The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

In article , "Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote:
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

Consult a qualified structural engineer.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote:
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

Consult a qualified structural engineer.


UH YEAH!!!!!!!

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:06:46 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , "Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote:
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

Consult a qualified structural engineer.

Why do people like you even bother to post a reply.
Anyone knows they can hire a pro for anything in the house,car, or
whatever.

The object to this newsgroup is for DIY. If everyone called a pro,
this NG may as well be removed.

I think this makes you out to be an idiot.....


If you cant help the person, dont post a reply !!!


---------

To the OP, yes you can lower the floor. I have never lowered one, but
I have raised them. However, be warned. You will get plaster cracks,
doors and windows may not fit and will get stuck or not shut properly.
The more you move the house, the worse these problems will be.
If you do it, turn each post 1/2 turn per day. Dont do it all at
once.

To the OP, yes you can lower the floor. I have never lowered one, but
I have raised them. However, be warned. You will get plaster cracks,
doors and windows may not fit and will get stuck or not shut properly.
The more you move the house, the worse these problems will be.
If you do it, turn each post 1/2 turn per day. Dont do it all at
once.

Hmm...the person that replaced the beam replaced it, *then* replaced the
windows and some of the doors. The master bedroom door is already off
kilter, I had to sand 1/4" off of the end just to get it to close. Also,
it's not off at the ends of the house, just the center 3 or 4 supports are
too high, so I might get lucky and not effect the windows. The exterior
walls are all supported by the cement foundation for the basement.
Hmm...I'll have to give it some thought. It bugs me, but cracks in the walls
etc. also bug me :-). I might try to drop it a half inch and see what
happens.

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:56:29 -0800, "Ook" Ook Don't send me any
freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin'
spam wrote:



To the OP, yes you can lower the floor. I have never lowered one, but
I have raised them. However, be warned. You will get plaster cracks,
doors and windows may not fit and will get stuck or not shut properly.
The more you move the house, the worse these problems will be.
If you do it, turn each post 1/2 turn per day. Dont do it all at
once.

Hmm...the person that replaced the beam replaced it, *then* replaced the
windows and some of the doors. The master bedroom door is already off
kilter, I had to sand 1/4" off of the end just to get it to close. Also,
it's not off at the ends of the house, just the center 3 or 4 supports are
too high, so I might get lucky and not effect the windows. The exterior
walls are all supported by the cement foundation for the basement.
Hmm...I'll have to give it some thought. It bugs me, but cracks in the walls
etc. also bug me :-). I might try to drop it a half inch and see what
happens.


If you were the person wanting to REPLACE the beam, I too would
recommend getting a professional, but screw type jack post adjusting,
by an inch or so, is normal procedure. You actually have the opposite
problem from most people, which is a sagging floor in the center. I
assume that was the original problem, and thus why they replaced the
beam. It seeems that they raised it a bit too high in the process.
(probably allowing for settling, but went too high).
You can tell by the doors which way the house is "off level". It's
hard to explain, but just look at it logically. For example, if the
doorknob faces the center of the house and is sticking on the top (on
knob side of door), the beam is too high. If it drags on the bottom,
the beam is too low.

Get a string and one of those string levels that clip on the string.
Run it from basement wall to wall, and measure from string to floor
joists all the way across the house. OR get one of those lazer levels
and use that. The object is to have the floor level all the way
across. I'd go for about 1/4 inch high by the beam, and leave it.

Yeah, you will need some spackle for the walls, but your doors will
fit and the house will be level as intended. DO NOT lower it all at
once. Do a little each day. Maybe one half turn on each post per
day. You will get less cracking that way. Keep an eye on things like
the plumbing stack and chimney for any wood binding on them. If the
beam has been replaced, it's likely these are all free from sticking,
but watch them anyhow.

One other thing, some posts may need more adjusting than others, so be
sure to run the string level or lazer level under the entire beam.
Dont just level off the basement floor, they are never level.

I'd use a lazer level, shoot a line from wall to wall just under the
beam. Then measure from lazer line to joists all the way across. Jot
down what measurements you record. Do this by EVERY jack post. This
will tel you the high and low points and you can adjust accordingly.
After you lower it a few turns, run the level again. Keep doing that.


Mark

In article , wrote:
On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:06:46 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , "Ook" Ook Don't
send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any
freakin' spam wrote:
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

Consult a qualified structural engineer.

Why do people like you even bother to post a reply.
Anyone knows they can hire a pro for anything in the house,car, or
whatever.

The object to this newsgroup is for DIY. If everyone called a pro,
this NG may as well be removed.

Some jobs are not DIY jobs. This is one of them.

I think this makes you out to be an idiot.....

One of us is, anyway... but it's not me.


If you cant help the person, dont post a reply !!!

That *was* a helpful reply.


To the OP, yes you can lower the floor.

Of *course* he can lower the floor. What he doesn't know -- and you don't
either -- is whether he can do so without seriously damaging the structure.
That's what he needs a qualified structural engineer for.

I have never lowered one, but

IOW -- your advice is worth exactly what he's paying for it -- nothing.
I think this makes you out to be an idiot...

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

wrote:

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:06:46 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:


In article , "Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote:

The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

Consult a qualified structural engineer.


Why do people like you even bother to post a reply.
Anyone knows they can hire a pro for anything in the house,car, or
whatever.

Those of us with alot of experience in this business know when
it is time to consult and when it is a waste of time.

The object to this newsgroup is for DIY. If everyone called a pro,
this NG may as well be removed.

I think this makes you out to be an idiot.....

I won't return your childish insult, but I will say that this
reply shows you to be inexperienced and ignorant of the whole
picture.

After 35 years of experience in the construction industry, I
could walk into this home and probably reach a conclusion
about whether this would be OK or not. I would KNOW if I
needed to call in a structural engineer. Since the OP asked
whether it was OK to do this or not, I can easily surmise that
he does not have the experience or qualifications to make this
determination. Since severe damage, injury or death can occur
in the right circumstances, anyone with experience would not
advise the OP to do this unless it is evaluated by a competent
person. Since I don't know who he might call, I DO know that
a structural engineer will make a qualified evaluation and
advise him correctly.

As you can see, the only helpful advice is to call a
structural engineer. So, take your own advice:


If you cant help the person, dont post a reply !!!


---------

To the OP, yes you can lower the floor. I have never lowered one, but
I have raised them. However, be warned. You will get plaster cracks,
doors and windows may not fit and will get stuck or not shut properly.
The more you move the house, the worse these problems will be.
If you do it, turn each post 1/2 turn per day. Dont do it all at
once.

Having raised and lowered, leveled, changed and otherwise
modified many floors using different methods, my experience
tells me that there is no way to advise this person without
having seen the situation either firsthand or after evaluation
by a structural engineer.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:29:03 GMT, Robert Allison
wrote:

After 35 years of experience in the construction industry, I
could walk into this home and probably reach a conclusion
about whether this would be OK or not. I would KNOW if I
needed to call in a structural engineer. Since the OP asked
whether it was OK to do this or not, I can easily surmise that
he does not have the experience or qualifications to make this
determination. Since severe damage, injury or death can occur
in the right circumstances, anyone with experience would not
advise the OP to do this unless it is evaluated by a competent
person. Since I don't know who he might call, I DO know that
a structural engineer will make a qualified evaluation and
advise him correctly.


For instance in my house, the center beam is higher than
the rest of the house, because the sidewalls are sinking.

If I lowered the main beam, the first thing that would
happen is that 40' of chimney would tip over on my my
head, because the beam goes right through the masonry
stack.

That would be exciting.

Ook wrote:
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

"without hurting anything?" Probably not, but if you are patient and
go really slow backing the jacks down it might be minimal. By slowly I
mean months or years. If they are screw jacks & you give each one a 1/4
turn once a month it would eventually hit the level you want, maybe
without putting big cracks in the walls.

Also, before you start, see if the ceiling is sloping the same way, and if
doors, at right angles to the beam, have the same slope to the jamb top and
if doors have been cut to fit that angle. They will have to be fixed if
lowering the beam makes them stick. In other words check out everything
before you start and regularly as you adjust it. If you have lead-sealed
cast iron soil-pipe drains, some horizontal sections may need their supports
adjusted as you work, some joints may loosen and slopes may change requiring
remedial work.

"Eric in North TX" wrote in message
oups.com...

Ook wrote:
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor
in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very
bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without
hurting
anything?

"without hurting anything?" Probably not, but if you are patient and
go really slow backing the jacks down it might be minimal. By slowly I
mean months or years. If they are screw jacks & you give each one a 1/4
turn once a month it would eventually hit the level you want, maybe
without putting big cracks in the walls.

EXT wrote:
Also, before you start, see if the ceiling is sloping the same way,
and if doors, at right angles to the beam, have the same slope to the
jamb top and if doors have been cut to fit that angle. They will have
to be fixed if lowering the beam makes them stick. In other words
check out everything before you start and regularly as you adjust it.
If you have lead-sealed cast iron soil-pipe drains, some horizontal
sections may need their supports adjusted as you work, some joints
may loosen and slopes may change requiring remedial work.


A lot of good advice there. I would suggest that it would not be a bad
idea to have a structural engineer check it out.

In any case expect to end up fixing some cracked plaster.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
news
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very
bad thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without
hurting anything?

Perhaps the center beam is correct and the rest of the house is sinking
around it.

I'd have someone knowledgeable look at it before making that much of a
change. Could be the previous owner just got carried away with correcting a
sag, but it is also possible to do some damage at this point. Two inches is
quite a lot to move a main support.

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
news
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very
bad thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without
hurting anything?

Perhaps the center beam is correct and the rest of the house is sinking
around it.

I'd have someone knowledgeable look at it before making that much of a
change. Could be the previous owner just got carried away with correcting a
sag, but it is also possible to do some damage at this point. Two inches is
quite a lot to move a main support.



I agree with Edwin. I'd want to get some expert advice as well. When
someone goes to jack up a beam, then dealing with screwed up windows,
doors, cracked walls, etc, they have very good reason to jack the house
as little as possible. So, it's very strange the previous owner would
go an extra inch or two.

One possibility is that there are other problems, like sagging beams
for a second story, and the only simple way they could get the windows,
doors, etc square was to jack that one beam up the extra distance. My
thoughy would be that they already had a house screwed up, could jack
it, see what happened, what worked etc. They likely came to a
compromise that was the best they could do, without doing a lot more
work that they didn't want to get into. I'd want to know what that
was, before I opened the can of worms.

Sounds like your perimeter is sinking. Better look at that before you throw
more load on it.
--
Steve Barker



"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
news
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very
bad thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without
hurting anything?

You need to find out why the shifting is happening before you fix something.


"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
news
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very
bad thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without
hurting anything?

Ook wrote:

The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?


I renovated a house that had all rotted and/or completely missing posts
causing the main beam to sag drastically and doors to be out of square,
etc.

It was a simple job to replace with adjustable steel posts and gradually
raise the beam until everything was back to being relatively square and
level again.

So I can't imagine lowering it *slightly* and *gradually* would do any
harm other than possible cracks in interior partition walls.

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 05:16:08 GMT, "Bob (but not THAT Bob)"
wrote:

Ook wrote:

The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?


I renovated a house that had all rotted and/or completely missing posts
causing the main beam to sag drastically and doors to be out of square,
etc.

It was a simple job to replace with adjustable steel posts and gradually
raise the beam until everything was back to being relatively square and
level again.

So I can't imagine lowering it *slightly* and *gradually* would do any
harm other than possible cracks in interior partition walls.

Interesting chain of logic there..

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 05:16:08 GMT, "Bob (but not THAT Bob)"
wrote:

Ook wrote:

The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?


I renovated a house that had all rotted and/or completely missing posts
causing the main beam to sag drastically and doors to be out of square,
etc.

It was a simple job to replace with adjustable steel posts and gradually
raise the beam until everything was back to being relatively square and
level again.

So I can't imagine lowering it *slightly* and *gradually* would do any
harm other than possible cracks in interior partition walls.

I have done this exact same thing several times. It's really not all
that different than jacking up a car, and much less chance of it
falling off the jack. Lowering is no different than raising it.
Either way, cracks will appear, but remember that the house was
originally level (usually), so you are just getting things back to
normal. I still cant understand why the former owner of the OP's
house raised it too high. It's not that hard to use a $10 level.

I should mention that I have been lifting a barn where much of the
foundation collapsed. That's much more complex and could be
dangerous. But I just raise it a little every few weeks, and as it
raises, the wood goes back to it's original form. Eventually it will
be back where it belongs, then I got to rebuild the foundation (thats
the hard part). The only advantage of a barn is no plaster to crack.

Just keep in mind. Whether you are levelling a house, or lifting a
barn back on its foundation, GO SLOW. The reason is that things need
to flex. If you go too fast, things may break. If you drop a 100lb
weight on a 2x4 bridged between 2 blocks, the 2x4 will probably break.
But if you apply 100 lbs of pressure (such as standing on it), it will
flex, but not break. Raise or lower a little at a time, and nothing
will break (except the inevitable plaster cracks). There might be a
plaster popout at one or two spots too. It's the price you pay to
level a house.

I have a friend that moves and sets these pre-built homes. I have
helped him a few times when he was short on help, and it amazes me how
these homes are hauled down rough roads, tilted, shifted, bent and
distorted until they are finally on their foundations. Yet, there is
little damage, but always a few plaster cracks.... Once they are set,
he has his crew patch the cracks and touch up the paint. Not really a
big deal.....


Mark

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:50:22 -0800, Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at
zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote:

The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

Out here on the shifting unstable permafrost, in the flat, treeless tundra
of western Alaska, we are constantly re-leveling our buildings. Most here
are very familiar with the process.

Here, the frost is more than 500 feet deep, and during the summer, only the
very surface thaws. In order to maintain this delicate balance, all
buildings are built on stilts so cold air can get under them in the winter.
This prevents the building heat from deeply melting the permafrost. The
stilts on small buildings, such as houses, rest on wood pads that sit on
the surface of the ground. Because of this, it is easy to get under
buildings with hydraulic jacks.

Here are some of the things I know. Walls and floors become stressed and
may crack, doors and windows get out of alignment, pipes break, etc., when
the building is becoming un-level-when it is settling, not when you are
re-leveling it. When you re-level it, the cracks close, the doors and
windows work properly, and stress on plumbing pipes is relieved. That¢s why
you do it.

Of course, re-leveling must be done carefully.

So in your case, assuming all of your walls were built and your doors were
installed when your floor was level, careful re-leveling will probably
prevent problems, not create new ones.

Ook wrote:
The previous owner of the house I own replaced the main beam. The beam is
supported by 4-5 metal supports that appear to be adjustable. The floor in
the main level of the house slopes upwards towards where the beam, by as
much as an inch or two. I'm thinking that I can lower the main beam by an
inch or so and level the floor. Does this sound feasible? Is this a very bad
thing to do, or might I be sucessfull in leveling the floor without hurting
anything?

Having done things like this my advice is to foget about lowering the
beam. Its a bad idea a very bad idea.
What you should consider doing is using one of the floor leveling
materials. think of concrete. Its spread out over the floor liek
concrete is and then covered with something like plywood. Your
foundation must be settlling. I once raised the front of my house to
solve a problem like this. I wouln't recomend that to anyone I didn't
hate. If your goint to do it you don't have to take months to lower it.
The books recoment doing what your talking about maybe 1/32 in per day.
But nobody does it this way.
When I repaired foundations we would do it all at once but we knew
what we were doing. The homeowners I've seen wouldn't have benifited
with a bit more patience and thought. Forget lowering the beam.
Alternatively remove the floor and put new level joists in. DOn't
lower the beam.
Ken