Jack up a garage?

[galaxie428]

I have a 2 car garage that is around 30x30. It is built on a slab, the walls are built right on the slab and the wood is constantly getting wet every time we pull one of our wet vehicles in. The doors are not tall enough to allow me to pull my truck in. I have heard of people having to jack up their house for various things, how hard would it be to do this and put at least one layer of block around for the walls to sit on? I assume this would not be a cheap process? Have any of you ever did anything like this?

What would I need to do this?

 

[Egon]

Might be easier than you think.

Bottle jacks & blocking should do the job.:thumbsup:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxP-i4xQ8ek&feature=related[/ame]

 

[dstig1]

Search for house movers. I bet you will find it can be done for only a few hundred dollars. Then have a mason set a course or two of block (or even pour a short wall), drop it back down & secure, and reframe where needed, plus a taller garage door to solve your issues.

If you were brave, you could try it yourself, but by the time you bought all the cribbing and jacks, it would probably be cheaper hiring it out. Plus you would have to assume the risk of a major failure/tipping over/falling off the jacks/etc. I'm all for DIY but when the cost and risk are so high, it is better left to someone who does it all the time.

 

[rsewill]

Check with your local government agency to see what permits are required first.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Not hard at all. I have seen it done on airplane hangers built just like you said, on a slab.

Remove everything from inside. Cross brace the walls. Build 2x6 perches about 8" up inside with support as necessary. Remove all J-Bolts. Use about 20 small bottle jacks to jack against the slab and the 2x6 perches to lift. You will need 5 or 6 people for this task. Jack evenly to desired height. This may take multiple steps using cribbing. Have mason lay blocks and set it back down on it securing with new J-Bolts.

Dont for get to have the block wall tied into the slabs J-Bolts. I would do it myself in a heart beat.

Chris

 

[MasseyWV]

I'm facing a similar situation this summer, only in my case I have an attached garage that I'm planning to support and level while shortening the walls to make room for adding a proper foundation with better drainage underneath, before pouring a new concrete slab inside.

Moisture has always been a problem which has caused one corner to sag due to rot, and my plan is to level it using a bottle jack with posts and wedges, before adding a temporary stud wall for support while I do the foundation work.

 

[dstig1]

Not hard at all. I have seen it done on airplane hangers built just like you said, on a slab.

Remove everything from inside. Cross brace the walls. Build 2x6 perches about 8" up inside with support as necessary. Remove all J-Bolts. Use about 20 small bottle jacks to jack against the slab and the 2x6 perches to lift. You will need 5 or 6 people for this task. Jack evenly to desired height. This may take multiple steps using cribbing. Have mason lay blocks and set it back down on it securing with new J-Bolts.

Dont for get to have the block wall tied into the slabs J-Bolts. I would do it myself in a heart beat.

Chris

While I don't think it is particularly hard (especially for a detached garage), there is risk and by the time you bought 20 bottle jacks and cribbing, you'd be money ahead to hire it, I bet. First thing I'd do is find one or two house moving places, call and ask. Based on the one experience I had with a friend talking with an outfit for something far more complex, it seemed very cheap.

 

[dstig1]

Not hard at all. I have seen it done on airplane hangers built just like you said, on a slab.

Remove everything from inside. Cross brace the walls. Build 2x6 perches about 8" up inside with support as necessary. Remove all J-Bolts. Use about 20 small bottle jacks to jack against the slab and the 2x6 perches to lift. You will need 5 or 6 people for this task. Jack evenly to desired height. This may take multiple steps using cribbing. Have mason lay blocks and set it back down on it securing with new J-Bolts.

Dont for get to have the block wall tied into the slabs J-Bolts. I would do it myself in a heart beat.

Chris

While I don't think it is particularly hard (especially for a detached garage), there is risk and by the time you bought 20 bottle jacks and cribbing, you'd be money ahead to hire it, I bet. First thing I'd do is find one or two house moving places, call and ask. Based on the one experience I had with a friend talking with an outfit for something far more complex, it seemed very cheap.

 

[ruren]

Certainly practical if the building is sound. I have been involved with a number of projects over the years to replace bad foundations or move buildings that involved lifting them off their foundations. Jacking up a garage 8 or 16 inches and adding a course or two of block would be relatively easy with the right equipment since you have easy access to the structure inside to support it and (I'm assuming) no drywall or plaster to damage and minimal utilities to mess with.

If you can find a contractor that does foundation repairs or a house mover as someone suggested you may find the cost to have someone lift the building is reasonable. I would think acquiring enough blocking and jacks to do it yourself would be as costly as paying someone that has the tools and experience.

 

[hr3]

Been there done that but mine was only 24' wide.. Cross brace all door openings cut 4 holes for your 2 beams to go through head off the holes with 2by10's and add 2by4's to the top plate.. Then we put the beams through the holes,, had lots of blocking and lifted each corner 2" at a time" at first we did only 1" but went more after we got going". Did it with 1 20 ton bottle jack..

Was kinda fun..

 

[SPIKER]

I did a shed 20X16 a few years back and poured slab under it. Sat it back down after that all was well cribbing and jacks were OK as I have local amish and plenty of white/red oak for beams. must use jacks that jack straight. not a floor jack that moves in an arc.

some photos in this album
shed raise pictures by WPSPIKER - Photobucket

door opening going up

back corner up

mine was pretty easy cost for cribbing and jacks was less than 100 bucks. concrete 3 yards delivered was 380 all total probably less than 600 bucks after lags, little parts and such... lot smaller that your garage and lower.

I agree with others something the size of your garage I would check for local home, mobile home movers. Most mobile home movers should be able to handle it and probably cheaper than stick built home movers.
Mark

 

[Diamondpilot]

While I don't think it is particularly hard (especially for a detached garage), there is risk and by the time you bought 20 bottle jacks and cribbing, you'd be money ahead to hire it, I bet. First thing I'd do is find one or two house moving places, call and ask. Based on the one experience I had with a friend talking with an outfit for something far more complex, it seemed very cheap.

We would borrow them. I have 6 jacks myself and my neighbor has at least that many.

Chris

 

[galaxie428]

Sounds like it might not be as hard as I think. I may have to try that this summer. It sure would be nice to be able to get my truck in there in the wintertime especially.

 

[CurlyDave]

Not hard at all. I have seen it done on airplane hangers built just like you said, on a slab.

Remove everything from inside. Cross brace the walls. Build 2x6 perches about 8" up inside with support as necessary. Remove all J-Bolts. Use about 20 small bottle jacks to jack against the slab and the 2x6 perches to lift. You will need 5 or 6 people for this task. Jack evenly to desired height. This may take multiple steps using cribbing. Have mason lay blocks and set it back down on it securing with new J-Bolts.

Dont for get to have the block wall tied into the slabs J-Bolts. I would do it myself in a heart beat.

Chris

I have done this myself on a whole house. Small one 1400-1500 sq ft.

You do not need 20 bottle jacks. You only need one. The structure is flexible enough so you can lift one place about an inch, and block the structure there. Move the jack to the next lift point and repeat. Just keep going around.

I suggest re-using the existing j-bolts. They should be embedded in the concrete much better than you will get by embedding new ones in an after the fact stem wall. The weak point is that the entire stem wall can lift--it doest weigh very much at all. Get a coupling nut for each existing j-bolt and a section of all thread of the same size. You have to be careful here, if the building is old enough the mud sills are the old pressure treat which was not nearly as corrosive as the new pressure treat. If you replace any mud sills you will need to protect the all-thread from the new PT, and you will need to replace the old washers on the bolts with new, galvanized square washers. 2-1/4" x 2-1/4" I think is the size.

 

[Garybake]

Been there done that but mine was only 24' wide.. Cross brace all door openings cut 4 holes for your 2 beams to go through head off the holes with 2by10's and add 2by4's to the top plate.. Then we put the beams through the holes,, had lots of blocking and lifted each corner 2" at a time" at first we did only 1" but went more after we got going". Did it with 1 20 ton bottle jack..

Was kinda fun..

x2
I have a 20x24 garage that I poured new footings and slab with 2'' styrafoam under slab in front of the garage and jacked it up as stated above and cut flush all steel hold down studs and then obtained a box of oak rollers solid 3" round by 6" long used behind gang reels. (Planned on cutting steel pipe) Reinforced sills on both sides with 6x6's(For roller contact) and set the two sides down on rollers. Pulled it forward 20' to new slab by taking rear rollers to front. Side walls were cross tied to the oppasite loaded wall in middle bottom with 4x4's to prevent walking out/in. Then resurfaced old slab and later built attached garage work shop. Just do not forget to plan and follow local coding in your area for proper number of anchors through sill plate to tie down.(tornado/wind hold down) I also added a Pressure Treated 2x4 sill plate all around while I was at it and adjusted top door frames accordingly. Insulated slab was well worth efforts and holds heat when doors are temp openned in MI winter.
Used four 20 ton bottle jacks

 

[ultrarunner]

I did like CurlyDave...

Used coupling nuts and threaded rod... the city required me to pour concrete 5 1/2" wide with an added rebar... they wanted a continuous pour around the perimeter...

I used 2 x 8 to form so I got 7 1/2 inches of increased height.

If you keep everything lined up.. the threaded rod should go right in the existing mud sill.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have done this myself on a whole house. Small one 1400-1500 sq ft.

You do not need 20 bottle jacks. You only need one. The structure is flexible enough so you can lift one place about an inch, and block the structure there. Move the jack to the next lift point and repeat. Just keep going around.

I suggest re-using the existing j-bolts. They should be embedded in the concrete much better than you will get by embedding new ones in an after the fact stem wall. The weak point is that the entire stem wall can lift--it doest weigh very much at all. Get a coupling nut for each existing j-bolt and a section of all thread of the same size. You have to be careful here, if the building is old enough the mud sills are the old pressure treat which was not nearly as corrosive as the new pressure treat. If you replace any mud sills you will need to protect the all-thread from the new PT, and you will need to replace the old washers on the bolts with new, galvanized square washers. 2-1/4" x 2-1/4" I think is the size.

Good point on using the J bolts. Adding length with all thread would be easy with a welder or even just some unions.

Chris

 

[Stimw]

When I bought my property it had a 24' X 24' Pole garage with a flat roof pitched to the rear. I raised the front of the roof up 4' and the rear up 6' and pitched it to the front. I then added on to it so I now have a 48' X 50' building. The center height is 15' and the front and back height is 12' now.
I had a 6000lb Yale Forklift, I took the roof loose in front first and chained it to the mast on the forklift. I then raised it 4' letting it pivot on the rear. Then I fastened the front and lifted the rear 6' the same way. It was scary but was very easy!
If your building is solid you should be able to lift one side, do a couple courses of block then lift the other side, repeat. Maybe some added temporary bracing. No need to lift total structure at once.

 

[Mace Canute]

If your building is solid you should be able to lift one side, do a couple courses of block then lift the other side, repeat. Maybe some added temporary bracing. No need to lift total structure at once.

Exactly! Even if you do need to get it all up in the air to pour a continuous concrete riser, lifting one side at a time then blocking it securely before lifting the other side is the way to go. No need to lift the garage straight up all in one lift.

As an aside, an acquaintance of mine built a block basement under an OLD! house that way using a few long stroke hydraulic jacks.

 

[Wnc3]

Go for it! Go at least 16" if not 24". You can never have too much head room.

Boot leg it...if the consequences are not high. It is not the cost of the permit, but the bs it involves to get one.