up in a pristine 2021 F-150 Platinum. I've had similar tell me he charges $700 per exterior door if the homeowner already has all the materials.
That was awesome. Great job. My neck hurts now :) Crawling around under things and working above you really puts a strain on the neck. Glad it worked out for you.
Thank you for this wonderful video and information! We're trying to level out the floors in our old house (over 120 yrs old) before we can do our kitchen renovations. My husband will appreciate this very much. God bless!
My anxiety went through the roof when you crawled under there, lol. I’m so glad my crawl space is over 2’ tall. My claustrophobia wouldn’t let me get under a house so low to the ground. Good job 👍
We love the DIY approach of this video. With a "get'er dun" attitude like this and a little research into the right product solution, you can save thousands. Please note, the soils will continue to move over time. This will continue to open up those gaps. SlabSure foundation monitors can help you to monitor that movement every hour and tell you when you need to raise or lower those Simpson floor levelers. Just holler if you want some advice. #SlabSure #Foundationmonitoring #foundationrepair
I just bought an old farmhouse I've lived in for 24 years. The foundation is made from some kind of home made concrete. There are small sea shells in it. There is no crawlspace. Which means tearing up all the flooring. Each room sits on a foundation. This means I have to tear up each room to gain access. This house was supposedly built in the 50's but think it's much older considering there's a blocked off chimney in the living room and in the kitchen. The original fusebox took 4 round glass type fuses. Good insights here on what to look for. Definitely going to need adjustable brackets you mentioned.
Sounds like quite the project. I've seen cement like that. I've been helping on a 1944 built house with very little crawl space. The owner had to pull the floor boards to access the foundation too. House sunk 3" in the center. This video shows one small aspect of the work but you can see all the pulled floor in my little walk through. ruclips.net/video/lN6y6JTy3-0/видео.html
I'm 80 years old and have had bids to level our home (built in 1942). Looks like I'll have to rely on recruiting young men in my family to do this project. Thanks for your video. It gives us a start.
Wow thank you so much for this my brother and I are about to undertake this exact same job and i had no idea what to look up and randomly came across your vid, props!
Thanks for sharing. I would have liked to see you center and level the concrete piers at some point; perhaps you’ll go down there again for another job.I appreciate the effort you put into both the job and the videotaping; I’ve been under my own house too and it ain’t fun. I was a little surprised that you didn’t wear a mask (maybe your crawl space isn’t as dusty as mine); protect your lungs and sinuses is my motto. A word to builders on crawl spaces: they’re called crawl spaces for a reason. If my belly is touching the ground, I’m creeping, not crawling! How about giving us a little more room? Three foot from soil to subfloor would be nice. And what’s with all those jagged rocks and debris in there anyway? Someone, if not a future owner, then someone in the trades will eventually have to go through there. Clean up and make it less painful, please!
@@DanielinLaTuna I found that a dust mask interfered with capturing decent audio, so I sacrificed my lungs for the recording. As it was, gloves presented quite the challenge too as I had to keep removing them to run the camera. Yeah, it would have been nice to center the piers, but they each sit in a slop pour of cement, so moving them would have ment chipping that out. Not a task that this old guy could accomplish in that confined space. I'll leave it to the next adventurer.
I made a dog runner out of a leveler similar to that. It was used to build bridges. I buried the female section and dropped the threaded part in with a u-bolt attached to it. Dog never got tangled and never got off.
Bravo! Well done. I'm going to have to do something like this for my house. It's reverse of yours. The pier blocks are fine, one corner of the foundation wall has started sinking in the drought.
Good on ya from NZ. I been crawling under me Villa. I love it, not ). When putting the side brackets on and doing that final angled down screw, i confused. Aren't the blocks under the poles concrete? Is that a concrete screw? of is the top of the concrete block wood? Myself i can only last 2 hours at a time under the house. I start getting anxious after that ) fear of being stuck down there )
There is a wood block embedded in the top of each pier. I understand the anxiety of being unde there. it might comfort you to let a friend or two know what you are up to and, provided you have a signal, to keep your phone with you under there. There's no shame in limiting it to two hour stints!
Sir I wanted to applaud your effort with such old tools and body, also would like to recommend reinforcing the blocks on the bottom before adjusting the levelers
The piers do sit on/in concrete, though I don't know how deep each pour is. I wasn't about to dig and find out. That concrete prevented me from moving or adjusting alignment of the piers to the beam.
Thanks for this. We've been sorting out our place and have a similar problem with 3 posts that are a little on the wonky side. We've got jacks everywhere that scares us but your video helps a huge deal in solving it on a more permanent basis. Well done on that crawl space, it's an experience crawling around there, no one really appreciates how difficult it is getting under there and moving your bones in ways they definitely weren't meant to do :-). Had a look at the post levellers, they say 'do not use to jack up houses' but if it works it works. Well done, that's a tough job.
Thanks. You can do it too. The crawling was the worst part. When they say to not use to "jack up houses," they're referring to dynamic jacking. So in other words, they don't want you to use them to do the primary lift necessary to get things level. Use hydraulic or screw Jack's like I did, for that and then just use the levelers to hold everything in place. That said, I've used mine to make minor adjustments in the years since first doing the project and it seems to work fine. Best of success to you,
Pulled up your video looking for a solution for my uneven flooring. I'm in a Townhome with a basement. However I wanted to see what it would take for a crawl space. All I could think while viewing your video is how fluffy I am and that I would definitely get stuck and have an attack 🙃 while attempting this type of job. My first home was on crawl space and I shelled out $$ for any repairs needed under the home. I wrestled mentally about giving away my $$. However this video makes me want to call my former repair person to extended an apology😊. Thank you for videotaping and sharing your crawl space experience.
Ground sunk because water issue,or some reason, but you need cement footers which should be 16"x 16"x 8" deep cement poured in ,cement foundation block set and leveled on wet cement, after cement dries stack foundation blocks or 4" or 2" blocks then shims. You do not use wood post close to ground possible termite problems. This by most inspection codes in case you ever sell the house and have an inspection. his way will work temporary
This should be higher up - He''s temporarily helping the issue, but the wait of the house is probably just going to push those concrete pillars further in the ground and sink more. I don't think the footer needs to be that deep, but something to help spread the load to keep it from sinking is really important (even abs pads)
Nice work. Really well done. Simpson Strong Tie makes excellent products. My crawlspace has those already installed and it needs a similar amount of adjustment to yours. I was going to ask if I needed to take the weight off of them before adjusting or use any special lubricant. But you covered it all. Please keep up the great work. Subscribed.
He looks like Walter White working under the house replacing the floor joist. But seriously, awesome video and I know you saved a lot of money doing it yourself. Great job!
I’m looking at the same problem, house is built on a lot of clay. The hillside behind me wasn’t developed until a couple of years ago and now the run off isn’t feeding my area anymore. The sump pump that drains the crawl space almost isn’t needed except during heavy winter rains. Clay has dried out causing exact same thing.
You want water? In my opinion, we should keep water out for a P&B foundation, so we can keep the crawl space dry! However, I do find the clay underneath will crack once dry.
Great video! Man I hate getting under my dad's house, so small of a crawl space. I've already done some plumbing and that sucked, now I'm going to try some leveling.
In escrow on a house that is going to need some of this work. Unfortunately there is a batt insulation that has gotten damp and is hanging. It's going to be an awful job, but has to be done. I've also got to install a vapor barrier. I'm planning on wearing a respirator though as I don't want to breathe in all that junk.
This floor framing is rather an odd design. How'd they come up with this idea? There are other oddities in the framing of this house too. I think the builder was an amateur!
The construction of this building is very similar to the construction of an old apartment building we owned. When I saw pictures of the Fix-It-Guy in the crawl space I had an eerie feeling that somebody had taken video of me in the crawl space when I was working in it. Our building had sagged about two inches in places. I thought that I might be able to raise the beams in a few places. When I took a good look at it , I realized that most of the piers had dropped substantially and fixing it was beyond anything I could do. We sold the building and we made the new buyers aware of the issue.
I discovered the product while looking for solutions on the Internet. I thought I'd have to order them but my local building supplier had them on the shelf just waiting for me :-)
Hi Scott great video. My house uses the same Simpson jack piers. Can you explain the part of how to make sure that the beam or beams are in level. You use like a 4 foot level and you check them at the location near the piers. Are we supposed to check the beams with a lazer, from one side of the beam to the end of the other side? My question is how do you know how much to raise each jack pier to the correct height. Thank you.
I know it's been 3 years, but the simplest way to check level is with a "water level" it's just vinyl tubing and water. You can do your whole house if you're crafty, and it's very cheap.
@@danle2884 Welcome! I hope it works for you, it's very easy and simple. Some tubing, two sticks the same length, a couple zip ties and a tape measure. You'll figure it out.
I got a quote today, they want over $100k to "stabilize" the wall, plus 20k engineering fee, and 5% permit fee. No thank you I'm doing it myself, excellent help sir thank you.
At 8 mins in sat wondering who on earth would make flimsy piles and screw in wooden support posts like that to support a house. Maybe it's a US/UK building difference thing but I'd have bigger piles with steal beam and couplet fixings, even if it's a timber frame house. Looking forward to seeing how you solved this problem. I now understand why houses blow away in hurricanes out there.
Yeah, this is an old building practice from the 70's. The peir blocks are a commercial product of inexpensive manufacture. It's no longer code to use them that way.
Great video. Put some plastic down and it’ll be a lot cleaner down there and it’s a ground vapor barrier. Also, you need to dig and poor concrete/gravel footers so they don’t keep sinking on you. (Those footers look like deck blocks in dirt but I’m not sure?) It’s usually what’s under the posts that’s the problem not up top.
Plastic is a good idea but not sure I'm up for that effort at this point. The piers do sit on sloppy concrete pours and indeed are slightly embedded in it making it imposable to shift them for better alignment. I don't know how thick that cement is. I started to dig around one only to decide it was to much effort in that confined space.
I'm going to have to do something similar to my house, but there currently aren't any beams installed, the span was too long (house is 150 years old) thanks for the video!
I spoke with Simpson engineers today and was told they are temporary ties and not meant for permanent installation. I was hoping to get your input as to how they are holding up because I was interested in doing the same. Thanks in advance for your reply
One think I would have done differently.. measure the rough distance that you need for the post / leveler and assemble them outside. Reduce the number of times you have to crawl in and out! Excellent video, I need to do something similar to my house.
Nice work. We’ve bought an older home, and the subfloor joist are spaced just like yours. I am looking into leveling my floors since one side of the house appears to be a little low.
If everything is uniformly out of level a little, I wouldn't worry about it. But if sections aren't flat in relation to eachother, that becomes difficult to build to. It messes up doing tile work, fitting baseboards, rolling closet doors, or even getting a toilet to flush properly. All kinds of difficulties as upgrades or changes are desired through the years.
It surprised me how much work it was. The effort was in all the crawling. And of course I crawled twice as much as need for the job simply because I did all the camera work too.
I can identify with what you did there. The crawling around makes images in my mind of me creating trap doors in the floor for access. But explaining that to someone else could be a problem. 😅
I don't have freezing temperatures in my area, but yes, whole new footings, properly aligned would have been great. But that would have ment digging and chipping out the slop pour concrete, which each existing pier sits on, then forming, mixing, and pouring cement all while laying on my belly under there. Not something this old guy is going to achieve without tearing up floor/subfloor and having to redo the home interior, as we did in this current renovation: ruclips.net/video/lN6y6JTy3-0/видео.htmlsi=JlB_fgyXS4VLoqbU There's a point in this video where you can see the floor removed and channels dug where new footings were poured.
My floor system is similar, 4x10x12ft with 4x4 posts on poured concrete piers. Every 12 ft there is a post. The problem is that the beams have bellied down between the posts so the floors are not flat. I tried jacking the centers but all it did is raise the end with the least weight on it. My subfloor is T&G planks so it causes high spots in the flooring. Not good with floating flooring. Any thoughts?
Wow, bummer. Perhaps you could temporarily jack parallel to the beams at the low spots and then sister a couple 2x10's on each side along the existing and let the floor settle onto those? Tricky but might be doable.
I see no reason why not. In my case, with poorly aligned pier blocks, it made more sense to spread the load by mounting the post to the block. Putting the jack on the pier would have also dictated that I drill new mounting holes in the plates.
I think your concrete needed to buried a little for support, and need to be at same depth as your footers. Think you may want to look into concrete piers because it looks like your beams are showing rot. Doesn't look like you compressed the dirt down there under the concrete-looks too loose and fluffy! Lol A+ effort, and so cool to see a homeowner doing it-neat-thanks!
Are you installing those levelers upside down, or am I tripping? Also, I’ve never seen those with the flat plate on the end. Usually it’s a bolt that you bury in new concrete right?
These levelers are great for a situation like this where new concrete isn't being poured. They can be installed with either side up; in my case the channel width was too narrow for my beam so inverting them made sense.
First step is always to determine the cause. Without understanding that, a solution is difficult to define. The second step would be to get accurate measurements as to where and how far out of level it is. With this information, one can then hone in on the proper corrective action.
The piers are out of alignment with the beam and unmovable because they sit in concrete. The plates wouldn't center well for a good attachment. The function is the same regardless of which end is up or whether they are on top or below the post. Hence my decision to place them on top.
Fortunately there aren't any snakes in my neighborhood. Probably because there aren't many rodents for them to eat around here. None the less, my crawl space is tightly sealed so critters can't get in.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you. I am purchasing a home that will need some floor leveling. Your video shows how to do the job completely.
I'm glad you found it valuable.
You can also sister the joists with 2x6s or 2x8s and raise them over the lip until its level.
@@britneyystaples91Still need support for that span.
Have you attempted to tackle this work yet? If so, how'd it go?
no slam to this guy , but that is not the proper way to do a foundation. It is a quick way , but not the right way, if the ground sunk lifting up is not fixing the problem. It will happen again
I have a floor that needs this. Sequence of events: 1. Set off a bug bomb in the crawlspace. 2. Put a fan under the house to air it out. 3. Put down tarps under the floor everywhere. 4. Get a LOT of dust masks. 5. Fix the floor per the fix it guy. I can do this. Thanks for the info on what to use. I'd have never known.
Glad it helped.
I have watched other subfloor contractors. Hell they are almost walking in the crawl space. They are on clean plastic and all lighted up like a hallway. This is more realistic!! Thank you
Some people do a good job in the crawl space
Ha! I sent this link to my husband who is crawling around this week trying to see how we fix one of our old floors. He's 74 now and if he wasn't fit and slim he'd never make it. This particular crawl space is much smaller than yours and if he had an extra 10 pounds and got hung up it would require the jaws of life to get him out. Thank you. He'll feel good knowing he has a buddy in the underworld.
That's great :) Best of success to him.
Man. People don't appreciate how much work that is. Thanks for the video. Good job! 👏
Thanks Josh!
I learn to take a old firm seat cushion to lay my head on while working. Your neck and shoulders ends up being so tight that it gives me a tension headache .
Great tip!
Hahahahahah ur head is the problem buddy
I use one of those blue spa pillows.
Well done. I got the same problem underneath my house and you have taken the fear away from tinkering myself.
I always figure there's nothing to lose from trying, except calories. And I can afford giving those away.
Great job sir. Cardboard or plastic would have mad it a little easy to slide on going from post to post. But you got it done. Kudos to you man.
SALUTE to you sir...As a remodeling contractor for 30 years, I know that feeling of being under a too small crawl...That's not a crawl space; that's a slither space...Bless your tenacity to take that on... I worked with a guy doing insulation, out in No Cal when I was in the service; He'd say "That's more'n you need!" if you could slither under a joist...:)...But; Tyvek suit, head sock, best mask you can afford, safety glasses and GLOVES makes it a bit more bearable.
Thanks man. Yeah, I should have suited up better, but in doing the vid I figured it'd get in the way.
I worked for years on commercial buildings. Being the skinniest guy on the crew I always got handed the tight crawls. I didn't really mind, but now that I'm not as young its more challenging.
@@ItsFixable :)...Thanks for the reply...I saw further down in the comments that you're out in Cali Do you mind telling me approx where? ...Beautiful state! I was living in Napa Valley/ Vacaville area for around 3 years...But, that was the 80's..
One word of advice, if you will...DON'T GET OLD!...:)...Good health and freedom to you and yours!
@@godbluffvdgg I'm in beautiful Sonoma County! I'm enjoying life and working hard at the don't get old thing ;-)
@@ItsFixable Great area! Count yourself lucky! You have a great attitude; it'll serve you well in this business...:)
You should see mine. Ugh. I can't even turn over without turning longways between joists. And I've been working on it every chance I can since January to try to encapsulate it. It SUCKS!!!
And I've had 2 back surgeries...
but I can't pay anyone what they are asking to do it. They know it is a pain in the arse. $$$$$$
Get at least a vapor barrier under there man.
Excellent Job !!! I learned a lot that I can use on my house......I love those Simpson Strong-Tie J57 .........did not even know they existed. Thanks for the info.
Glad to help!
You should really be extremely proud of yourself. Awesome sheer willpower and stamina. Great job and saved yourself thousands of dollars
Thank you so much!
I'm about to put an offer in on a pre-civil war home out in the sticks that has serious brick pier problems. I'm calling in the big guns to give me an estimate before I make my offer. Whatever the cost is, that's what comes off my offer. I fear they're going to have to lift the entire house up to do it because the crawl is so tight even I couldn't get through it and I'm just 100 lbs. I anticipate it's going to cost a bundle.
This was the best video I've found so far. Thanks for making it!
You are one admirable being and your attitude really sets the example for mankind ........absolutely amazing toughness!!!
Wow, thank you!
Doing foundation repair for 6 years as a business it's a first to see someone use a old school jack instead of the newer jacks
Yeah, I guess I'm an old school Fix-it Guy.
A man and his journey. A story of triumph! Enjoyed it.
"Why is that smoking?" !! I love it. Thats my life too. Good job dude.
your patience as your drive this 4-day process is extremely inspiring! Thank you sir! It was beautiful!
Thank you kindly!
A left handed saw man is a saw man in his right mind. Great video. Every young man should watch this. Taking care of one’s home can save you thousands $$$$. What is the width between beams? Looks to be at least 32 to 36….wow!
Amen brother! 48" between, and not a layout I would recommend to anyone doing floor structure design.
Man Dad, I am wondering why you didn't call me. . . . Next time please don't hesitate! I kind of enjoy crawling, in a sort of
masochistic way. I spent the last week in crawl spaces, and I love fixing stuff thanks to you.
Parents don't ask for help because we don't want to be a burden. If you took the initiative to stay in routine contact with your dad, you would have known to offer help. Your dad won't be around forever so learn to cherish time spent together whether helping out or just staying in close contact.
At least he offered❤
Sure wish you were here lol. We have a a pier and beam home that needs leveling so bad! Thanks for sharing this and it’s teaching me how important it is to fix our home and we will be getting someone here ASAP!
Btw-you’re a good teacher!
Where are you located
@@chelseafox4751 I'm located in the state of Maime and I need help with my uneven floors. My crawl space is 3 feet in the shallower part, the rest is 5 to 6 fr.
Thanks for the video. I'm having a similar problem and have seen a bunch of videos on the subject. Yours is by far the most detailed I've seen.
Glad it was of help!
Thank you for putting in the work to share this video! I'm getting ready to redo my mothers homes foundation. Your shared experience will help me along the way. Her home is 115 years old with not just cracked bricks for pears but also rotten beams from leaking pipes. This is gonna be one big job and I appreciate your video, amongst many others I've watched, to help me prep for this job!
Sounds like quite a project. I wish you the best of success!
Great video. I am also jacking my house up,. though I have a bit more headroom to move about. I found it easier by putting an unfolded cardboard box down to ease sliding in and out.
Good tip!
Man as someone that has done many low crawls i do feel your pain. My own house needs this and a year on i still haven't mustered the courage to get at it. Im 54 now and dont move as well as my younger self. I forsee lots of Tylenol in my future when i work up the nerve to start. Mine is so low i may have to dig my way to some supports. House is on piles of rocks. Built in 1943.
Sounds like quite a challenge. Remember, you don't need to do it all in one day, or one week, or in one month. Take your time and you won't kill yourself. Best of success to you!
Thanks so much. This is the best solution I've seen, with a solid hold, and the most foresight into expected soil shifts.
Great to hear!
FIRST OFF, TO YOU GREAT SIR.
THANK YOU for this video! I'm having to level my house due to termite beam an joist damage and also soil settling. I want sure how to make sure level from under the house till this video. You have me the source I needed to get heeerrr done. As a disabled VET I CAN'T afford the cost to have it done so knowing I can do it right myself is relief, something I don't get much of. THANK VERY MUCH AGAIN FOR VIDEO!
I’m so glad I saw this video. I’ve got a similar issue at my place, particularly in the kitchen. This has made me much more confident to give it a go. I appreciate the effort.
You got this!
You can do it but be sure to wear a good mask, gloves and long sleeves. Be careful of glass
Thank god I found this video before I need it. Was recently under the house doing some plumbing. All the columns are still in place and no sags or shifting. Honestly I wouldnt have had a clue how to fix it. Now I would. "Adjustable floor levelers". Im giving you a sub for sure. And thank god I have the house jacks if I ever need them.
That is a great job. Now I know how to fixed my floors God bless you.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. By the way I love those jack screws.
Are you concerned that entry way under the home is allowing water to get under your house?
Excellent. Thank you. I have similar problem. Half the house tilted from 0 to Max 4" at edge. For earthquake house was tied down to the foundation. So when ground settle down it took the house down with it, I am 68 and planning to getting down by myself. Wish me luck!
Best of success to you!
I hate closed end places like that! I admire your tenacity - good job. DIY rocks!
Thanks my friend!
Great .. .Fantasic ... work. Amazed you stuck with it instead of calling some contractor for help. One thing I might have done is buy a couple 12' lengths of treated 4x4 and cut all my short posts first (after measuring underneath first. This way, I could have them all down there with me as I needed them instead of crawling back out to cut the old ones down to size. After all, the cost of a couple 12' 4x4's would have been worth it if it saved me 3 or 4 crawls out of and back into that crawl space. I could have taken the old ones out and either tossed them or used for campfire wood. .... ..... .... But main thing is, you got the job done and need not have that worry upon your shoulders anymore.
That's a good idea if you have more jacks to lift and level everywhere in one shot. But because I took the cheap route and rented only two jacks, I had to lift, remove old post, measure, cut new post, install new post, then remove the jacks and setup at a new location.
Thanks for the tip on the Simpson floor beam levelers. We got a $12,000 quote from a contractor to fix our sagging center beam. I put temporary floor jacks in there for now but yours looks like a more permanent solution. Thank you sir!
If I'm getting quotes from contractors, I pay attention to what they drive. Right or wrong, that's something I do, albeit not the only thing. Just yesterday I saw a private contractor pull up in a pristine 2021 F-150 Platinum. I've had similar tell me he charges $700 per exterior door if the homeowner already has all the materials.
Excellent job Scott 👏 I see now that I may need floor adjustment done underneath my crawl space.
What a fantastic video. Realistic and helpful. I am preparing to reinforce our post and pier and this is the answer I was looking for.
Great Sarah, glad it was helpful!
This is the best technique I've seen. Thanks for sharing. God Bless you
Thanks!
That was awesome. Great job. My neck hurts now :) Crawling around under things and working above you really puts a strain on the neck. Glad it worked out for you.
Thank you for this wonderful video and information! We're trying to level out the floors in our old house (over 120 yrs old) before we can do our kitchen renovations. My husband will appreciate this very much. God bless!
Glad it was helpful!
My anxiety went through the roof when you crawled under there, lol. I’m so glad my crawl space is over 2’ tall. My claustrophobia wouldn’t let me get under a house so low to the ground. Good job 👍
One gets use to it after a bit, and the work takes one's thought away from it and to more useful employment.
I'm steady under cabins and houses sprayfoaming in worse lol
@@youngs2846 ugh! Better you than me, lol. I’m not cut out for that. 😊👍
good job, every time you get under the hose is a life risk you take .,but a man got to do what he has to do ...congrats!
Amen!
We love the DIY approach of this video. With a "get'er dun" attitude like this and a little research into the right product solution, you can save thousands. Please note, the soils will continue to move over time. This will continue to open up those gaps. SlabSure foundation monitors can help you to monitor that movement every hour and tell you when you need to raise or lower those Simpson floor levelers. Just holler if you want some advice.
#SlabSure #Foundationmonitoring #foundationrepair
Great job! I crawled under my house once - enough for me. Even though my house needs to be jacked up and leveled I'm never going under there again!
I may crawl under mine again just for old times sake ;-)
@@ItsFixable Haha, maybe you'd really like to be a snake!
I just bought an old farmhouse I've lived in for 24 years. The foundation is made from some kind of home made concrete. There are small sea shells in it.
There is no crawlspace. Which means tearing up all the flooring. Each room sits on a foundation. This means I have to tear up each room to gain access.
This house was supposedly built in the 50's but think it's much older considering there's a blocked off chimney in the living room and in the kitchen. The original fusebox took 4 round glass type fuses.
Good insights here on what to look for. Definitely going to need adjustable brackets you mentioned.
Sounds like quite the project. I've seen cement like that. I've been helping on a 1944 built house with very little crawl space. The owner had to pull the floor boards to access the foundation too. House sunk 3" in the center. This video shows one small aspect of the work but you can see all the pulled floor in my little walk through.
ruclips.net/video/lN6y6JTy3-0/видео.html
Awesome video! Love the pier and beam homes especially with the shake and bake stuff they are building today!
I'm 80 years old and have had bids to level our home (built in 1942). Looks like I'll have to rely on recruiting young men in my family to do this project. Thanks for your video. It gives us a start.
Thanks for watching. Best of success to you!
Wow thank you so much for this my brother and I are about to undertake this exact same job and i had no idea what to look up and randomly came across your vid, props!
Lacking claustrophobia, crawlycritterphobia and having a slim figure helped!
Also I love the reciprocating saw! I remember that one from childhood! :) :) :)
Thanks for sharing. I would have liked to see you center and level the concrete piers at some point; perhaps you’ll go down there again for another job.I appreciate the effort you put into both the job and the videotaping; I’ve been under my own house too and it ain’t fun. I was a little surprised that you didn’t wear a mask (maybe your crawl space isn’t as dusty as mine); protect your lungs and sinuses is my motto.
A word to builders on crawl spaces: they’re called crawl spaces for a reason. If my belly is touching the ground, I’m creeping, not crawling! How about giving us a little more room? Three foot from soil to subfloor would be nice. And what’s with all those jagged rocks and debris in there anyway? Someone, if not a future owner, then someone in the trades will eventually have to go through there. Clean up and make it less painful, please!
@@DanielinLaTuna I found that a dust mask interfered with capturing decent audio, so I sacrificed my lungs for the recording. As it was, gloves presented quite the challenge too as I had to keep removing them to run the camera.
Yeah, it would have been nice to center the piers, but they each sit in a slop pour of cement, so moving them would have ment chipping that out. Not a task that this old guy could accomplish in that confined space. I'll leave it to the next adventurer.
@ your sacrifice is noted and appreciated! 😁🥰
Great video. Thank you sir
I made a dog runner out of a leveler similar to that. It was used to build bridges. I buried the female section and dropped the threaded part in with a u-bolt attached to it. Dog never got tangled and never got off.
Creative!
Bravo! Well done. I'm going to have to do something like this for my house. It's reverse of yours. The pier blocks are fine, one corner of the foundation wall has started sinking in the drought.
Should prove an interesting project. I wish you total success!
Excellent, thorough and specific video. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Good on ya from NZ. I been crawling under me Villa. I love it, not ). When putting the side brackets on and doing that final angled down screw, i confused. Aren't the blocks under the poles concrete? Is that a concrete screw? of is the top of the concrete block wood? Myself i can only last 2 hours at a time under the house. I start getting anxious after that ) fear of being stuck down there )
There is a wood block embedded in the top of each pier.
I understand the anxiety of being unde there. it might comfort you to let a friend or two know what you are up to and, provided you have a signal, to keep your phone with you under there. There's no shame in limiting it to two hour stints!
Sir I wanted to applaud your effort with such old tools and body, also would like to recommend reinforcing the blocks on the bottom before adjusting the levelers
How
@@magicman3437 pour concrete bases I believe.
The piers do sit on/in concrete, though I don't know how deep each pour is. I wasn't about to dig and find out. That concrete prevented me from moving or adjusting alignment of the piers to the beam.
Thanks for this. We've been sorting out our place and have a similar problem with 3 posts that are a little on the wonky side. We've got jacks everywhere that scares us but your video helps a huge deal in solving it on a more permanent basis. Well done on that crawl space, it's an experience crawling around there, no one really appreciates how difficult it is getting under there and moving your bones in ways they definitely weren't meant to do :-). Had a look at the post levellers, they say 'do not use to jack up houses' but if it works it works. Well done, that's a tough job.
Thanks. You can do it too. The crawling was the worst part. When they say to not use to "jack up houses," they're referring to dynamic jacking. So in other words, they don't want you to use them to do the primary lift necessary to get things level. Use hydraulic or screw Jack's like I did, for that and then just use the levelers to hold everything in place. That said, I've used mine to make minor adjustments in the years since first doing the project and it seems to work fine. Best of success to you,
I have been looking for this video for a whole year thanks man
Hey thanks! Please give it a like and subscribe so more people can find it.
Pulled up your video looking for a solution for my uneven flooring. I'm in a Townhome with a basement. However I wanted to see what it would take for a crawl space. All I could think while viewing your video is how fluffy I am and that I would definitely get stuck and have an attack 🙃 while attempting this type of job. My first home was on crawl space and I shelled out $$ for any repairs needed under the home. I wrestled mentally about giving away my $$. However this video makes me want to call my former repair person to extended an apology😊. Thank you for videotaping and sharing your crawl space experience.
Ground sunk because water issue,or some reason, but you need cement footers which should be 16"x 16"x 8" deep cement poured in ,cement foundation block set and leveled on wet cement, after cement dries stack foundation blocks or 4" or 2" blocks then shims. You do not use wood post close to ground possible termite problems. This by most inspection codes in case you ever sell the house and have an inspection. his way will work temporary
This should be higher up - He''s temporarily helping the issue, but the wait of the house is probably just going to push those concrete pillars further in the ground and sink more. I don't think the footer needs to be that deep, but something to help spread the load to keep it from sinking is really important (even abs pads)
Nice work. Really well done. Simpson Strong Tie makes excellent products. My crawlspace has those already installed and it needs a similar amount of adjustment to yours. I was going to ask if I needed to take the weight off of them before adjusting or use any special lubricant. But you covered it all. Please keep up the great work. Subscribed.
Not a building method you see in the UK, but I 100 percent appreciate how difficult a job this must be.
He looks like Walter White working under the house replacing the floor joist. But seriously, awesome video and I know you saved a lot of money doing it yourself. Great job!
Thanks for watching!
I’m looking at the same problem, house is built on a lot of clay. The hillside behind me wasn’t developed until a couple of years ago and now the run off isn’t feeding my area anymore. The sump pump that drains the crawl space almost isn’t needed except during heavy winter rains. Clay has dried out causing exact same thing.
Clay soil is a challenge!
You want water? In my opinion, we should keep water out for a P&B foundation, so we can keep the crawl space dry! However, I do find the clay underneath will crack once dry.
You saved yourself thousands!! Great info man
Thanks!
Awsome Job, have a pier and beam home, similar problems, starting leveling with some bottle jacks, last weekend. Thanks for the tips!
Best of success to you Steve. Would love to see the solution you come up with ;-)
Great video! Man I hate getting under my dad's house, so small of a crawl space. I've already done some plumbing and that sucked, now I'm going to try some leveling.
Yeah, it's tough but good exercise. Best of luck with your project!
In escrow on a house that is going to need some of this work. Unfortunately there is a batt insulation that has gotten damp and is hanging. It's going to be an awful job, but has to be done. I've also got to install a vapor barrier. I'm planning on wearing a respirator though as I don't want to breathe in all that junk.
You can do it! A respirator is a good idea. I chose not to because it interfered with my ability to speak to the camera.
So why did they build the floor joists on what looks like 48" centers? I see that they are 4 x 4 beams. I haven't seen a floor system like that.
Most places have a code that posts be on 48" center. The floor joists are usually on 24" centers.
This floor framing is rather an odd design. How'd they come up with this idea? There are other oddities in the framing of this house too. I think the builder was an amateur!
@@ItsFixable I believe it's plank-and-beam construction, not the usual pier-and-beam with 16" spacing. The subfloors are usually way thicker.
Great job, Scott. Very clear and precise. You're a better man than I am. I won't get under there for any reason. Ugh.
Thanks dude!
The construction of this building is very similar to the construction of an old apartment building we owned. When I saw pictures of the Fix-It-Guy in the crawl space I had an eerie feeling that somebody had taken video of me in the crawl space when I was working in it. Our building had sagged about two inches in places. I thought that I might be able to raise the beams in a few places. When I took a good look at it , I realized that most of the piers had dropped substantially and fixing it was beyond anything I could do. We sold the building and we made the new buyers aware of the issue.
That was a lot of work, well done sir! 💪💪💪
Thanks 👍
haw about running laser line and measure to the top of the beam😀,
Yeah, a laser would have been great!
Excellent job! Would use the same beam leveler for the mid-span support of my crawl space beam.
Yes, curious to where you got the floor jacks that fit to the blocking. Great video!
I discovered the product while looking for solutions on the Internet. I thought I'd have to order them but my local building supplier had them on the shelf just waiting for me :-)
Great video! Im doing this now.
Thanks man. Best of success to you!
Hi Scott great video.
My house uses the same Simpson jack piers.
Can you explain the part of how to make sure that the beam or beams are in level.
You use like a 4 foot level and you check them at the location near the piers.
Are we supposed to check the beams with a lazer, from one side of the beam to the end of the other side?
My question is how do you know how much to raise each jack pier to the correct height. Thank you.
String or laser
@@henryrollins9177 Thank you for replying.
I know it's been 3 years, but the simplest way to check level is with a "water level" it's just vinyl tubing and water. You can do your whole house if you're crafty, and it's very cheap.
@@life_of_riley88 thank you sir.
@@danle2884 Welcome! I hope it works for you, it's very easy and simple. Some tubing, two sticks the same length, a couple zip ties and a tape measure. You'll figure it out.
I got a quote today, they want over $100k to "stabilize" the wall, plus 20k engineering fee, and 5% permit fee. No thank you I'm doing it myself, excellent help sir thank you.
I'm pleased you found this helpful.
You got a quote for that much ? Get different quotes. Were are you located? Maybe I could do better.
At 8 mins in sat wondering who on earth would make flimsy piles and screw in wooden support posts like that to support a house. Maybe it's a US/UK building difference thing but I'd have bigger piles with steal beam and couplet fixings, even if it's a timber frame house. Looking forward to seeing how you solved this problem. I now understand why houses blow away in hurricanes out there.
Yeah, this is an old building practice from the 70's. The peir blocks are a commercial product of inexpensive manufacture. It's no longer code to use them that way.
Great video. Put some plastic down and it’ll be a lot cleaner down there and it’s a ground vapor barrier. Also, you need to dig and poor concrete/gravel footers so they don’t keep sinking on you. (Those footers look like deck blocks in dirt but I’m not sure?) It’s usually what’s under the posts that’s the problem not up top.
Plastic is a good idea but not sure I'm up for that effort at this point. The piers do sit on sloppy concrete pours and indeed are slightly embedded in it making it imposable to shift them for better alignment. I don't know how thick that cement is. I started to dig around one only to decide it was to much effort in that confined space.
What a great learn! Thank you so much
Lots of very hard work...great job!
Thanks!
I'm going to have to do something similar to my house, but there currently aren't any beams installed, the span was too long (house is 150 years old)
thanks for the video!
Sounds like odd construction 🤔. Perhaps there's a way to sister beams together that'll then make the total span. Challenging project! Best of luck.
I spoke with Simpson engineers today and was told they are temporary ties and not meant for permanent installation. I was hoping to get your input as to how they are holding up because I was interested in doing the same. Thanks in advance for your reply
They continue to work quite well; I've had no issues.
@ItsFixable thank you for replying. I appreciate your video and your response it's been a great help
One think I would have done differently.. measure the rough distance that you need for the post / leveler and assemble them outside. Reduce the number of times you have to crawl in and out! Excellent video, I need to do something similar to my house.
Good idea.
Nice work. We’ve bought an older home, and the subfloor joist are spaced just like yours. I am looking into leveling my floors since one side of the house appears to be a little low.
If everything is uniformly out of level a little, I wouldn't worry about it. But if sections aren't flat in relation to eachother, that becomes difficult to build to. It messes up doing tile work, fitting baseboards, rolling closet doors, or even getting a toilet to flush properly. All kinds of difficulties as upgrades or changes are desired through the years.
It would have been nice to have a little help. Great job, that is a lot of work for one guy!
It surprised me how much work it was. The effort was in all the crawling. And of course I crawled twice as much as need for the job simply because I did all the camera work too.
I can identify with what you did there. The crawling around makes images in my mind of me creating trap doors in the floor for access. But explaining that to someone else could be a problem. 😅
Trap doors would certainly help, but that too would be a lot of work. Not sure it would be worth it unless ones needs to go under there frequently.
Just a question, would it have not been better to have dug down below the frost line and pour a concrete support that way it wouldn’t shift anymore
I don't have freezing temperatures in my area, but yes, whole new footings, properly aligned would have been great. But that would have ment digging and chipping out the slop pour concrete, which each existing pier sits on, then forming, mixing, and pouring cement all while laying on my belly under there. Not something this old guy is going to achieve without tearing up floor/subfloor and having to redo the home interior, as we did in this current renovation: ruclips.net/video/lN6y6JTy3-0/видео.htmlsi=JlB_fgyXS4VLoqbU
There's a point in this video where you can see the floor removed and channels dug where new footings were poured.
Where can you buy these?
My floor system is similar, 4x10x12ft with 4x4 posts on poured concrete piers. Every 12 ft there is a post. The problem is that the beams have bellied down between the posts so the floors are not flat. I tried jacking the centers but all it did is raise the end with the least weight on it. My subfloor is T&G planks so it causes high spots in the flooring. Not good with floating flooring. Any thoughts?
Wow, bummer. Perhaps you could temporarily jack parallel to the beams at the low spots and then sister a couple 2x10's on each side along the existing and let the floor settle onto those? Tricky but might be doable.
Can you attach those adjustable post to the concrete footing?
I see no reason why not. In my case, with poorly aligned pier blocks, it made more sense to spread the load by mounting the post to the block. Putting the jack on the pier would have also dictated that I drill new mounting holes in the plates.
Thank you. Exactly what I was looking for!
Great!
Great job and great video. I have to do something similar and add a beam I think under the house I believe. This was very helpful
Glad it was helpful!
I think your concrete needed to buried a little for support, and need to be at same depth as your footers. Think you may want to look into concrete piers because it looks like your beams are showing rot. Doesn't look like you compressed the dirt down there under the concrete-looks too loose and fluffy! Lol A+ effort, and so cool to see a homeowner doing it-neat-thanks!
It's clay soil and hard as a rock; the pier blocks also sit in concrete. Fortunately there wasn't a bit of rot on any wood elements.
Are you installing those levelers upside down, or am I tripping? Also, I’ve never seen those with the flat plate on the end. Usually it’s a bolt that you bury in new concrete right?
These levelers are great for a situation like this where new concrete isn't being poured. They can be installed with either side up; in my case the channel width was too narrow for my beam so inverting them made sense.
@@ItsFixable gotcha. 👍
Thanks I have a house Los Angeles ca same problem thanks need Healp
I am a old drywall finisher digging to repair sinking house
No idea what I'm doing first thing is how or were you start on the leveling process
First step is always to determine the cause. Without understanding that, a solution is difficult to define. The second step would be to get accurate measurements as to where and how far out of level it is. With this information, one can then hone in on the proper corrective action.
Been there before except for the lifting house thing but I'm about to do that but been under house many times
I wish you the best of success with your project.
Why did you install the leveler backwards? Shouldn't the post be up against the beam and the leveler bolted to the concrete pier?
The piers are out of alignment with the beam and unmovable because they sit in concrete. The plates wouldn't center well for a good attachment. The function is the same regardless of which end is up or whether they are on top or below the post. Hence my decision to place them on top.
What happens if you have snakes underneath how do you get away from them.
Fortunately there aren't any snakes in my neighborhood. Probably because there aren't many rodents for them to eat around here. None the less, my crawl space is tightly sealed so critters can't get in.