level vs rim joist repair

[TRPLNKLZ555]

I need to level my home..but I also need to replace some of the rim joists along the perimeter and reattach some of the floor joists..as well as replace some wall studs and large sections of the bottom plate..which should I do first?..I have already removed 95% of the drywall and 50% of the flooring along with some interior walls

[Greg]

Level the home first, if not EVERYTHING you do may be off when you relevel the home.

Greg

[TRPLNKLZ555]

Thank you..also, ALL the piers are done incorrectly..they are done with 2 cinder blocks (holes on the sides) as a base with 1 on top and a piece of wood..Plus they are all sunk in the ground..some worse than others..would I start with my water level at the highest one?..I also plan on using railroad ties as a base..is that recommended?..thank you

[Greg]

Personally I would stay away from any type of wood as a base on the ground. I would use some type of concrete base, you could pour your own 2x2 or 3x3 bases 4-6" thick. I poured 18" dia. piers 4' deep when I moved our's onto our own land.

With a water level I start in the middle and work to the ends. I use the first pier as zero and plot on paper the reading of each pier as +/- from the first. Once you have it on paper you can see what has to go up and what has to come down.

You may want to consider Mark's (site owner) book, It covers about all of the aspects of repair and upgrades in a generic form. It's in the Books & parts section of the site.

Greg

[TRPLNKLZ555]

I have started to re-level my MH using a 50" nylon hose..but then I went and bought a $30 electronic one..but I am having some issues with both of them..I started on a pier which looks to me like it could be the highest point..I constructed a stand for one end of the hose to be stationary..( I also made a stand for the free end since I am doing this by myself).. I brought the free end over to get my "zero" and put a mark on the hose with a sharpy..at first, I measured 2" above and below my "zero" in 1/8" increments..measured each pier and wrote the number on the beam..I raised some and lowered some and when I went back to re-check them, most were still off with some in the opposite direction..after several hours of this ( I only get a couple of hours at a time as I travel 50 miles to work 7 days a week)..SO I bought an electronic one and it is a lot easier.. I brought the free end over to "zero" my hose and made a mark on the hose.. at first, I was using the line on the hose as my point of level but then the line and the water level at times would be on opposite positions on the beam.. the line would be above the beam and the water level would be below the beam.. My question is: Which one is my reference point? Do I adjust the beam to the line, which was "zero" at the start? Or do I use the water level as it is level with my "zero" on the stationary end? I also discovered that one of my ends was too high so I lowered it and it remained suspended in the air above the pier when I let the jack down! So checked the next two piers and they needed to go up!! I believe there might be some twisting of the frame as one of the ends was 3 1/2" too low..Any advice? Anyone? Thank you in advance

[Greg]

Try leaving it for a few days and see if it drops. I have heard of frames becoming sprung from sitting like that for too many years. you may have to get it as close as you can for now and let it set over the winter then try again in the spring.

Greg

[diddypc]

One thing with the water lever I encountered, is any air trapped in the hose will cause issues. I used a fairly long hose and had a similar issue and it was due to air trapped in the middle of the hose. Threw everything off. Once that was corrected, everything leveled up nicely. I've also been told that some of these frames were built with a slight camber in them and they'll also hold position for awhile. I've had to lower blocks and leave the frame sitting an inch or two above the pier. In a day or two it would settle into place.

[TRPLNKLZ555]

Thank you..I have gotten it to within a 1/4" right now so I will wait till spring to recheck it..I did find that there is a nice size kink in one of the beams right in front of the axle..so I will just be happy that I got it as close as I did..thank you again

[Greg]

If you are within 1/4" call it good!!

Greg