- Jun 11, 2014
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Founding Member
This was my friend's great grandfather's farmhouse in rural Georgia near Augusta. About 100 acres, it used to be part of a much larger piece of land, now having been divided among 3 brothers and 3 sisters. The land is in both pasture and pines and home to a small herd of about 60 Angus cows. The oldest brother who inherited this piece raised horses and cattle here with some gardening before his death and this parcel is now owned by his son. All of the lumber for the buildings that were on this site came from pine timber cut and sawn from the property. The homestead used to include a couple of barns for horses, mules, and hay storage. Only the largest barn remains and it is falling down having lost the front wall to high winds 2 weeks ago.
The home has not been occupied for over 20 years and was in very rough shape, although the brother had a new roof installed to keep it dry about 5 years ago. When I found out the son was planning to restore the home, I asked if I could help in some way.
This is a picture taken about 5 years ago and from a distance everything looks pretty normal, but that's because the son had vinyl siding applied at the same time the roof was put on to dress the home up for a wedding held there. The siding has now been removed.
Prior to my involvement, the son hired an architectural firm to provide drawings and he used a couple of laborers to demo the the house. The drawings they provided are not a full working set with engineering, so all problems encountered have to be worked out in the field. I actually enjoy this kind of stuff. They have removed all of the MEPs, wall finishes, and floor framing which basically exposed the 6x8 wood girders and wall framing perched on rock piers. The piers settled over time causing the girders which set the basis for the frame to settle as much as 10 inches in some places. They had also formed and poured a series of concrete strip footings under the girders.
Good intentions but the footings were 3 or 4 inches out of level. They temporarily supported the roof over hang with posts and miscellaneous timbers, all of which needed to be reset in a level condition and out of the way of the next step. My first step would be to jack the house up and attempt to level the girders temporarily until I could hire a mason to set new concrete block piers in place of the rock. Keep in mind wherever the girder settles, the roof line will follow. One of my fears was that after sitting in this unfounded position for so long, these old pine timbers will develop a memory and might be impossible to straighten. As it worked out, I was able to use 2 twenty ton hydraulic jacks and got the beams back up to within 1/4" tolerance all around which amazed me. I didn't mention the termites that lived in and ate up a lot of the timbers in different parts of the house. Although no longer active, there are many timbers that will need to be replaced.
Here are a few pictures taken when I first began.
This is Harold, my 63 year old helper boring holes for vertical re-bar that wasn't installed when the footings were poured. Harold has worked for the family for a long time. He cuts grass and takes care of the cows. When I'm there he works for me. Two rods in each pier, poured the cells and installed a concrete anchor to strap the girder to the foundation. Dude works his ass off. You can see some of the original rock piers under the girders.
The home has not been occupied for over 20 years and was in very rough shape, although the brother had a new roof installed to keep it dry about 5 years ago. When I found out the son was planning to restore the home, I asked if I could help in some way.
This is a picture taken about 5 years ago and from a distance everything looks pretty normal, but that's because the son had vinyl siding applied at the same time the roof was put on to dress the home up for a wedding held there. The siding has now been removed.
Prior to my involvement, the son hired an architectural firm to provide drawings and he used a couple of laborers to demo the the house. The drawings they provided are not a full working set with engineering, so all problems encountered have to be worked out in the field. I actually enjoy this kind of stuff. They have removed all of the MEPs, wall finishes, and floor framing which basically exposed the 6x8 wood girders and wall framing perched on rock piers. The piers settled over time causing the girders which set the basis for the frame to settle as much as 10 inches in some places. They had also formed and poured a series of concrete strip footings under the girders.
Good intentions but the footings were 3 or 4 inches out of level. They temporarily supported the roof over hang with posts and miscellaneous timbers, all of which needed to be reset in a level condition and out of the way of the next step. My first step would be to jack the house up and attempt to level the girders temporarily until I could hire a mason to set new concrete block piers in place of the rock. Keep in mind wherever the girder settles, the roof line will follow. One of my fears was that after sitting in this unfounded position for so long, these old pine timbers will develop a memory and might be impossible to straighten. As it worked out, I was able to use 2 twenty ton hydraulic jacks and got the beams back up to within 1/4" tolerance all around which amazed me. I didn't mention the termites that lived in and ate up a lot of the timbers in different parts of the house. Although no longer active, there are many timbers that will need to be replaced.
Here are a few pictures taken when I first began.
This is Harold, my 63 year old helper boring holes for vertical re-bar that wasn't installed when the footings were poured. Harold has worked for the family for a long time. He cuts grass and takes care of the cows. When I'm there he works for me. Two rods in each pier, poured the cells and installed a concrete anchor to strap the girder to the foundation. Dude works his ass off. You can see some of the original rock piers under the girders.
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