Half Way There - What Happens when you’re Living on a Misplaced Post

Jacking the floor joist up slightly, allows me to remove the old jack post. 

The weight of the world is pretty heavy. 

Yet the weight of a misplaced post, supporting an oversized load, can be felt by all.

I’m sure y’all understand. Right?

That was the issue in the latest installment of ‘Why has this house not fallen apart yet?’. 

The mess causing the problem. A supporting beam runs into this joist, supporting additional joist. A chunk was taken out of this main joist, giving a weak structure. But the post could not be set where all the main components are, because of the plumbing, a stair case that gave access to the crawlspace, and a bunch of electrical lines.

A house built long before the introduction of plywood to the housing market (which was sometime in the mid-1950 to early 1960s), was constantly experiencing a sag in the flooring. This can be contributed to age and weight reversing the crown of the joist below. Things were always ‘out of level’. But as they say… old house, old problems. You live with it, and do your best. 

With the expansion of the kitchen, involving the removal of an interior crawlspace access, a more serious inspection was needed.

Because the jack post are narrow, a lot of weight is being compressed onto a small point.

A jack post lived in the area of the problems. Definitely not original to the structure. But added directly after the removal of half of the supporting floor joist. I’m assuming for an over grown human tired of headbutting said floor joist.

They probably did not foresee the issue this would cause. But as the most famous quote repeated across generations go, ‘Aaaah… It’s the next person’s problem.’ 

The next person, being myself.

But I can’t give them too much fault. The reason for the misplaced post, was mostly caused by a staircase, 2nd floor and kitchen plumbing, and all manners of electrical lines being in the way. The spot they picked was better, than not at all. But far from supporting the double beam supporting additional floor joist. 

To add to it, the jack post was digging into the joist. Easily a 1/2” of compaction.

We can thank all the weight above for this.

Pump jacks are great for lifting heavy objects, like a house. But they need to be taken with great care, by making sure the pump jacks are level and the temp post are plumb, or else there could be a kick out, causing a massive drop.

But to start, I need to remove all that weight.

Pump jacks are the best solution for this problem. And if you don’t understand why things need to be plumb and level, then you will reach a new level of faith when one of these kick out from under you.

Once the jack post falls apart, I was able to focus on digging the proper footer placement. To speed things up, I used fast set cement. While I would really enjoy laying stacked block, a pressure treated 6x6 was used as my post. Mostly cause it gives a wide enough foot print for all my lumber, but also because I’m a carpenter… and I understand this. And it’s faster.

J-bolts and a retro fit 6×6 post base were used in place of a wet-set post base. This is an alternative in a pinch, to get the job done.

But we will not be sitting the post on the footer. That would be barbaric. Instead we will use a post base to lift the post off the ground, and also give a tied connection with the concrete. And ideally, I would use a wet set post base. But we can thank the big box store for carrying only wet set 4x4 post bases, but not 6x6. To work around this, I use a j-bolt set perfectly 2-3/4” in both plumbed directions, with a retro fit post base. Not an easy task… but not impossible.

For this I used a level to figure this out. In hindsight, two plumb bobs hanging on either plane would have been easier. A tool I thought was pointless thanks to today’s modern construction of fancy levels with beeps and boops, and flashing lasers. But for the next time, I’ll be ready.

The finished product. Both joist are now sitting on the new post, supporting both loads from either direction.

Once the concrete is set for weight, the post base attached, and all our other distractions are moved, the post can stand tall in its new home.

The beauty with how this was set, is every load bearing spot is now being supported.

No more trampoline for a floor.

No more prayers for the nails holding on for dear life. 

Just a properly supported spot in a house, supplying the much needed undisturbed nights of sleep every homeowner deserves. 

Still more to talk about with this project, but til then. Stay peachy y’all.