The Lane, after the rains on May 1st
You asked for more, so here are some details from the “leveling” process.
In old house speak, “level” usually means “If one can walk, without listing like a boat, and not feel as though you are about to fall over, you’re close”. We have been shooting for a bit nearer to the “If a marble rolls, but only very slowly” version of level.
In order to achieve this elusive “level”, we have employed almost twenty screw jacks, a handful of massive sill lift plates, 6x6 cribbing timbers, cables, bolts and come-a-longs. Oh, and more than a few prayers to the Old House Gods to keep the high winds from picking the whole thing up and moving it to Kansas!
Once the interior kitchen demo was complete, the first jack was ready to to be placed against the main house to support the rear back corner. Nathaniel cut a hole in the 2nd floor ell facilitating the jack to sit on a bed of cribbing at grade while multiple 16ft 2x4’s were attached to a massive steel plate bolted to the side of the corner post high on the 2nd floor wall. The first of many jacks allowing the house to float off the ground!
With the back corner now fully supported, the rear ell demo could continue. A heavy plank bridge was set up and after building a wooden cradle around the scullery, it was detached from the rear ell and slowly moved to its temporary resting spot at the back of the property.
Let the real jacking begin!
With the rear ell gone, except for a pile of ruble, the guys focussed on supporting the rest of the main structure. As I mentioned earlier, there had been some unfortunate “upgrades” in the 1940’s. An unsightly bathroom wart had been pulling half the house over and a furnace install that meant someone decided to cut 3ft sections out of two main support beams in the floor. No structural engineer required HAH!
Cables & bolts…come along with me!
Much to my extreme disappointment, I wasn’t on Island for this, so my order may be a bit off…
At the start of the project, we had taken up some of the floor boards in the attic to assess the condition of the frame. We noticed a number of the joists had been literally pulled out of their pockets by the weight of the wart. In order for the house to gain some semblance of level, these needed to be eased back into place while the jacks were doing their job from below.
Its a bit of a dance - holding it together while jacking from below.
On the 2nd floor, we had a similar situation, but the floor was being pushed up into the center of the room while the side was sinking. When I bought the house, the door wasn’t operable given how much movement had occurred.
And on the 1st floor -
Lucky for me, all of this was in place before the Island wide stop work order went into effect in mid March. Colin, who has been instrumental in caring for the house in my absence, stops in to check every few days with a sledge hammer…and tends the jacks…to raise the house…one tap at a time.
Be back there soon!
Sarah
P.S. To my ever patient neighbors, I promise to clean up the yard just as soon as I return!