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How Crawl Space Jacks Are Used and Installed

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Without rebuilding, repair your sagging crawl space and restore the structure!

Since crawl spaces in Gastonia, NC, and everywhere around the globe are built directly beneath your home, the crawl space plays a vital role in the structural integrity of your home. This weight is carried by crawl spaces via the foundation walls and crawl space support columns. HydroHelp911 installs crawl space support jacks to stabilize the crawl space foundation without needing to reconstruct the structure.

We can fix your crawl space and make your floors stable.

Your crawl space is an essential part of the structural support of your home. Crawl space supports the weight of the rooms over them and are attached to the foundation, so damage in the crawl space can significantly impact your home. 

Many crawl spaces are unsupported, decaying due to mold and water problems, or are plunging due to soil settlement. If one or more of these problems occur in your home, you will start noticing sagging floors above the crawl space that, if not repaired, will inevitably collapse in the future. 

HydroHelp911 Crawl Space Support Jacks 

Crawl space jacks by HydroHelp911 are steel piers often used to support malfunctioning floor joists. The installation of crawl space support jacks in Gastonia, NC, provides the necessary support for the floor to remain level. When constructing a crawl space, the floor joists are supported by various piers, generally made of concrete, wood, or a combination of the two. However, when a floor joist starts to deteriorate, these support piers provide little assistance because they cannot be moved to adjust to changes. Sometimes if they could, other regions of the crawl space would be unsupported.

Uses of Crawl Space Jacks for Structural Support 

Every crawl space with joist failure requires crawl space jacks by HydroHelp911. Because your crawl space is the foundation that retains the house’s stability, if one part fails, the entire structure begins to crumble. It is because the weight of the house is unevenly distributed in the absence of an even floor. Once this occurs, a load is generated that the place is not prepared to handle. If you don’t take action as soon as you notice a problem, your home will suffer the following structural damage:

  • Uneven floors
  • Tiles and floorboards that have broken
  • Jammed doors and windows
  • Cracks in the wall
  • Gaps in the walls and floors
  • Nail pops in the drywall

Failure to repair your crawl space can also result in higher energy bills due to cross ventilation, which describes how air flows into your home. The crawl space provides almost half of the air you inhale in your home. In addition, because colder air is denser, it enters and pushes out warm air during the winter.

When joists fail, and your floor becomes irregular, gaps form, exposing your crawl space. Such gaps merely facilitate the entry of air into your home. During the warmer months, the warm crawl space air interferes with your air conditioner’s ability to keep the room cool, requiring it to use more energy. The same thing occurs with the HVAC system during the winter. Your energy bills will rise as a result of this. 

HydroHelp911 Crawl Space Jack Installation 

HydroHelp911 crawl space jacks are easy to install, non-invasive, and the installation process can be finished in a single day. First, the foundation experts at HydroHelp911 will assess your crawl space to determine whether floor joists must be eliminated and replaced. If a joist is weak enough to support the floor with assistance, it must be replaced. If the wood can be saved, the crawl space jack installation experts will restore it. After that, they’ll mark the locations of each supporting joist that needs to be installed. 

Steel piers are linked to their base and then adjusted to support the joist. If your floor is sagging, the jack can provide enough support to lift the joist and restore the floor’s level.

If the support jacks are not enough to stabilize your foundation and the foundation continues to deteriorate due to moisture issues, you should think about waterproofing your crawl space. Floor joist failure is primarily caused by humidity and standing water in a crawl space, so even if the foundation isn’t waterproof, deterioration will occur later on.

HydroHelp911 crawl space jacks are the answer to sagging, bouncy floors.

The best way to permanently solve sagging, plunging floor issues is to install HydroHelp911 crawl space jacks beneath the beam that supports your crawl space joists.

At HydroHelp911, we offer the best foundation repair services to the residents of Gastonia, NC. For a free crawl space inspection in Gastonia, NC, contact crawl space jack installation experts at  HydroHelp911.

To learn more – This Is What You Get When You Don’t Hire a Professional. Watch this video! 

FAQs

What are floor joists, and how are they affected by wet crawl spaces?

The wooden beams that run straight down in your crawl space are known as floor joists. They form the bottom of the foundation, support your floor, and aid in the stability of your home. Floor joists are an essential structural component of your home, but they will worsen and fail to support your floor if placed in much fewer conditions. 

Wet crawl spaces are not ideal for floor joists. The humidity in a crawl space can cause events that weaken the floor joists and cause your floor to be unbalanced. If your floor is imbalanced due to structural issues in your crawl space,  HydroHelp911 can provide you with a crawl space repair solution in the form of a crawl space support jack installation. 

What is the cause of sagging, bouncy floors?

A variety of construction flaws can cause sagging, bouncy floors over a crawl space foundation. An inspection of your crawl space will most likely reveal one or more of the following issues: 

  1. Long distances: Floor joists are frequently undersized for the space they span and the weight they must bear. The joists will sag or become bouncy over time because they are not “heavy” enough to support the load imposed by people and furniture. 
  2. There is no mid-span support: Most crawl spaces have foundation walls and a central beam to support the joists. The “long span” problem will become apparent if the beam is missing. 
  3. Piers that are sunken or damaged: The central beam, which offers mid-span support, cannot do its task if it is not better supported. Masonry piers can plunge at times, and wood support posts can decay or switch. When piers cease in these ways, the support beam sags or settles, causing floor joists to sag or settle as well. 

Do I need to replace my floor joists?

Whenever the damage becomes too severe, the floor joists must be replaced. If the floor joists are damaged, your home will not be stable, so leaving them in the crawl space to rot will only ruin it cosmetically and structurally. 

Regardless of whether you replace or repair your floor joists will be determined by what caused the problem in the first place and how long the problem persisted before action was taken. Replacing floor joists is more expensive than repairing them and installing a support jack system, so you’ll want to avert it as much as possible. 

Which is a better option? HydroHelp911 crawl space jacks or concrete piers?

For several reasons, concrete piers are weaker compared to steel pier support systems, including: 

  • Degradation of Materials 

HydroHelp911 crawl space jack is made of a much stronger material than concrete. Steel, unlike concrete, is not harmed by external factors such as the freeze-thaw cycle. 

  • Strength 

Crawl space support jacks can withstand loads of up to 85,000 pounds. The majority of concrete piers can only support 40 pounds. Concrete piers are more prone to cracking if the weight becomes more for them to bear, seeking to make them an untrustworthy solution for failing joists. 

  • Results 

Support jacks can even out your floor, which concrete piers are incapable of doing completely. Because crawl space jacks are adjustable, they can attain this. Since the jacks are flexible, they can compensate for any settling in the foundation. 

What is foundation settling?

Your crawl space’s stability is dependent on the layer of soil. If the soil beneath your foundation erodes, it will leave a gap. Because of all the rain, the soil erodes. Due to water, the soil swells and loosens. When the soil dries, it shrinks and loses volume, which causes gaps under the foundation. When your house begins to sink into the gap left by the soil, this is referred to as foundation settling. 

Because the house is tilting sideways, foundation settling affects your floor joists. As a result of the irregular pressure distribution across the house, the joists can no longer support the floor as effectively as they could when the overall structure is stable. 

Know more about this as well: 

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