Two 20-ton jacks set six feet apart along the underside of the beam were raised in unison.
Throughout my years as a columnist many projects have been featured. Although the subjects have been somewhat mundane at times, the accompanying photos bring it all together and hopefully give the reader some deeper insight into the project. Completion photos do tell a good story. However, not every project has a photogenic ending.
The two-tiered deck, a decorative fireplace, a kitchen or bathroom remodel — these projects are easily showcased once the job is done. Photos are taken from every angle, to plump-up an already congested portfolio of gathered images throughout the years of renovations, sometimes hundreds of shots per project completion. But what about the less dazzling tasks? Projects with less oomph tend to be more difficult to catalogue visually, and the inspiration to gather photos is almost non-existent. No matter, there are projects that are necessary, despite their aesthetically lackluster results.
During the summer, a cottage near St. Malo had been upgraded in two ways, on two separate occasions; several windows were replaced, and the back deck and main porch steps were updated and rebuilt, respectively. Prior to these projects however, another main task required to ensure success for both the windows and decks had been achieved over the course of the first day – re-leveling the cottage. Although this may seem somewhat trivial, it was essential to remedy the cottage of the listing that had become predominant along the west side of the cottage. After carefully assessing the tilt, it was evident that the cottage had sunk nearly two inches. Such a slope would not only be extremely apparent within the cottage along floor, but it would also create undo stress on windows and doors, making them harder to open and close. Some of the tongue-and-groove pine siding in the living area had also popped-out due to the unwanted grade. Luckily, there was a plan to fix it, using multiple 20-ton jacks.
The cottage has three main, triple laminated 2×10 beams that run east to west. On the sunken side of the cottage, two jacks were first placed along the North beam, one at the end and another roughly six feet along, below the cottage. Steel angle iron was temporarily attached to the underside of the beam above the main jack, with a concrete pad below (to prevent sinking while raising the cottage beam). Bit by bit, the outer jack was raised until the beam lifted ever-so-slightly from the 6×6 post. As the beam continued to lift, the second jack set six feet along was also raised in conjunction with the initial jack until an inch of gapping allowed for a shim between the beam and the post. The outer jack was then repositioned six feet past the second jack, and the process was repeated until the shims in all three locations were in place, once the beam was level. This entire process was repeated along every beam, all-the-while confirming leveling measurements along the way. Several hours later, ana couple of inches higher, the cottage was again level (or as level as it could be, considering the beams may have incurred a warp or twist over time). The true test was no longer feeling the sensation of falling while walking on the floor inside the cabin, the doors and windows functioned properly and moreover, the living room pine siding simply popped back into place.
Crawling around below a cottage while positioning, repositioning and cranking 20-ton jacks is not for the faint of heart — truly not a very appealing job. Moreover, there are definitely no glamorous photos to showcase upon completion of this process. Nonetheless, the task is as important (if not more important) than some of the more picturesque projects I’ve undertaken throughout the years. Had the cottage not been leveled properly, subsequent upgrades would have faltered. Sometimes, you just gotta suck it up and do what needs doing – it always pays off at the end.
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