# Attn: Old Home Rehabbers - foundation questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 3, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358 "2005-11-03T22:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/1 "2005-11-03T22:03:00Z")
We recently discovered that the timbers that sit on the stone foundation (between the foundation and the house) are rotting. How does this problem get fixed? Is it expensive? Does the house have to be jacked up? I know nothing about this and I’m hoping someone here has some experience they can share. Many thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/2 "2005-11-03T22:06:28Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > We recently discovered that the timbers that sit on the stone foundation (between the foundation and the house) are rotting. How does this problem get fixed? Is it expensive? Does the house have to be jacked up? I know nothing about this and I’m hoping someone here has some experience they can share. Many thanks! D’oh! I should add that this is an old farmhouse dating back to the late 1800s and the exterior is frame; not stone. The foundation is field stone I think. And we have two field stone walls inside the house. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/3 "2005-11-03T22:09:35Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > We recently discovered that the timbers that sit on the stone foundation (between the foundation and the house) are rotting. How does this problem get fixed? Is it expensive? Does the house have to be jacked up? I know nothing about this and I’m hoping someone here has some experience they can share. Many thanks! My near-experience: The wife and I were going to buy a c. 1800 house. Inspector went into the basement, examined the wood sills (that’s what they’re called), and jammed a screwdriver about 3" into them. Constantly wet (house had no gutters … idiots …), massive powder post beetle damage. The fix: jack the house up and replace them. His estimate of the cost: $30,000 to $50,000. We backed out of the deal. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/4 "2005-11-03T22:12:21Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > My near-experience: The wife and I were going to buy a c. 1800 house. Inspector went into the basement, examined the wood sills (that’s what they’re called), and jammed a screwdriver about 3" into them. Constantly wet (house had no gutters … idiots …), massive powder post beetle damage. The fix: jack the house up and replace them. His estimate of the cost: $30,000 to $50,000. > > We backed out of the deal. That’s exactly the problem we have. They’re damn near weightless. We had no gutters either, though we do now. Shit. Shit shit shit. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/5 "2005-11-03T22:12:39Z")
I’m no carpenter, but there’s really only one way of dealing with rotting wood–replace it. Since from your description of the situation it seems that the entire house rests on those timbers, you’ll have to figure out some way to hold up the house while knocking out the rotting timbers and replacing them. Typically, I believe, another beam, on temporary posts, is installed just inboard of the rotting one to support things while the rotten one is replaced. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/6 "2005-11-03T22:58:28Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > My near-experience: The wife and I were going to buy a c. 1800 house. Inspector went into the basement, examined the wood sills (that’s what they’re called), and jammed a screwdriver about 3" into them. Constantly wet (house had no gutters … idiots …), massive powder post beetle damage. The fix: jack the house up and replace them. His estimate of the cost: $30,000 to $50,000. > > We backed out of the deal. Can I ask how big the house was that you were looking at? Ours is a little under 1,000 sq. ft., and we have an upstairs. Maybe it would cost less to do ours? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/7 "2005-11-04T23:33:15Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Can I ask how big the house was that you were looking at? Ours is a little under 1,000 sq. ft., and we have an upstairs. Maybe it would cost less to do ours? Pretty much the same size, unfortunately. Prices may differ in your area, though. ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/8 "2005-11-05T00:17:17Z")
This is a cool website in general for anyone working on an old house: [www.enonhall.com](http://www.enonhall.com) Their blog entry for Aug. 2005 has stuff about them replacing sills (without jacking up the whole house, actually) ---
**Author:** ![Rikster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@Rikster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rikster)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attn-old-home-rehabbers-foundation-questions/329358/9 "2005-11-05T05:29:44Z")
Same old house same old problem, I just sistered two 2 x whatever size timbers you have to the original beam and bolted it all together. In my case the beams were deteriated just on one end where they were in contact with the outside foundation. Cheap fix and it may not be legal, but it worked and has for years. The size of and close proximity of the beams in my house looks like the intended to park a tank in the living room. Just be sue to fix the problem that caused the problem. and of course I am not a builder/architect I am not your builder/architect yada yada yada