27_Realignment of the Floor

In January 2018, we experienced a cold snap; something that rarely happen in NC. We had snow and to make things worse, our heater was not working properly. So while we were waiting for the repairman, we had to bundle up inside the house.

We bundled up when our heater broke down.

The housework we did was realigning the floor around the kitchen. The floor there went a bit downhill around the island. We assumed the weight of the island and its countertops are the cause. There was a gap between the post and the countertops, and this gap was getting bigger. We can insert 2 coins between them. Another gap was found on the floor, but this one was not as big as on the countertops.

The gap on the countertops.

The gap on the floor.

To close this gap, we had to put a hydraulic jack in the crawlspace to support the declining floor. The jack we put was, of course, a heavy duty one. So my husband crawled in the crawlspace to put it. As the name suggest, a crawlspace is only enough for crawling, not standing. So my husband had to maneuver his way putting the jack and pump it while laying down. My task was making sure that the gap was closed. If I couldn’t put any coin in the gap, that would be enough.

My husband could only lay on his back to install the jack.

The challenge here was, whenever the gap was closed and my husband released his grip from the handle, the jack was sliding down a bit, leaving a little bit gap. It was not possible to lock the position that we wanted. So we guessed having a bit gap is better than a big one.

The installed jack.