How houses are cut down. How to raise a house from timber with your own hands. What kind of house can be raised and why do it?

A wooden house has to be raised to replace the lower crowns or repair the foundation. In this article we will talk about how to raise a house with your own crayfish using a jack, what to pay attention to and what tool to use. We will also talk about the most common mistakes that are made when lifting a house on your own and their consequences.

What you need to know about lifting your house correctly

Wooden houses are raised in different ways and for different purposes. However, the general principle and algorithm of actions are the same in all cases. It looks like this:

All communications are turned off.
Prepare a place for installing jacks.
Install jacks and detach the lower crown from the foundation.
They raise the house and put up supports.
They carry out repair work, for which they raise the house.
The house is lowered, gradually removing the supports.

Disabling communications

When planning to raise a house, it is necessary to completely disconnect all communications - electricity, water supply, gas, sewerage. If you do not do this, there is a high probability of serious damage. In addition, it is necessary to cut all the wires and pipes that connect the house to the ground. Otherwise, they will greatly interfere with the rise and may compromise the integrity of the log house. Particular attention must be paid to the stove, because the stove is placed on a concrete foundation that is not connected to the house. It will also be necessary to ensure free movement of the chimney through the roof. If the boiler is installed on a concrete base, disconnect it from the heating system. If the boiler is installed on the wall, then it will not interfere with the rise of the house.

Preparing to install jacks

The method of installing the jack depends on the type of foundation of the house. You have to cut a rectangular hole either in the foundation or in the lower crowns. On columnar or pile foundations, strong wooden panels are laid on the ground, on which jacks are installed.

When equipping a place for a jack, it is necessary to prepare a flat and strong platform that will allow the tool to withstand the weight of the wall, which often reaches 3–5 tons. It is also necessary to stock up on metal triangular four-legged spacers (supports, bedside tables) with the ability to adjust in height (they can be purchased at any auto store), and wooden planks of various widths and thicknesses. It is advisable that the width of the slats should not be less than 20 cm, optimally 40–50 centimeters. Such planks can be made from boards with a thickness of 50, 25 and 10 mm, connecting them using half-wood jumpers of the same thickness.

If you are going to completely replace under the house, then you will need metal channels and angles to weld them into a temporary structure that will take the weight of the house until you finish all the work and the new foundation finds the required strength.

Select places for jacks in such a way that the distance from the corner was 1–2 meters, and between the jacks there was 3–4 meters. Larger homes may require up to 10 jacks.

Do not forget that the jacks must be installed on the side of the lower beam of the casing (lower) crown. Therefore, first carefully inspect the house to determine the bottom beam or capping log. On the side of the upper beam, the requirements for installing jacks are lower - the distance from the corner is up to 4 meters and the distance between the jacks is up to 6 meters.

House lifting technology - Video

Once you have prepared the area for the jacks and installed them, place strong wood spacers under the top and raise the jacks until they rest against the bottom crown or wood grillage of the house. If a metal grillage is installed under the house, then it must be cut at the places where the jacks are installed to a sufficient width to accommodate the spacer. Having supported the house, disconnect the frame crown from the foundation or grillage. This operation must be carried out around the entire perimeter of the house. If you forget to disconnect the flashing in even one place, it will jeopardize the integrity of your home. If you only have one jack, you will have to raise the house gradually, placing wooden planks and moving the jack from place to place.

Raise the jacks gradually and no more than 3–5 centimeters at a time and immediately place the prepared strips under the crown. Continue to raise the first jack only after all jacks have been raised. If something goes wrong and the house falls off the jack, the slats will prevent it from gaining speed and causing a strong impact. Whenever possible, replace thin planks with thick ones, and then install supports. This will keep the house from falling under the influence of the wind. The height to raise the house depends on what you want to do. If you need to replace one or more crowns, then the height of the house should be equal to the height of one crown plus 10–15 centimeters. To replace the crowns, you will have to move the spacers, changing first on some walls, then on others.

After all the repair work for which the house was raised is completed, it begins to be lowered. To do this, first lift it slightly and install slats instead of goats. Then they pull out the top bar in each support and carefully, one millimeter at a time, lower the house by 2–4 cm. After all the jacks have been lowered one circle at a time, pull out one bar at a time again and lower it another 2–4 cm. If there is only one jack, then first they raise one side and instead of the goat they put a set of planks. Then the same operation is performed on the remaining areas. After this, they lift the first section, pull out the top bar and lower the house until it rests on the remaining package. This operation is performed in a circle until all the slats are removed. After this, the casing crown is attached to the foundation or grillage.

What tools are needed

When planning to raise a house, you need to prepare all the tools in advance so that during the work you do not have to run to the store for the missing tools. Here is a list of tools that will be required for this job:

a hydraulic jack with a lifting force of at least ¼ of the weight of the house;
strong wooden panels for installing a jack (only for pile and columnar foundations);
chain saw for concrete (for slab and strip foundations and reinforced concrete grillages);
various linings with a width of at least 20 cm each;
safety stands with height adjustment;
grinder with a metal disc (for houses with a metal grillage);
keys and screwdrivers for detaching the casing from the foundation or grillage.

How to choose a jack to raise a house

When choosing a jack, you need to focus on two parameters - power (lifting force) and shape. To determine the required jack power, calculate the weight of the house and divide it by 4. If the house is small, then it is advisable to use a jack with a lifting force equal to half the weight of the house. This is due to the fact that in large houses there are up to 10 jack installation points, so the tool will work without overload, and in small houses there are only 4 points, so the jack will work with maximum load.

For lifting houses located low above the ground, rolling and inflatable jacks with a board 50–100 mm thick and at least 250 mm wide placed under them are well suited. If the distance from the ground exceeds 30–40 cm, then bottle and scissor hydraulic jacks, as well as screw rack and rhombic jacks, are well suited.

The most common and dangerous mistakes

When lifting wooden houses, the following mistakes are most often made:

they forget to disconnect the casing from the foundation;
raise one side too much;
the jack is not installed clearly;
do not use gaskets between the jack and the crown;
pads that are too narrow are used.

If you forget to disconnect the frame crown from the grillage in at least one place, then when raising the house, there is a high probability that the frame crown will split, causing the whole house to shake. If this happens, you will have to caulk not only those crowns that you change during the repair process, but also all the others.

If you raise one side too much (more than 5 cm), then there is a high probability of skewing and jamming of windows and doors. In addition, lifting one side too much will cause the beams or logs to warp, which will force the house to be re-caulked, which is difficult and expensive.

One of the common and very dangerous mistakes is unclear installation of the jack. If during the lifting process it pushes through the soil or somehow changes its position, there is a high probability that this will lead to a shift of the entire house relative to the foundation. If this happens, it will be very difficult to get the house back. In especially severe cases, you will have to disassemble it completely, then reassemble it on the foundation. Using a jack without a “heel” - a spacer between it and the crown - often leads to splitting of a beam or log. After all, the area of the bottle jack rod is small, but the pressure it creates is enormous.

Another extremely dangerous mistake is using narrow linings. After all, a raised house is in no way connected to the foundation, so even a small wind creates enough force to overturn the narrow supports, as a result of which the house falls from the foundation and is destroyed. To avoid this, it is necessary to use wide pads and welded triangular “goats” with the ability to adjust in height. Such “goats” are used to secure raised cars. When choosing goats, make sure that they have not 3, but 4 legs. Goats with three legs are not suitable for lifting a house.

When a house is built on a low foundation, the space under the house is poorly ventilated. That's why the house is damp, cold and the floor is rotting. Moisture evaporates from the ground, the floor gets wet, fungus appears on it, the joists crumble, and the floor collapses. The integrity and rigidity of the house structure is compromised. In a house built on a low foundation, in 3-5 years at least the floor will need to be replaced, and possibly a major overhaul.

There is another mistake of builders, which entails the same thing. Inexperienced builders forget to make vents in the foundation or do them incorrectly.

* Ventilation holes MUST be located on two opposite sides, at the same level and opposite each other, every 2-3 meters and be at least 160 mm in diameter.

Example. Raising the house, laying the foundation under the house.

After raising the house, the foundation can be built up with concrete, blocks, and bricks.
We recommend building up the foundation:
— With concrete, if the foundation is weak, it crumbles, there are cracks on it.
— Sand concrete blocks, if the foundation is good and the house is light.
- Bricks, if the foundation is good and the house is heavy.

Example. Raising the house by 30 cm, building up the base with bricks

Example. Raising the house by 40 cm, building up the base with blocks

Example. Raising a house more than 1 meter, building up the base with blocks

You can watch more videos of our work at Youtube

You will need

– hydraulic 10 or 20 ton jack;
– wooden beams with a cross-section of about 150x250 mm or railway sleepers;
– construction and carpentry tools (crowbar, shovel, ax, etc.);
– a thick metal plate (lining under the jack head).

Instructions on how to lift the corner of a wooden house with a jack

Calculate the approximate load on the corner of the house (weight of the house divided by 4). This parameter is needed in order to select the dimensions of the beams on which the corner of the house will rest after it is raised. Please take into account the following information as a reference: a railway sleeper installed on an edge, having a cross-section of 160x230 mm, with a span length of 2.5 m, can withstand a central load of 4.5 tons.

Determine where the jack will rest. It must be chosen taking into account the specific situation. If you are raising a house in order to replace the lower rotted crowns with new ones, cut an opening in these crowns until there is a whole log against which the jack will rest. The opening should be cut wide enough to accommodate the jack and beams on which the house will rest after being raised.

If the house is being raised in order to increase the height of the foundation or plinth, then in order to place the jack head under the log, it is necessary to hollow out a niche in the foundation - if it is a strip foundation. If the house is located on a columnar foundation, there is no need to hollow out a niche.

Place the jack under the log. If there is soil under its heel, compact it well and place a wide beam or thick board on it. If there is a concrete foundation surface under the jack, also place a thick board on it to distribute the load and stabilize the heel.

Place a thick steel plate about 10x10 cm in size under the jack head. It is advisable that it has a small concavity or milling in the center - as a guarantee against the head slipping. Support the log in the place where the lining is installed - in the form of a horizontal plane.

Place a rod next to the corner, sticking it into the ground. Mark lines on the batten and on the corner of the house that are at the same level. The relative position of these lines during the rise will indicate the magnitude of the rise. It is impossible to control this value by extending the jack rod, since its heel will be pressed into the board and the ground.

Start lifting the house by working with the jack handle. At the same time, pay attention to its verticality. If the tool deviates from the vertical, stop lifting and reinstall the jack.

When working, follow these rules. Raising the house must be carried out simultaneously with two jacks installed under the corner areas of the house. You can only raise one corner if it has sagged in relation to the other three and you need to straighten it.

The lifting of one side in one cycle should not exceed 4-6 cm. After this, you need to place stops under the wall and begin to lift the opposite side.

The raised side is fixed in two ways - by placing thick boards between the log and the foundation or by constructing a so-called “bench”. In the latter case, the beam is placed under the wall perpendicular to it, and its ends rest on supports installed on opposite sides of the wall. You should choose a specific method based on the nature of the work being done on the house (replacing crowns, adding foundation, etc.).

How to measure the corner of a house

The one who digs the pit himself...

He gets little pleasure from it, since the excavation work is not done by hand. It's the company's turn here. Before the excavator arrives, the corners of the future building on the construction site are measured. You can do this work yourself.

When measuring yourself, a few centimeters do not matter. In the end, the pit will also not be dug according to the plan, down to a hair's breadth. But still work with maximum care. To be able to mark the corners of a building, you first need boundary stones. The positions of these points recorded on the ground are depicted on the official diagram (scale “1:500” or “1:1000”). Now go in search of boundary stones, which over many years may have become overgrown with humus and greenery. If you don't find anything, a surveyor should help you, who in this case will install new boundary stones. Rectangular distances to the planned house are measured from the boundaries of the land plot. The dimensions are also in the official diagram.

Once you "find" the first corner of the house, drive a wooden peg into the ground at that location. Then take all other measurements until all important points of the building become visible on the ground (this also includes the corners of bay windows). Wooden pegs covered with red paint will be clearly visible. Attention: all measuring work must be carried out under control. Make a plan with reference dimensions.
Reference dimension 1: for example, the width of the land plot is 15.70 meters, the width of the building is 9.61 meters. The distance to the plot boundary is 3.00 meters on one side, 3.09 meters on the other side. First, measure the distance from one boundary to the building (3.00 meters). Then the width of the building is recorded on the ground. If the distance to the opposite boundary of the land plot does not correspond to 3.09 meters, then an error has crept in that must be corrected.
Control dimension 2: once the corners of the house are determined, the length of the building's diagonals is checked.

By the way: for large distances on the site, it is better to use a long tape measure (about 25 meters). Measuring a construction site with an inch ruler is too tedious. On slopes, always take measurements horizontally and never parallel to the slope of the terrain.

Land plots with slopes are measured using a level

Very steep construction sites are measured using a level. A measuring instrument is installed strictly horizontally on a tripod in the center of the plot of land. The built-in “level” helps with this. A measuring rod is installed on the boundary stone (keep it vertical!) and sighted using a level. When the measuring rod is fixed in the sight, the focus is adjusted and the indicator is read (for example, 2.510 meters). Then a measuring rod is installed on another boundary stone, and the next indicator is determined using the same method (for example, 1.506). The height difference between the two boundary stones will be exactly 1.004 meters. Using this principle, you can measure the entire construction site. The following is important: mark all points, taking into account the scale, on the plan and immediately write down the obtained values. Note: with a uniform slope of the land, it is enough to have only a few terrain measurement points; with a chaotically structured topography, in order to be able to indicate the contours of the terrain, therefore, numerous measurements are necessary. Using this diagram, you can very accurately determine the position of the building on the construction site. And now there are important starting points on the ground, with the help of which the depth of the pit can later be determined. By the way, many suppliers of prefabricated houses rent out levels.

The official general plan shows boundary stones and the exact location of the house.

Look for boundary stones that may have been hidden by vegetation over the years.

The distances from the boundaries of the land plot to the corners of the house are measured with a tape measure.

Once the corner of the house is "found", mark it with a wooden peg.

Data on distances to the boundaries of the land plot are marked on a separate diagram.

The difference in height on sloping land is measured using a level. First install...

Use a tripod and place the measuring device with a “level” in a horizontal position.

The measuring rod is endorsed. To calculate the indicator, you need to adjust...

Sharpness. Enter the established value into the plan (in this case, 1.506 meters).

How to raise the corner of a brick house

Anyone interested in how to lift a house with a jack should carefully read this article, as it contains very interesting and useful material.
In the modern construction world, there are very different houses - residential, country, office, and these houses are built from many different building materials. They are made of clay, stone, wood, and so on.

They all have a huge number of differences - their disadvantages and advantages. But, if you have a country house, then it is naturally wooden.

Such a quick association of a summer house with a wooden house is due to the fact that for a long time it was believed that wood is an environmentally friendly material, the building from which will serve you for many years, with proper care, of course.

The process of raising a house using a jack

A situation may arise that you will need to lift the country house with a jack, let's look at how to do this correctly. This instruction is suitable not only for wooden buildings, but also for all others.

Firstly, it is important to remember that you need to lift the house only with strong cargo jacks with a lifting capacity of ten tons. They are durable, easy to use and can support a house of almost any weight.

Secondly, another very important point is that you need to lift the house from two corners of one side, since if you lift the house from both sides, using four jacks, this can cause the house to shift to one side and lead to subsequent deformation. You need to understand that it is better to lift slowly but surely.

The process of raising a house using jacks has some difficulties that are worth paying attention to:

First of all, before moving a wooden house, you need to hammer two slats into each corner of the house, then use a level to determine the exact height of the house on the slats. After this procedure, we prepare a place for jacks; it is best to have a large suitable supporting area on the existing soil.

Then you slowly begin to raise the house, but be sure to do it on both sides at the same time. After raising to the desired height, proceed to all of the above procedures, only from the opposite side. This is how the process of raising the house with the help of jacks occurs.

Now let's figure out why all this is actually being done. And this is done mainly in order to replace or repair the foundation of the house.

Let's consider the most popular option - strengthening, repairing, or replacing the foundation with screw piles.

Foundation repair with screw piles

This method of maintaining the foundation of a house in proper order has gained its popularity due to its durability, relative simplicity and completely justified cost.

Remember that the foundation of a house is its most important part, because it determines how long your country house or cottage will last.

So, if you notice any cracks, chips on the foundation, or the house has begun to sag, then this is a sure sign that the foundation needs repairs.

Recently, more and more homeowners have begun to prefer a screw foundation to the usual foundation made of concrete blocks. As mentioned above, this is due to the advantage in durability and lower cost.

The technology for replacing the foundation with screw piles is quite simple, especially when it comes to wooden houses, because you have already learned how to lift them correctly if you read this article from the very beginning.

Here's what it looks like:

First, based on the characteristics of the soil on which the house is located, a type is selected and the exact required number of piles for the future foundation is calculated.

Already under the raised houses, mark the perimeter along which the piles will be screwed, as well as the location of each of them.

After everything is done, the process of screwing in the piles begins. This can be done either manually or using special equipment.

The piles will be connected with a channel around the perimeter, creating a lattice.

The house is lowered onto this very grate.

How to raise the corner of a log house

It's good to have a cozy country house. But what to do when, during the construction of a wooden house, the wood was not processed, and as a result it began to rot. Most often, the lower crowns suffer from this process, since they are closest to the ground, and therefore are most susceptible to dampness.

Raising a wooden house
Raising a wooden house is not an easy task, in some cases, if safety rules are not followed, it can even be life-threatening. Many, having learned how much it costs to raise a wooden house with the help of specialists, begin to actively figure out the question of how to raise a wooden house themselves. First you need to determine the number of logs that are in dire need of replacement. Since the work associated with replacing a crown is quite labor-intensive, it is better to immediately replace all logs that cause the slightest suspicion. The process of determining the suitability of crowns is carried out differently by everyone. Some determine this by the sound that a log makes when it is tapped, others with the help of an awl, which, if the log is unsuitable, easily enters it to a great depth. After determining the number of logs that need to be replaced, new ones need to be prepared. They must match the old ones in length and thickness, be well dried and cleared of bark. On each side of the house, you need to dig two holes, the bottom of which should be well leveled, after which thick boards should be laid in them. To fix the position of the log house, before lifting it, you need to nail two horizontal planks to the walls.

In order to avoid displacement of entire logs, they need to be secured together with boards. To lift a wooden house with a jack, you need to have several pieces of this lifting mechanism. The jacks need to be installed in the holes so that they are located on the side of the log, which is located on the lower logs, and a support needs to be placed next to the jack. To increase the fixation area and to prevent the jack from pushing through the tree, you need to put an iron plate under it. Lifting a wooden house should be done slowly, this will facilitate careful control over the level of distortion. You need to ensure that the log comes out from the cup of the lower logs. If the house does not want to be raised with the help of jacks, then you need to place supports with spacers under the log and continue lifting it. When the house is raised on all sides by 30 cm, the lower logs can already be rolled out. After the wooden house has been lifted, it must be lowered onto the support pillars and the rotten logs removed. But it is not enough to have an answer to the question of how to raise a wooden house; you also need to know how to replace the frame.
A complete replacement of the casing must be done following a strict sequence. First, the top of the foundation is disassembled to the required height, after which, on one side of the building, you need to chop and saw off the corner joints of the second and first logs in order to lower the second log onto the foundation. In place of this log, a new log with a lining is installed. The log on which the material was laid is lifted up, where it is clamped with wedges, which must be driven between the lining and the foundation. After replacing the second logs on all sides, the first log of the casing crown is replaced.

If a wooden house was built more than a dozen years ago, then most likely it has a weak and low foundation, so you definitely need to set a goal to raise the old wooden house in order to update its foundation. If how to raise an old wooden house remains a mystery to someone, then before you start solving the problem of how to raise a wooden house with your own hands, you need to prepare items such as logs or beams, two jacks and cutting boards. It is not enough to have approximate knowledge of how to raise a wooden house; you also need to know well how to properly raise a wooden house. If you set a goal not only to update the foundation, but also to raise the log house above ground level, you need to study a lot of literature that describes how to raise an old wooden house, or get advice from a familiar specialist. When choosing a design for a new foundation, it is better to give preference to a monolithic foundation, which is made with reinforced steel rods and has the appearance of a strip. You can also place a new foundation on an old brick foundation. When you need to start work on lifting a log house, before lifting the wooden house, you need to dismantle the partitions and disassemble the floor. A feature of the technology for lifting a house using two jacks is that raising the corner of the building can lead to deflection of the log, which is located in the lower frame.

Following a technology that includes a method that deals with solving the problem of how to raise the corner of a wooden house is not a difficult task. Before lifting a wooden house, namely its corner, using two jacks, you need to make calculations of the load that falls on it. These parameters will be useful for selecting the size of the support that will be needed after the corner of the house is raised a few centimeters with jacks. A lining is placed on the support, which must correspond to the height of the rise, and after that the corner itself is lowered. The following angles are also raised in this way. When carrying out work to raise a log house, do not forget about insurance, which consists of scraps of boards inserted into the gap between the beam and the support. Such a special lining will help out in the event that the jack fails due to an unforeseen situation. It is also important to follow the rule that the jack should always be placed only in those places where the wood is strong and has no signs of rotting. When the house has been raised to the desired height, you can begin to install a new foundation, after which you can remove the supports, as well as other auxiliary elements.

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Violation of the integrity of the foundation is a phenomenon often found in wooden buildings of considerable age. It happens that the house itself is in excellent condition, but the base has rotted due to external factors and the inability to get close to the structure due to its burial in the ground. In such cases, there are 2 options:

Dismantle the old house and build a new one.
If the building is in good condition, it is not practical to dismantle it; raising the foundation of a wooden house and reconstructing it would be a rational decision.

There are even technologies for lifting and moving stone and multi-story buildings, but on your own, without the help of specialists, you can only lift a small wooden house using conventional tools.

The general principle of lifting or which houses can be lifted

The essence of the technology is to place a jack under the wall above the foundation and directly lift the building. You will need 4 lifting devices, their capacity must be at least 10 tons, or according to calculation: take the approximate weight of the house and divide it by 4, you will get the load per jack. The device should be selected with a power reserve.

As they increase, supporting objects are inserted into the opening gaps: beams, bricks, blocks around the entire perimeter. In this way, wooden houses made of timber, logs, or wooden panels can be torn off the ground. These materials and the method of fastening them together are able to compensate for minor distortions that occur during the work, and the house does not fall apart.

Things are more complicated with block, monolithic, stone buildings. The rigid connection of structural components is not able to withstand distortions and destruction of individual parts of the load-bearing and self-supporting frame occurs. In such cases, a technological approach is required:

Metal plates or beams are installed under the wall, which take on a uniform load from the entire perimeter of the house;
Powerful jacks are installed under the plates at many support points and lifting is carried out.

This process is impossible without special equipment and qualified specialists.

Restore the foundation or build a new house

Before deciding to replace the foundation, you should evaluate the entire situation:

Is the house itself suitable for further living?
If the building is suitable, decide whether the foundation needs to be restored or completely changed.

In cases where restoring a house is a more affordable option than building a new one, you, of course, need to start with the main supporting structure. Why does the foundation break?

Long service life, as a result of which the constituent elements have time to rot;
For the same reason, the house may sag along one side or corner, causing a general misalignment;
Improper construction of structures. This phenomenon happened everywhere 50-60 years ago: they built with what they could and as best they could, the technology was rarely followed;
Soil erosion and high groundwater levels are producing results.

Problems may also arise in newly built houses:

Incorrect calculation of the foundation structure, insufficient depth, resulting in cracking of the structure as a result of soil heaving;
Errors in construction technology;
The low base does not allow sufficient insulation of the floor of the first floor, which is why the rooms are cold and constantly damp.

In the case of old houses, there is only one recommendation - no restoration, complete replacement of the foundation! The tree will continue to deteriorate in unfavorable conditions and the effect of the work will not last long. You should choose a monolithic concrete foundation. For new houses, the situation is assessed individually: if there has been a significant violation of the integrity of the structure, it is advisable to completely replace it with a more powerful foundation. If there is noticeable discomfort from dampness on the ground floor and it is impossible to insulate the floor, you can resort to raising the base.

Foundation calculation

To determine the correct depth for laying a new foundation, assess the condition of the soil:

Availability of groundwater on the site;
Soil type: sand, clay or rocky base.

Sands and rocky soils without groundwater are ideal for construction. Shallow foundations can be placed on these, without taking into account the level of soil freezing in the region. For reinforced concrete tape, it is enough to take 50-60 cm in depth.

Clays and fluid soils require a different approach. If the house is one-story or two-story with a lightweight structure without weighted concrete floors, it will be sufficient to install shallow strip or column foundations. The latter will cost much less. The depth is taken based on the depth of soil freezing; the depth can be placed at the level of ½ or 1/3 of the table value.

When installing a shallow foundation, it is necessary to create a compensation cushion of sand and crushed stone under the structure. It will take on the pressure of the soil during heaving and the structure of the house will not move.

If the house has a basement, it is advisable to build a buried foundation. To do this, you need to use SNiP “Building Climatology” and take from its appendix the depth of winter soil freezing in the region. Add 20-30 cm to the result. This is true for both strip and column foundations. If there is a basement for a columnar foundation, it will be necessary to create enclosing walls and carefully insulate them.

Preparing the bottom frame of the wall

In order for the house to withstand the rise without destruction, it is important to check the condition of the lower frame in order to identify its weakness. If the log is rotten or dry, it must be replaced or dismantled before installing the jacks. You can make a cut under the lifting mechanism to a whole log through the defective one.

In general, before starting work, you should check the entire lower tier: tap it, identify weak logs. To this end, you may need to hire a professional to accurately diagnose the condition of the walls.

What you need to prepare for work

To raise the foundation of an old wooden house, you will need a small set of tools and equipment:

Shovel;
4 jacks;
Laser or bubble level;
A set of wooden blocks and planks of different thicknesses.

To dismantle it, you will need a hammer drill, a crowbar, an ax - any tools for dismantling the old structure, based on its material.

Preparatory work

If you need to raise a wooden house and pour the foundation, you need to dig a trench around the perimeter of the building. Its depth should correspond to the design depth of the new foundation, and its width should be sufficient for convenient work and installation of equipment, optimally 60...70 cm.

As mentioned earlier, it is necessary to prepare a place for the jack. To do this, a compaction is created in the ground near the corners of the house for installation, and a thick board is laid. It is advisable that the device be located directly under the wall. If there is an old foundation under the wall, a separate part of it should be cut down. Next, the fragile wall belt is dismantled until it is intact and strong. Now you can install the jack. It is advisable to place a thick metal plate on its lifting plane with a width greater than the thickness of the beam. This is necessary so that if the wood is not strong enough, the mechanism will not pierce it, and the load on the plate will fall evenly.

Some sources claim that you can take 1-2 jacks. If you imagine the situation in practice, what will happen: you need to lift the structure evenly, but with 1 or 2 devices you will have to constantly move around the perimeter. In addition, the structure of an old house may not withstand such distortion. Feel free to take 4 jacks at the corners (or more, depending on the type of perimeter) and get to work.

How to lift an old wooden house with a jack

The first thing to remember is no rush! At every step, you need to monitor the process and urgently take action if unforeseen situations arise.

The jacks are installed. We begin to slowly raise the devices by 2-3 centimeters one after another. Greater distortion is undesirable. They raised it and placed a support board. Then they raised it and put another board down. When the free distance is significant, the boards can be replaced with stronger beams. Supports are installed as often as necessary to support the walls. Under 6 meters you can place 2-3 supports.

When the lifting height is sufficient for subsequent work, you can begin to dismantle the weakened part or the entire foundation. A hammer drill, axe, crowbar and other auxiliary tools will help here. It is important to thoroughly clean the area for the new base.

Now let's start changing the design itself.

When choosing a strip foundation, we build formwork, make a 20-30 cm sand and gravel cushion, and install a frame. Concrete is poured using wheelbarrows or a hose from a concrete truck. It is imperative to compact the solution with a submersible vibrator. The period during which concrete will gain 70% of its strength is 5...7 days. After this, the house can be lowered onto the foundation.

To install shallow-depth posts, you can use monolithic concrete or ceramic brick. We lay out or pour into the formwork the supports placed on a bed of sand and crushed stone.

In all cases, the walls of the foundation structure should be waterproofed to preserve its integrity for a longer period.

We make a monolithic concrete grillage along the columns or use a ready-made reinforced concrete beam.

Before lowering the building onto a new foundation, it is very important to create a layer of roofing felt or other polymer insulator between dissimilar materials (wood and concrete). We lay 2-3 layers along the grillage or top of the tape.

Restoration of the lower crown

If the lower crown of the wall was removed due to dilapidation, do not forget to restore this belt. To do this you will need a prepared log or timber. We lay them on a new base. We cut out the places where the jacks are installed; after removing them, the missing parts will be inserted into place. But if the lifts are only in the corners, then there will be no problems. We carefully insulate the gaps between the beams with caulk, flax-jute or padding polyester.

Now we lower the jacks at the same speed as we raised them - 2 cm from each corner. After removing the mechanisms, if necessary, insert the sawn parts of the first tier, insulate and close all the holes.

If the house has a stove or an outbuilding

Separately, it is worth mentioning the old houses with a stove. It has its own foundation, so it will not rise with the house. Before raising a wooden house, it is necessary to clear the floor surrounding the stove, the hole for the chimney in the ceiling and the roof so that the pipe can move freely. After the work is completed, when the house is put into place, if the work is done correctly, the floor and ceiling will remain undamaged.

If the house has an extension, there are 2 options:

1) Raise it along with the house;
2) During the work, unhook the connections of the attachment, if this does not affect its stability.

The second option is more understandable and simple, but the choice must be made solely by assessing the situation.

Any FORUMHOUSE user knows that the reliability and service life of a home depends on the careful planning of construction. The foundation construction stage deserves special attention.

But sometimes it happens that problems with the foundation or building arise several years after its construction. In this article we look at how to raise a house with your own hands.

Instructionsfrom our experts

Although suchhund performed the work of repairing and leveling the foundation very efficiently, the experts of our site, after reading this example, came to the rescue and gave some tips on how to raise a house with your own hands, as a guide for FORUMHOUSE users who decided to do the “rigging” work themselves.

Igor Bekkerev,(nickname on the forum Igor3 ):

– I have been lifting and moving houses since 1984. It should be noted that the above method of installing temporary wooden pads is very dangerous, and here’s why. Gaskets must ensure reliable stability of the entire structure, otherwise the structure may topple. It is best to make the bottom spacers from concrete blocks, and use special welded trestles (bedside tables) for hanging the house. And it is better to pour a new tape not in separate blocks, but as a whole - as a monolith.

Drawing of a device for lifting a house with a jack.

Gromozeka:

– Imagine: instead of concrete cubes () there are steel supports in the form of parallelepipeds, welded from angle, thick reinforcement or channel. It is necessary to pass the reinforcement through these blocks, tie it, then install the formwork and pour the concrete. The result will be a single monolithic strip foundation structure.

Welded pillars-supports, embedded in the tape, do not interfere with the pouring of the foundation, and the reinforcement and formwork rest on them.

It is important to remember that any mistake made when lifting a structure can lead to it tilting, sliding off temporary supports and falling. Among these errors are:

Rapid, uneven and too high rise of one side of the house;
Insufficient strength of temporary supports. But the building, while it stands “on chicken legs”, is also affected by wind loads;
Insufficient strength of the base on which the jacks rest;
Incorrect calculation of the lifting force of the jack, which is necessary to lift the house from the foundation.

Therefore, lifting a structure must begin with the obligatory calculation of a number of nuances that directly affect both the safety of the structure (windows, doors, rafter system, etc.) and the safety of the “riggers” working under it.

Igor3:

– They often ask , how to lift a wooden one on jacks with your own hands so that it does not fall apart. There is only one piece of advice - you need to understand where the vector of applied forces is directed. The structure can rise clockwise or vice versa. We make 3-10 circles (as many as needed) until the house rises to a sufficient height. I do not recommend raising it by more than 350 mm, although we raise it up to 80 cm, and with the use of special technology up to 1.8 meters. When lifting, avoid swaying the building. This comes with experience - you already feel the moment after which it will begin to lose stability.

Practice shows that to lift a weight of up to 7 tons, 1 jack with a force of 10 tons is enough. The house will have to be lifted slowly, gradually moving the jack to different points. You can lift the building (one side) no more than 3-5 cm at a time, gradually leveling it and working in a circle! During professional work, this operation uses 15-20 jacks at a time.

What kind of jack is needed to lift a wooden house.

Read our forum member’s story about how to do it yourself. Also, FORUMHOUSE users can learn how to use jacks and level it without dismantling the floor. We offer you a detailed photo report on the foundation repair. Watch our videos how