Week three has come and gone, leaving Pat and Earnest’s house standing nobly above the land on a fresh foundation. Monday of last week, the Congo crew excavated trenches for water lines, and to provide for a French drain system to combat the horrible drainage issues that have caused damage to the house before. Our first lumber order came in—a set of 2x12’s fashioned together to create the new girders on which the house now sits. Tuesday was long and laborious, and proved to be quite defeating in the heat.
With the exterior walls as the only remaining portion of the house, the goal was to, quite literally, jack up the house to slide the girders on top of the piers while keeping entire structure intact. With little to prevent the walls from shearing besides a few 2x4’s and only three out of four functioning hydraulic platform jacks, the process was initially a disaster. The walls, although quite heavy, were as flimsy as playing cards under the pressure from the jacks, forcing us to reassess and tackle the issue on Wednesday.
Wednesday was a smashing success in comparison to Tuesday. By taking our time and using cleverly placed supports underneath points on the wall, we were successful in placing the remaining three girders onto the piers, and lowered the walls down to bear on the girders. The process of securing the girders continued on Thursday when the team drilled through the galvanized pier caps and the girders to place bolts for additional lateral strength.
The entire week had prepared us for Friday, which always seems to become our day that we utilize to the fullest. Our lumber order for our floor framing arrived, allowing us to install all of our joists on top of our piers. Our progress for the week proved to be promising after all, and the team was excited to begin laying floor decking down by Monday.
Have a great week! Check back with us soon.
With the exterior walls as the only remaining portion of the house, the goal was to, quite literally, jack up the house to slide the girders on top of the piers while keeping entire structure intact. With little to prevent the walls from shearing besides a few 2x4’s and only three out of four functioning hydraulic platform jacks, the process was initially a disaster. The walls, although quite heavy, were as flimsy as playing cards under the pressure from the jacks, forcing us to reassess and tackle the issue on Wednesday.
Wednesday was a smashing success in comparison to Tuesday. By taking our time and using cleverly placed supports underneath points on the wall, we were successful in placing the remaining three girders onto the piers, and lowered the walls down to bear on the girders. The process of securing the girders continued on Thursday when the team drilled through the galvanized pier caps and the girders to place bolts for additional lateral strength.
The entire week had prepared us for Friday, which always seems to become our day that we utilize to the fullest. Our lumber order for our floor framing arrived, allowing us to install all of our joists on top of our piers. Our progress for the week proved to be promising after all, and the team was excited to begin laying floor decking down by Monday.
Have a great week! Check back with us soon.
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