Hey guys,

Not MY house, this is for my Aunt and Uncle. They have been flooded 2 times in 2 years. After Harvey, (last weekend) I was able to get under the house and look. They got rooked.

Yes, they will be getting professional help. No, moving is not an option.. lol.

So.. This is a 100yr old house and shiplap everywhere.. heh. TOTALLY salvageable home.. except, I noticed the house was built with what looked to be true 2"x6" joists spanning about 24" on center the entire length of the house. The outer perimeter appears to be a 6x6 creosote beam (this is a guess as it looks like old railroad ties) and while more than half of the outer beams are solid.. they are almost ALL termite beaten up.

Now, when the house flooded in 2015, they paid some company like 8k dollars to raise the house about 3 ft. That company did not do a "bad" job, but they used 4x4 posts to rest the house on and did not replace or shore up ANYthing other than the 4x4 posts that span the undercarriage, which they added. The result was, the old joists being eaten by termites, crushed about 1/4-1" in places.

Now, the floors inside the house bounce. While they may out-live my aunt and uncle, they are not safe in my opinion, but to shore up the sub floor with 2x6's, IF you could, would mean placing screws or nails into the outer perimeter and since those are eaten into by termites as well (The termites are GONE btw, but the damage is done)...the screws have not real "grab"...again, imo.

Also, there was a single beam added some years ago.. it looks to be in good shape in the center of the home floor, but it does not support the house. It appears they were (whomever did the work) more interested in not running the PEX again.. so the beam does not actually touch the floor. The joists (2x6's) are using 2x4 joist holders and are about 2" higher than the beam. It LOOKS like the screws in the joists are carrying the weight. No-one would notice as the rest of the house was already distributing the weight, so an inexperienced person would look and go, "oohh.. a new beam".

SO.. the big "question:

Is it possible (without seeing the house.. I know).. for a company to lift the house and actually replace or build in a new frame for the sub floor? MY thinking, and I am just a DIY person.. is they support the weight on the outside and build a new frame inside of that a piece at a time.. then swap the weight and replace the outside beams?

This house means a lot to them and it has history.. so.. gotta find a way to do it.

As it is, I cannot see how they can even add new 2x6's due to the current ones being compressed due to the weight and termite damage. Anything they add would LOOK new, but not be carrying weight.

Ideas?

Thanks.. sorry for so broad a question.

Russ