Stabilizing a Floor in Mount Morris, MI, Home

Challenge

Kevin dealt with the slanted floor in his kitchen for a long time. When the problem started, he didn’t think much of it, until it became more severe. Over time, Kevin tried everything he could to remedy the issue in hopes that something would work permanently. He tried using multiple big-box brands of floor jacks in his basement, but none lasted more than a year. He even placed his own wood blocks between the top of the failing jacks and the floor beams. Nothing worked for long, and Kevin was sick and tired of putting his blood, sweat, and especially tears into his basement.

Solution

Ayers came to the rescue, sending a team of specialists to Kevin’s house. Our team immediately recognized the work he put in and knew the SmartJacks supplemental support system would be the solution to give him peace. SmartJacks are a system of floor jacks hot-dipped in galvanized steel and zinc-plated to bear large loads. The real kicker of SmartJacks is they last. They’re permanent and excessively durable to ensure they last with the home. During installation, underneath each SmartJack location, our team removed a two-foot cube of dirt and replaced it with a cement, or engineered fill base, followed by the SmartJack cast base. As time goes on Kevin will be able to adjust his SmartJacks if needed, and no matter the weight, they will never fail, as they are designed to carry far more weight than necessary. 

During a SmartJacks installation job, our team always makes sure to set up a solid and clear plan with the homeowner. This plan can include the approximate number of SmartJacks required to complete the project, as well as spacing/placement of those SmartJacks for optimal support. Once the plan is in place the crew of experts will prepare your home for project debris to limit the mess made. This includes a thin plastic sheet layer to contain airborne dust, drop covers for the floors and staircases in the project area, and any other necessary measures. After your home is prepared for the project to begin, our team will measure out and cut the support beams and posts for the SmartJacks. Installing the supplemental support beam, if necessary, is the next step. Once it’s secured, it’s time to determine the best locations for the bases of the SmartJacks. 

The base of the SmartJack, as mentioned before is integral to the success of the entire system. To create a base for the SmartJacks, our team first has to cut out a two-foot by two-foot cube of dirt in the designated location for the base. This may seem like a weird choice, but they do this to reduce load-bearing stress. When the cube-shaped hole is filled, it creates a foundation twice as deep as the required load-bearing width, reducing the stress of the load by 90%. This means that if a SmartJack has a base depth of twice the load-bearing width, it may only have to hold 200 lbs. If its base is not this deep, the load will be significantly heavier, more like 2,000 lbs. 

Once the system is tightened and secured into place, the job is almost done! Our team of experts don’t merely specialize in basement systems, but they also double as a great cleaning crew. It’s always our goal to leave the job site much better than we found it, because it’s not a job site, it’s your home.