leveling older house??

Looking at buying older house in the family. its 2br 1bth smaller home.
its got several low spots in it. When i look under it is just on blocks that look
as if they have sank a bit.. How hard is to re-level a house or any ideas
as to how expensive having someone do it.. any ideas

 

This is not much of a DIY project. I would get some bids from contractors on this prodigous task.

 

well that was what i thought i might hear. thanks for the reply.
sounds like i will be taking bids.

 

for what it's worth: I have had similar problems in the past-Depending on the strenfth of the sill plates and the length of span, and if the load is not too heavy it can be raised by a homeowner.
You can rent small , but heavy duty, jacks..the trouble is that experts reccommend raising only a quarter turn a day--with that in mind it will take a while..raising will possibly bind the windows and doors, and crack the sheetrock..(who knows what else!)--
If you are not comfortable with construction techniques, load bearing, etc.. I would not attempt this yourself-
I only offer this because you said the house is on blocks,, so I am assuming its not very large...
good luck...

 

Thank, Your right it is not a big house or i would not even consider.
i just kinda figured a little more dif. than a big mobile home.
I can get a real good price on the home thats why i was considering.

 

I used to live in an old country house that was built on land that was swampy during the rainy season. There was always a part of the house that was sinking somewhat. At one time the entrance door area has settled enough that the door became difficult to open. Here's the quick, cheap and dirty solution that I used:

I dug out two feet of muck, laid down three of those concrete parking lot stops(3-4 feet long, 5" wide, 5" high) and placed some wood across the concrete stops. I bought two medium bottle jacks(Sears Automotive department) and also a 4x4 beam a little wider than the door. I jacked up the beam until the door was right(about 1-2 inches on one side) and used concrete blocks, and some wood, to fill in the space between the concrete stops/wood and the 4x4 beam. Removed the jacks and about 4 years later had to come back and scoot up the adjustment a little bit to compensate for a little more settling. I think I bought the concrete parking stops at the local lumber yard, and trimmed them to about 3 feet.

This was an old house built next to a creek that regularly flooded the area, so the ground was much wetter than normal. The part that settled was a large room built as an addition using minimal concrete footing blocks. During the rainy season I would often hear a stream running underneath the room, that's how wet the ground was! Your situation is probably not this desperate and much easier to correct. And BTW, I knew nothing about loads and construction techniques although the basic ideas came from a neighbor who was a carpenter.

John