O/T Contractor/remodeler's advice.............

This is a farm house I rent out. It was built in 1928, and is still in excellent condition and in perfect plumb, well insulated, fairly new high efficiency furnace, central air, etc. Except the corner of the enclosed porch facing the camera has settled. If you shoot a laser the long way, the corner has dropped about an inch and a half.

I also need to redo the two walls that are facing the camera. It was a screened porch originally, and was later closed in. The two outside walls facing the camera are shot. The long one is 22’ and the short one is 8’. There is dry rot in the window sills and from settling the window and door frames are cockeyed. The windows are single pane and not too efficient. Redoing this will add to the value and rentability of the house.

What I’m planning on doing is replacing the walls, have fewer windows, eliminate one door, (haven’t decided which one, yet), and jack the corner back to level in the process. I’ll obviously use energy efficient windows and doors, and insulate it well. Also put vinyl siding on it to replace the original wood. I intend to eventually put vinyl on the entire house. Maybe not this year, but soon. Getting this porch back under control is the most urgent. My present renter is leaving in a month or two, and if the weather cooperated this would be a good time to do it before I get new tenants.

My question is, when is the best time and the best way to level the floor? Obviously, the windows and doors need to be removed first. Would you jack it level before removing the old walls? Prop the roof from the ground, remove the old walls, jack the floor level, then lift the roof to match a standard wall, and lower the roof to sit on the new walls? Put props between the floor and the roof, remove the old walls, and level it before installing the new walls?

I’m aware that weight is a consideration, and if it’s feasible I like the idea of propping the roof to the floor, removing the old walls, and leveling it before the new walls are installed. Obviously, I also don’t want the roof to get away from me and come down.

Right now, I’m looking for input and ideas.

Thanks in advance.

On the porch remodel:

Remove windows,doors,wall sheathing
Stabilize,support,the roof with temporary shoring
Remove old wall framing and probably the floor also is bad.
Build new floor with new supports,sonotubes,foundation,etc. level
Jack the roof level anreframe your exterior walls.

This is how I would do it sight unseen.

Vito

Just had the same problem with my mom's house that was built in the 70s.It was a corner of the house. Hired a guy who jacked it up (lifetime guarantee) Dug down,drilled the foundation and bolted it to some steel plates. Used a couple portapower cylinders and raised the whole footer up after driving some 2" pipe piers with extended feet down to stone that he attached the footer to.He also raised up a sunken sidewalk(realtor said it was a tripping hazard that had to be fixed so we could sell the house). All for a cost of $2,800. Said it was caused by leaking gutters.

Ditto on Vito's method. Support roof with temp jacks from ground. Then you can remove whatever you want. Repair and level floor or foundation and rebuild wall with doors and windows as desired.

my guess would be that the reason it is sagging may be the lack of a good foundation (frost footing) under the porch area as these seemed to be added on later. That being said I would say you are correct in stripping out the windows and jacking up the roof until you can repair the sagging problem. If there are no frost footings then it will just sag again and I have heard similar stories about piers but that would be what I would try I think.

You need to figure out why the corner is low. Did the brick foundation sink or did the wood sill rot and collapse? Does the brick go below frost line? Does the grade change winter to summer? If the brick wall settled soon after it was build but is now stable, shore up the porch roof and remove the wall and windows. I would replace the sill with pressure treated 2x6 after leveling the top of the brick foundation. I like the windows and would try to replace them much as they are with high efficiency replacements. I would replace and or insulate the floor too.

By the way I think it is a cute little house. If it were mine when it came time to reside it I would remove the bumped out window with it's little eyebrow roof and put the window flush with the wall as it probably was originally.
I would reside it all at once instead of part now and the rest later if you can swing it. The siding will have better continuity that way.

can t buy in to all of others advice , so here is my 2 cents , because you can blow a lot of $$$$$fast on a project like this and solve nothing , and desroy the charm and character of the home ....if the porch wall sill plate has rotted and settled 1 inch , tear out and rebuild / if you have a wood floor on the porchand the foundation is settled ,cut out flooring around the walls and jack up the joists,walls roof and all and shim true CHECK FOR TERMITES good time to insulate floor and instal a new floor , 2 doors are nice on a porch in this situation and will reduce cluttering MY PRACTICAL VISION ,,..if no termite damage in walls , and rot damage is truely minimal , sheet with tuf r or wafer board fastened with screws and cover with vinyl siding ,, INSULATE THE WALLS FOAM OR CELLULOSE , do the window weight cavitys too you should replace the windows with vinyl replacement windows , remove and , replace the rotten wood in the sill, cover and flash the sill with aluminum coil ,,.learned practical advice from a guy that has been remodeling saving houses since 1972 ..

Immagine the house without the "porch". That' s how 98 % of farm houses were built from 1900 on.
You are dealing with an addition to the original house.
Are you going to rent it again? iF SO DO THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM repair. Spend your money on cleaning and painting. The lowlifes that rent it will never even begin to know about a low corner. You are doing this to resolve a couple inches? Rent it til it drops!

Gordo

Looks like an easy jack-job to me. An inch-and-a-half is near nothing. Hardly worth worrying about if the sill is still solid and the foundaton not sinking or cracked. I've had to jack up many large farm-houses built in the early 1800s -often off level by over two feet from one end to the other. Most were post and beam though, that makes jacking from the bottom a bit easier then frame-walls.

By the way, someone else mentioned capping your sill with aluminum. If you do, make sure your sill isn't made from any recent pressure-treated wood - because it will corrode aluminum something awful. Esecially if it's ACQ treated.

I suspect the main part of your house - since it's relatively modern - has a full basement with walls that go well down below the frost line.

On the other hand, the porch most likely does not - and was also built with a pitch with a slope when new to shed rain and snow away from the house. Porch foundations often sink unless they go below the frost line (and many do not).

I wouldn't be afraid to jack from the bottom, or make temp supports for the roof. Not an awful lot of weight there (on a relative scale). If you are dead set on contructing an entire new wall, holding the roof up on temp supports is the easiest way to go.

When you get done doing all that insulating, trapped moisture is going to be a concern. The tighter you make it, the more you need a good vapor barrier on the inside walls.

I would jack the roof to level, support at that point (it will need supported anyway). Then you can do what ever you wish underneath it. I think I would remove everything under the roof, including foundation, and start new from there!

The porch wall on the far left can be taken out without a jack, just remove it, there is no weight on it at all. I have done it a few times, but unless it is totaly shot, there is little reason to spend that kind of money on it.

The load bearing wall is a vsry simple jack as usual. Once you find the problem, you can probbly jack each floor joist with a simple wrecking bar to level it.

Those old porches often had slop in order to get rid of the rain water.

Interesting that we started with a open porch, then it was probably screend in, then later closed in and insulated....so when will you go right back to the begining and add a open deck?

A word of caution is a good chance that there is a rain water cystern under that addition. I'm assuming by the picture that we are facing the South side of the house where the cysterns were usualy placed.

I would remove the bottom siding boards and have a good look. I'm willing to bet the sill plate is rotted a little. (hot and cold mixing, causing moisture) If that is the case jab a big bar under the sill, and pry it up into place and salp a little wedge under it, Then take mason cement and pack it under the beam / sill.

You probably will not have to remove the whole wall, just scab on some short studs with a nail gun, insulate and side it.

Unless things are different in your area, you could spend a lot of money that will make very little sence when renting it out. Renting in our area is a lost cause if you are looking for a profit.

Young kids play musical chairs with houses, and to find a older couple is kind of hard with all the retirment housing going up, that is more user friendly to the older folks.

You need to know how the original porch deck was framed and planked. It is not likely to have conventional 16" centered joists. Probably had a pitch. Original tongue and groove decking probably ran in 8' lenghts, not the 22' run, so the grooves wouldn't ship water. So the decking was blind nailed to stringers running 22'. Under the stringers there are probably about four 6" X 8" timber joists notched into the original foundation.

The stringers are probably notched over the timbers, and are not plumb, so the tongue and groove would lay flat.

You need to know how the inside 22' run is ledged or notched to the original foundation, before you jack the corner. Its best to slide a beam under and raise the whole business at once. Catch all the joists at once. Then the jack can be outside the foundation. Jack slowly, let the wood stretch.

Assess the roof framing as it connects to the original roof. There is not a lot of weight, relatively, on the roof, but if the walls aren't sound, like some rot at the bottom of the studs, you will compress the walls and have the roof out of level with the deck. You really, really, want the roof to be as straight as possible.

So, it probably would be best to brace the roof, then take out the walls.

Looks like the upper roof of the main house sheds water to the lower roof, then the gutter brings all that water to the corner that dropped. When you get done, see that that water gets well away from the house.
Best Regards,
Charlie

Why was the cysteine always on the south wall my house is like that also?

Don't do anything and rent it or sell it.

Thanks for all of the responses!!

After going through them, I'm leaning toward not doing more than I have to. I don't think the weight of the roof has compressed the walls yet. So, I'm thinking of removing the doors and windows and jacking it level. The inside of the walls below the windows is wainscotting covered with paneling. I'd pull that off, plus the rotted sills, and see what I have. Then scab in new studs where needed and redo the framing for the way I want the doors and windows. Probably take out the middle door. It's very rarely used anyway, and then mainly to get appliances in and out because the door on the short wall is only a 30" door. I'll redo that wall to put in a 36" door. The door to the right has to stay for easier access to the basement when and if the furnace and water heater need to be replaced. (Both have been done within the last 3 years). There is inside access to the basement also.

My main objective is to get rid of the dryrotted window sills and have energy efficient walls.

The porch is carpeted, and I may or may not get by without replacing the carpet. Which is no big deal. I just put cheap commercial carpet down and replace it every five years or so. Then drywall the interior where needed.

I hate to see my current renter leave. He's been great. Divorced Marine Corps veteran, middle thirties, and probably keeps the place cleaner than I would if I was living there myself. Always on time with the rent. He had no intention of leaving, but--his company offered him a promotion to Vice President of a subsidiary in Colorado. Time marches on.

very cute house agreed , i can imagine the floor plan and the family life within ,,., dont know for a fact, but I can READ houses ,, I would bet that Bay window is original from 1928 , IMHO it should remain SO ..., as for notched log joists another poster stated , Come ON ,, Whad ya think in 1928 everyonwas a bunch of neanderthals ?!?!,, They had true lumbering techniqes perfected scores of years before 1928 ,,, AND DAMGOODCARPENTERS with COMMON SENSE TOO, I MUst add,,,.( sorry for being short guys , just learned,, MOSCOW has a major suicide bomb ,got Me PIZT ! even if it is russia ..ok Guys ) judging from brick foundation , i agree with other posters that the foundation settled ,,a shalow ftr and 20 years without gutters will take its toll ...

I'm refering to our cold climate....If you carried water, you were on the warm side of the house. In the winter a few days you get a few drips of water. If it was on the north side, it remains frozen almost all winter.

If you go through all the work to build one, you might as well gather as much water as you could at no extra cost.

Ever see how ofter a sidewalk settles over a cystern? Wrong, the cystern is below frost, and the rest of the sidewalk heaves up in cold weather, but not at the cystern.

If you are interested, a shingles roof on the north side will outlast the south side usualy. The north freezes, and is frozen till spring, where as the south side freezes, then you get sun shine, then that night it freezes again, on and on and on.

The old timers used their heads, like nine foot ceilings so the smoke from the wood cook stove, or wood burner, would rise above their heads.

I simply enjoy these kind of things, so I ask alot of questions.