I am in the process of doing a complete renovation of a house in Regina (SK). The foundation has shifted significantly over the years and the fromt portion of the house has sunk. I am trying to get the place level again, so that i can begin to brace the house. I have built a 3 wide 2x6 beam which spans the entire length of the house, and have 4 telepost spaced 6 ft between each post. My question for you is on adjusting the teleposts. What is a safe amount of turns on the posts per week, per month etc to avoid putting too much stress on the studs upstairs and having them split on me? The house is a 960 sq/ft bungalow.
Answer:
You might as well set up a proper jacking & blocking system and do it all at once because you will not get away from the plaster cracking no matter how slowly you do it. I've raised beams as much as six inches within a couple of hours and have also tried taking months to raise one only a couple of inches and found that the cracking could not be avoided. The stress on the framing is also the same as far as I could see. You do this with jacks and not by trying to use the teleposts as jacks - that's hazardous.
Courtesy of Ren Molnar, Construction Consultant at HomeFocus.com. I can also be reached at (613) 748-3003 and Home Focus phone-in is broadcast live 8 to 10 A.M. (Ottawa, Ont. time) on Saturdays on www.cfra.com.
