Jacking up a sagging floor 

I just saw your video and had to write a comment. I'm a real estate investor. And the repair you did would have cost me between $12,000 to $15,000. I saved enough; using your ideas to replace all the sheet rock ceilings, refinish the floors and up grade a bathroom in a rental house. Thank you

Can’t believe you did the floor beam and stuff all alone. Very impressed. Good work!!

Shawn, this particular job is my 1930 home now. Watching your video right now is exactly what I am going to do to save my under carriage of my entire home. I appreciate your video. 3/16/24

I've done quite a few jobs like this over the years (and in some tight spots like this too). If I had been doing this job, I would have started with re-securing the joist ends to the rim joist (joist hangers maybe). When you lift by the floor joists as you did you are effectively cantilevering the entire wall weight onto the ends of the floor joists until you re-support the wall (shim the gap) on the foundation. I also would have sandwiched (not sistered) that bearing beam with the rotten end for more strength/stability, as it is likely carrying a load-bearing wall above it. Two-bys on each side and carriage bolts all the way through. I also would have insisted that the plumbing be moved out of the center of the beam. If it leaked once and rotted out the old beam, it can leak again and rot out your repairs. The footings: I noticed some footings were not centered properly under the load. You don't want your support posts sitting out at the edges of your footing. Might I suggest a plumb-bob before digging the footings. For jack posts you always want a level, flat, smooth surface on your footings. It appeared no effort was made to accomplish that. Another trick I like is to line the footing holes with a garbage bag before putting in the concrete if the soil is dry. Dry soil can suck the moisture out of the concrete mix too fast which can lead to your footing cracking. As well, the newly moistened soil could soften and cause your footing to subside or lean shortly after applying your load, or heave if above the frostline. Then you're coming back to readjust jack posts. Materials: Not sure why you chose the 3X3 tube stock. Tube-stock is not meant for spanning like you did. You can use short pieces to build a hell-of-a truss or frame, but tube-stock is more for compression loads, not spanning loads. I would have used two pieces of 4 X 1.72 channel iron back to back and welded or through bolted together (creating an I-beam). With that you could have eliminated three or four of your support posts (and footings). You can convert those "temporary" posts to "permanent" by welding the base plate to the bottom of the tube and the screw cap to the top of the tube and anchoring the top and bottom plates. For the adjustable posts you need to weld where the top tube slides into the bottom tube. I noticed a foundation vent near your work location under the house. I would have used that to pass your beam through rather than dragging it through the dirt from one end of the house to the other. I also would have passed a 2 inch shop-vac hose through that vent and sucked out the dirt from your footings, rather than dragging it out on sleds. If you have a lot of holes and/or a long crawl to get there, call the local septic tank guys and have them bring out one of their vac-trucks. Don't carry or shove or drag dirt if there's a tool for the job. If you want to dig footings in crawl spaces like this (by hand), stop cutting up full size shovels. Go to the army surplus store and buy a couple "trenching tools" which are small folding shovels. They are great for tight spaces. Use them straight like a regular shovel or at 90 degrees as a pick-axe and scooping dirt from bottom of holes. I cut down a post-hole auger and adapted it so I could chuck it in a right angle drill for crawl space footings. If I had 21 inches of clearance, I could bore an 18 inch deep footing hole. My moto is: work less, do more.

I'm just dumbfounded. Sitting here enjoying a biscuit and coffee, realizing how easy my life is. Is there anything you can't do? This was amazing... 😲😲😲Thanks Shawn. You're my hero. 🙂

As a Home Inspector, I approve. I wish more took this effort.

Gosh, I appreciate you making this video. I know how hard it must’ve been to film this man that beam was heavy. I wish you would’ve had some help that day. Take care, be careful and keep making these great videos.

We tore off a roof one day. My help got paid on Thursdays, got drunk and no show on Friday. I spent that weekend tarping and securing the roof before rain the next week. Thanks guys!

Great job once again Sean! Way to power thru and take care of the customer even if nobody else shows up to help! Your work ethic is impeccable!!

Another great job and video Sean. I admire your work ethic and failure to complain about your employees when they didn’t show up. You just manned up and accomplished the job yourself. You have developed great video skills and your ending comments are appreciated. Keep up the great work and I look forward to your videos.

Shawn, I’ve learned more from you and Andrew Camarata on using simple leverage and basic equipment than anywhere else. Your editing skills of speeding up some of the repetitive parts really make your videos much more pleasant to watch. Your videos are quality and the narration is spot on. I did cringe watching you chop that craftsman shovel but it was worth it. Thank you for producing such great content!

I didn’t think it was possible, but my respect for your knowledge, commitment and determination has reached a whole new level ! AND you did the camera work alone too. 👌 Boy, do I feel lazy ! 😂

Once I GOT THRU MY CLOSTAPHOBIA, I WAS ABLE TO WATCH ALL THE WAY. YOU ARE DEFINITELY ACES AT YOUR SKILL. THANK YOU SIR✌🏽

I’ve learned more from you on using simple leverage and basic equipment than anywhere else, be careful and keep making these great videos.

I admired you when I saw you read a landscape and it’s flow. Now I have watched you single handedly jack up a floor while patiently explaining your thought process. I am beside myself with admiration, and definitely developing a RU-vid crush!

this is amazing to watch! about fifteen years ago i bought an old house with a crumbling block foundation and lifted it just like you’re showing. i poured about five concrete pads down each side of the house and put in a six inch tall I-beam on top of bottle jacks. your video shows me i did it right which kinda surprises me ‘cause i was just a dumb kid back then 😅

Mad props and respect to this dude. My mans chronicled a STRUGGLE and stayed cool as hell the whole time!

I've been crawling around on my belly under my new house, dragging stuff everywhere and feeling lots of pain. I'm glad I'm not the only one! Upmost respect to you for showing us the ropes and having the extra energy to film and talk. Super helpful and I owe you a ton of thanks!

Thank for your level of excellence that you applied to this repair. It was very refreshing to see you take pride in your work. This is what’s missing in the world.

I guess what I've learned most from this video, as well as your other vids, is just how important prepping and optimizing a workspace is. Having the lights and fans set up to make a miserable job less so is such a good move. Plus it feels good to have some control of the environment you're working in. As a DIY homeowner, after watching your videos for a year + it seems like I spend half the time of a project prepping, planning and dealing with waste materials...but it makes the actual labor way less intimidating and more manageable. So, thanks for showing us the proper way to do things. Now go enjoy a coffee.

Your attention to detail honors your professionalism.

Your camera work continues to improve. Love the Angles! I feel like I’m being some what productive when I watch your videos because I learn so much! Makes me want to go into the drainage business

Another great video! Looking at the gap between the trim and floor afterwards really makes you appreciate what this was all about.

Shawn, you are Superman! You can lift a house all by yourself!!

Great job Shawn and crew. That is definitely a tough job that not just anyone can do. The tight space alone makes it a hard job there's not much room to work. You all did a great job I know the homeowner is happy to have a level home again. Amazing how you recorded it all by yourself.

I am so proud of you. You did an amazing job. And you deserve the best for your work ❤. I couldn’t believe you were under there doing this alone. Greatness

My hats off to you and your crew. I admire your thoughtfulness and calmness about doing this difficult job. It's a joy to watch how well you guys get along and do such a good job

That job looks like a pain, but great work and determination Shawn! It made a huge difference in the floor gap and no more air leakage 🍻 I think that was a good solution, rather than tearing out the whole floor.

G'day mate, big Thanks to you from Australia -- I have learned a heap from watching your videos -- when a property I own got damaged recently with storm water runoff, the knowledge I have gained here has helped tremendously in learning how to best change things to protect the property in the future.

I'm a jack of all trades, gonna be loaded with a heavy project like this soon for a relative and had no idea where to dig in, but now I got a foundation for planning. Won't be doing it myself, gotta find some support.

You never fail to amaze me with your problem solving skills. Thanks for sharing Shawn!

I think you did an amazing job with your expertise. I'm excited to see what the problem I'm facing with my sinking floor. And get it fixed. Thanks for the video!

Just blows me away your comment to your work your clients and your audience. Absolutely love watching your work. Great work yet again! Thanks heaps for your channel it has inspired me to get off my butt and be productive. You ROCK !!

Nothing but respect for you man! You aren’t afraid of hard work. Crawling from one end of that space to the other is hard enough work but doing what you did… I commend you.

Thanks for taking us along with you Shaun. I’ve been under my house a couple times and I know how rough it is crawling around in there but you take it to the next level. I hope a lot of your stuff was able to fit thru the vents instead of having to drag it all under there

This was a very interesting and different video from what you usually make. Cool how you were able to raise the floor. That would have taken half the time if you had someone to help you on the second day but you still amazingly got it done by yourself. 👍

I was about to buy a house a few years ago, but upon inspection they had set the temporary floor jacks on top of 4x4 which were no joke- just in dirt. I noped out of that real fast. You do great work. Love the videos

Another great job. You’re detailed and hard working and you do it consistently. That community is lucky to have you.

That was amazing to watch and yes, huge respect to you for getting it done in those awful, cramped conditions. So pleased to have found your channel.

What you didn’t show is how much ibuprofen y’all had to take before and after that job. Excellent work and the use of the sled system was very cool.

Shawn,I watched this video on television the other day but I wanted to comment. I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to getting in those crawl spaces and getting it done. I hadn't thought of that garbage can lid as a means to move materials and tools. Thats the thing about RU-vid: people like myself can learn from people like you and it's a helluva time to be alive. I love it when people tell me they've learned from one of my videos. I'm just here to show appreciation for what you do. Awesome video too!

What a job Shaun, especially doing that beam by your own, very well done 👍

Miguel looks like the kind of guy you have to take the tools from to help him. Asking him if he wants you to help will never work out. Great kind of guy to have around. Those are the guys I just take the tools from and tell them to take a break for a bit.

What a great job Shawn. Solid! Zero corners cut, quality work.

kudos. been under a very large house on a california hillside and crawled 40 feet in to re-establish and re-connect the fireplace gas line that was abandoned when new flooring was installed. same in-and-out rope line for supplies with my customer helping from the outside. so spooky at first especially in earthquake country and beams about 16 inches off the dirt. your focus, methodology, and persistence all made for a great video.

Wonderful job solving your homeowner's problem, not high tech but rather patience and persistence due to the work conditions. Much admiration. Cheers to you. There has been snow here in Edmonton since the beginning of November without it really melting and today is minus 11 Celsius and going colder this week to minus 30 C. I wish I was where you are lolol.

I just got back from TN inspecting 9 homes for my dad, have to say i was surprised by a lot of code differences or lack there of. This guy seems to have one of the best work ethics i have seen. My friends house i stayed at is a brand new build and the entire crawl was a mud pit. The builders told him there was a drain put in place. I'll be back to actually install one and charge the builder.

The amount of sweat and energy it takes to do crawlspace work is crazy. I'm very impressed. Way to go.

I am so jacked every time I see a video from you. The knowledge beaming from it, raising the bar on YT production... I am floored how informative you are.

I watched this video and the French drain video with the rain event. Amazing. Thank God for people like you.

The more I watch your videos, the more I wish I could get service like yours where I live! Excellent work!

It's incredible how entertaining it is to watch people do really hard work. Kudos to you for doing this and filming it! Very interesting.

Unbelievable. Fantastic fix. Did this myself on a home in California many years ago. I appreciate the arduous and dirty work involved. I didn't know much at the time and guessed my way through all. Ended up almost completely the same as you guys did.

That was an awesome job you did there Sean! Very impressive - I don't think I have seen such a detailed and no-nonsense demonstration of lifting a sagging floor in such a tight space - till now. Thank you.

Most patient and knowledgeable tradie out there!!

This channel is awesome for learning. Step by step by step by step. You can’t ask for more 👍

You preserved and made it happen. I don't have any sore mussels from watching you work...that's nice. I'm sure you used muscles that are rarely use otherwise. Nice video.

Your attention to detail in the videos is very good and your explanation of things is very informative. Keep up the good work.

Seriously you guys worked your tails off. Excellent job! We need more people in the trades!!

This is going to help myself and a lot of folks so much. Thanks for posting. I have this project next as a result of water damage from run off of neighbors yard. Which I have taken the last 6mo to address via French drains, down spout drains, and sump pump. I'm sure this will bring a lot of bus for you guys as well. This kinda work is not for everyone. Assistant director Skinner does it again.

A multitude of talents and knowledge. Great video. Its a little concerning your help didn't show up, but as always you pushed on and got the job done. Thanks for a very informative video.

The saying goes where there's a will there's a way and boy you sure found the way to get the job done correctly, nuff respects to you Shawn, keep up the hard work. 💪

Man I feel your pain..... I hope you gave the crew a couple more days off, to let them feel some pain in their wallet. I have been under a house with help, and under a house like that alone as well, and being under there alone sucks on so many levels, but the biggest issue is SAFETY !!!! Because you were way under there and If anything goes wrong, and many things can, and sometimes it does, you are under there ALONE. Keep that cell phone close. Great job by the way powering through and getting it done by yourself, and still filming. You always have to work smart and not hard. I will have to look up those jacks you used to stay there, I like those and I have never seen those before. Thanks for the Post, I'll have to look for more of your videos.

I've used similar Secondary jacks to fix a floor joist which cracked lengthwise in my house. Had to sister a Joist that cracked and used two of these jacks (slightly larger, 5ft variations) to sure up the floor. After that not only did it no longer sag but the bounciness of the floor was completely done. They work very well and yes, also passed inspection without issue. And this is NYS-if it passes our stupid as hell inspection laws, it's g2g anywhere.

Love your choice of paint! Can’t go wrong with Sherwin Williams Proclassic for trim!

Wow, that's just about the shortest crawlspace that I've even seen. Great job working in such a confined space!

All I can say is, "WOW"!! Thanks for sharing. I learned quite a bit. I'll be looking at basements differently now during my house hunt. Thanks again.

Shawn What a great job you did. I just don't get why we just can't find the labor that will show up everyday. But you prevailed and got the job done. Praise the Lord.

I have a Makita electric demolition hammer with a 12" spade bit that I used to bring down a chimney. It would speed up your digging dramatically. The nice thing about this tool (and probably other brands) is that it doesn't do anything until you push it into the material a little. Then it goes to work chiseling away at whatever is in front of it. It allows you very fine control over the digging / chipping breaking process.

Excellent job. I never thought those were legal for a permanent fix. Good thorough explanation. I was under the impression an engineer would have to get involved to provide an engineered solution. I also like the idea of using a square tubing for low profile needs.

Instead of dragging that beam across the ground and fighting friction, you could have used a few 1 foot sections of pvc pipe as rollers.

Really surprised that one of your guys didnt show up. Really sorry you had to do this alone, you should have asked one of us, you know we would show up and help you. You are amazing as always

I think this was one of your best videos yet. Great Job!

Great job for fixing a mess, too bad no one wants to work any longer...

And I just talked about how good your workers were 😱😂😂. You differently have no quite, nice job.

This brought back memories of working with my dad and grandpa over the summers while in college. We had a somewhat similar situation on one job. A floor had been sagging, homeowner had someone jack it up, and it was sagging again within a year. Come to find out most of the joists were eaten up by termites. We had to replace two rooms of joists, but also had to jack portions of the rest of the house. Very similar working space...some spots had about 10 inches of clearance. Did the same thing you did. Dig out and pour piers, jack it up using bottle and screw jack, scab new lumber to it. Also the sill plate had rotted, so we replaced it two feet at a time. Also we dealt with help not showing up. A few years ago I was in between jobs, and dad was doing a room addition down the street from me. In the couple weeks I had between jobs I helped out just to have something to do, and to give dad a helping hand. A couple days the other help didn't show or showed up hours late.

It's nice to see quality work being done. Good job. I learned a lot!

Dang dude - 1 man show!! Good on you for toughing out a 2-3 man job alone!

Your an impressive guy to take part of that job on alone! I used Lowes jacks to jack up a 40 foot wall and then put a footer and block back in it. I also poured concrete for a couple of piers under the center beam. I sure enjoyed watching it and it brought back a lot of memories.

I've been watching your videos for quite some time... I like the way you approach the jobs you do. No-nonsense approach to completing the jobs and getting them done You're an inspiration to this old I'm seventy-two years Young and still get amazed by the workout see online on RU-vid Thanks for making the videos. Al Sr.

I’ve ALWAYS been interested in this type of structural work. I have an old house that was lifted a bit (better than it started out) I have watched houses get lifted in similar ways (using I beams) You’d be surprised how many contractors and their crew just don’t know or understand this type of work. Thanks for all that dangerous, hard work.

Wow - this video has so many tips and tricks in it. Incredible amount of knowledge transfer in this video. Thank you!

I can't imagine why the help didn't show up the second day. 😂 Seeing you haul that beam in by yourself and get it in place and jacked reminds me of all the projects I've had to do like that by myself. However, there's one thing you did that had me in complete awe: You made a comprehensive video of it all. KUDOS! I couldn't have done that. And even if I did, I couldn't post it because I'd continually be using F-bombs. HAHAHAHA Great job man!

I know this is after the fact and probably won't help you much but it might help someone else... A lot of the work you do moving dirt out is the lifting and dragging I use a shop vac with a really long hose.... Works amazingly well except for very wet sticky clay.

Job well done sir! I admire your work ethic and I like how you want to do the job correct the first time. There are so many contractors out there that don't care and do sub-par work. I feel that the persons you do work for are lucky to have gotten you. Keep up the great videos!

That’s cold blooded, callin your man out for missing work after we already saw him in the video! Good work, though

Shawn, WTG great job that should take care of that problem as long as the house exist. Twas sad your crew didn't make it to finish the job but I have to give them some credit for getting it to a good start. Kudos 👍

This video definitely deserves a thumbs up 👍🏾. I feel claustrophobic just watching you in that tight space. Good job done right.

Your best video ever (I’ve watched them all). Mesmerizing!

You made that look easy. I need the same thing and I feel like I could do it thanks to you. 😂 Bravo 👏 👏 👏

Shawn.. what an awesome job being as though your help was awol. I have worked under a house's like that before and understand that feeling when you had planned on having help but had to do it alone.. That in my opinion was an awesome job, and you didn't have to pay someone that wasn't interested in showing up... I have much respect for the excellent information and learning about drainage around house, as I'm having trouble with my celler after buying this house ten years ago.. I knew there was a problem but didn't understand how much.... I know have emphysema and can't do much with it myself.. I'll have to get someone in here to do something... I'm just sorry it couldn't be someone with your integrity and honesty . Keep up the awesome videos and good luck with doing what you do ! Douglas Gordon

great video! I thought this fix was really well done. I have a lot smaller area of a dirt crawl space, and I am referencing ideas how to fix my sagging floor joist on my old home. unfortunately, I have to cut into the floor from up top to access the crawl space. wish me luck! thanks for the help!

Great job! Especially by yourself on the last day. Thank you on another great video.

Fair play Shaun, a real productive session, especially from yourself.

You are one hard worker. Getting it done even with challenges.❤

The best video I have seen, I have similar issues in my living room floor and this video taught me so much, Thank you for such a great detailed video

We are really impressed with your mental toughness. Very good video, very informative and puts us right there with you, among the dirt and the grim. My wife and I live in southeast Louisiana, very wet. Our house is on piers, as we call them, about 18" tall. Most of these "crawlspaces" are not enclosed and anything can crawl in and set up housekeeping. A little scary. thanks for the insight and reveal of your work.

Great engineering work! I though it’ll be a boring video but I was glued the whole time! 👍 Using 5,000 year old tech to move the dirt was cool. Well done and it looked like hard work. 😉

Yeah thanks for this video. This is a job i will have to tackle soon. You also answered a question i was trying to figure out about the jacks being temporary.

Really liked your work! Thar was probably the the best fix for what you had to work with. You did a great job and really liked the use of the steel beam. Had a steel eye beam put through the center of my first house so it would be free of support post. Thanks again for the video.