I have a conundrum with my house. It was built in 1895, and has some minor foundation problems that passed inspection when I moved in two years ago. The house has been reinforced with several screw jacks and a few permanent posts. Unfortunately, one of those screw jacks is in the way of me getting a washer and dryer into the basement. The jack leaves me with exactly 23" of clearance (I cut a board down to that size and it barely passed through), but there are very few washers with a width or depth that would fit through my path. Also, small washers seem to cost about twice as much for half the capacity.

We already have hookups in the basement, so that would be the most logical place to put them. We'd also like to avoid having to do any construction, demolition, plumbing or wiring, if possible.

My dad (who has never owned property) thinks that he and I could:

-get a bottle jack or two
-jack the house up
-remove the screw jacks
-remove the bottle jacks
-move a washer and dryer through
-redo the bottle jacks, and
-lower the house back onto the screw jacks.

Is this a crazy idea? Would you change anything about this plan? Are there any alternatives to bottle jacks that I should consider?

Thanks in advance.

John