I am starting this thread to keep a running log of leveling the house. Also it will provide me with a place for my million of questions that I will come by as the process goes.

The Objective.
Level a 1830 Post and Beam house that is on a dry laid stone foundation in upstate NY. Replacing a 30 ft section of sill what has two posts in the span. Replace 5 ft of an 8x8 girder beam. Replace 2 feet of one post. Build a grade beam under new sill and add foundation drainage. I am going to attempt to do all of this on my own with the help of my father and some friends when needed.

I am expecting my first child in July so I would like to finish this up by then with some time to do some finish work in side. My wife and I are currently living in the house and will be living in it through the leveling.

 

Heres a Picture of the front of the house. If you look at the roof line of the main house you can see a slight lean. Also if you look at the ridge line of the roof you can see a sway in it. This post is more so I can experiment with how to post pics.

 

I did a rough leveling with a cheap rotary laser level that gave me about 3 inches of drop over the front of the building and closer to 4 inches in the rear. I don't trust those numbers as the rotary laser level was moved and not self leveling so it could easily be off. Tues night I am taking a water level and attaching it to the center of the sill beam at the highest point. Then I am going to take a measurement every 2 feet on the sill with the water level so I will know exactly how far each sill needs to move.

When leveling a post and beam house should I worry about the in between points on the sills or should i just worry about where the posts meet the sill as that is where the load is? I plan on taking measurements for level every two feet to plot on a scaled drawing to see if it identifies any other issues but in theory as long as the sill where post intersects is level then the house will be level.

Here is the level I will be using.

25 in. Water Level-58467 at The Home Depot

 

I didn't pay that much for my water level, but that's because I made my own. One of the most useful tools I had when we were lifting and leveling the 1908 Queen Anne we had at the time.

FWIW, with my water level. I would start at the low point of any span. That way I can mark the other level points right on the framing member. YMMV.

Yes, get the post points leveled out. Have you checked to see whether level at the sill translates to level at eaves, or at the top of the first floor? Have you figured out what's going on with the ridge? It looks like it could be spreading rafter tails in the center, away from the rigidity of the gables.

Have fun! It's a neat-looking old house.

 

The attic girder, (the beam that runs across the middle of the house and ties the two walls together) has split at the tenon. I have a cable through the attic top plate (the beam that runs on the outside wall) to the other side through the beam on that side. The tenon on the posts to top plates are in good shape on both sides but the tenon on the girder is compromised on both ends. I have the cable tight to hold everything in place so there is no more spreading.

What I think happened is the rear sill went bad. The original owner didnt have much money so he got a few buddy's to throw some dimension lumber where the sill was gone. They have 4 2x6's spiked together and slipped in where the sill was. They put a lolly column on the new sill up to the beam on the second floor to replace the post that was rotten at the bottom.

They lost 2.5 inches at the sill and i don't believe they brought the lolly column up to compensate.

When the back of the house dropped the 2.5 inches it had to give somewhere and the tenon's on the attic girder popped after a good snow storm because they had the most load.

Once the back is raised up and new sill is in place then I will begin to tighten the cable to pull the posts back in place.

 

Sounds like a plan. One question: How thick and heavy is your roof? When we tore off the six roofs on our old house, you could literally hear the framing straightening up. I really wished I'd done the roof before, or at least with, the foundation work.

 

The roof is slate. So there is some serious weight there. It is in good shape so I won't be tearing that off. Eventually I will have to remove the bottom courses and add Ice and water shield to prevent water damage from ice damming. Also i would like to replace the flashings with copper. I love slate roofs. It was one of the selling points for me.