Old 1800's Farm Home Stabilizes Sagging Floors in Alexis, IL

Thursday, October 19th, 2017 by Melissa Kremer

Challenge

Kathy’s home has been in the family for generations and wants to continue the tradition. Over the time period she has lived in the home, she has made many modifications to keep the home in great shape. She began noticing some sagging in the floors and purchased some jacks from the hardware store to help support the floors. After the jacks were installed, she was still having issues with her floors sagging. She reached out to experts at MidAmerica Basement Systems to have her situation evaluated.

Solution

Mike discussed about how store purchased jacks are only temporary fixes, and why she was still having issues with sagging floors. They can only hold small loads, and the weight of the home was too much for them. He offered her a SmartJack system that uses galvanized steel columns to accommodate the home’s weight. The columns can handle weightbearing loads of more than 60,000 pounds, exerting the proper force needed to stabilize the floors. The concrete floor and holes are dug up, and filled with a tightly-compacted crushed stone to ensure the ground under each SmartJack is stable and will support the weight of the home. Once the columns are put into place, they are tightened to the girder system to stabilize the floors. SmartJacks can potentially lift the floors back to their original state also making them more appropriate than a typical store-bought jack. With SmartJacks, Kathy can continue to keep the home for many more years to come.