Raise the Roof (And the House)

The big project this week was the leveling of the house. On the two ends of the house, it sloped slightly downward and was noticeable enough to feel when you were in the main room in the front or in the kitchen in the back. It wasn't a super drastic slope, but in construction terms, you don't want any slope in your structures.

Paul, our handyman making most of the improvements, spent most of this week mapping out the support posts around the house, determining which areas were not level and by how much, and then began the process of jacking up the house (literally in certain areas) so he could insert new support posts.

After mapping all the posts, Paul told us that there were a couple of posts that were off by 4 inches. To put that in perspective, when you first start building a house you have the main beams that span the length of the house. These beams are thick for support and are also straight and level. These support beams sit on support posts which are the parts of the house that actually touch the ground. Apparently with the case of the back house, a few support posts have sunk four inches in some areas which in turn has dropped the support beam in those areas by four inches, hence the sloping of the house.

In just three short days this week of work, Paul has managed to level a good portion of the house. When you walk in now you don't get a sense that it's sloping down anymore--the change is that drastic. Also, a few subtle changes include the front door not being stuck when you try to open it. Before the lift you used to have a little bit of trouble opening the door because the top right corner was a little stuck. With the gradual leveling of the house, the door frame must have straightened out and now opens normally.

Other superficial changes:

That gap between the white of the back house and the gray of the deck used to be non-existant. However, after Paul started raising the house, the level difference became really apparent. Take a closer look . . .

Believe or not, this is only about two and a half inches. Paul is slowly raising the house evenly so nothing becomes damaged if he were to raise a section too drastically. He'll finish up his work on leveling the house early next week.

And just what type of guy is Paul our handyman. He's pretty awesome actually. He does great works and does it quick as well. The video below describes him perfectly in fact . . .