Plan A

So after deciding that we were going to take this on ourselves, we devised plan A. In basic terms, we were going to add a crossbeam that splits the spans, and support said crossbeam with posts which are installed on top of adjustable post brackets which are embedded into footers. So we began planning for materials and tools. At this point, I don't have any tools which are necessary to do this work. So all the tooling and material is decided upon, purchased, and delivered (by yours truly) into the crawlspace. The rough design looks like this:

As you can see we also DIY our diagrams as well :D. That actually brings up a good point. Even though we are willing to do this work ourselves, we certainly don't want to do something that won't work, or wouldn't be able to pass an architectural inspection. This is something we absolutely have to rely on a structural engineer for. Therefore, the design above did not come out of my head. Although it did come from a collaboration with a real structural engineer, i.e. I had input in the design; but this design was signed off and conceived by an actual, professional, structural engineer. As such, he has certified that the implementation of these plans is structurally sound for the desired outcome and would be able to pass a structural inspection.

As part of most things we do in life, we like to prove out the concept before committing wholeheartedly to an idea or process. This case was no different. So we were going to implement this plan in a single section of the foundation. The foundation sections that we work on at a given time are physically attached to the same two beams. So imagine two long beams on either side which are held up by cinder block pillars distributed along those beams about every five to six feet or so. Then from beam to beam, trusses span the distance which can be anywhere from ten to sixteen feet across. We plan to do the entire section that the two beams cover.

The thought is that this hopefully helps ensure that we lift the foundation as evenly as possible without being able to do it all at the same time. The one thing we are concerned about is how the other sections will react once the lifted sections settle. It is possible that it will cause other damage. Even though we are getting the foundation moving in the right direction, not all of it will be doing so at the same time. This however, is a risk that we have to take. We certainly did contemplate just putting support and not trying to lift. But the hope is that we can fix the damage that has occurred, and not just stop it from progressing. Also, since we are planning to use adjustable post brackets, we could perform the lift as gradually as we see fit, as well as go as far or as little as we desire.

Here is a diagram of Plan A. This diagram is a top down view of the midspan support we plan on installing between the north and south side beams. It omits the existing trusses, but gives a good visual of the support beam that will hopefully help support our deflecting trusses.