I need to lift a barn with jacks

[maradcliff]

I am planning to take pictures and make up a website. Upon using an actual tape measure, it's 25 X 60. I was just guessing the first time. The "swinging" side was only being held up by a few posts in the center with one of the horizonal wooden beams pushing downward toward the missing foundation and actually pushing the center beam upward a tad. The problem corner was almost completely hanging on that one beam, and the walls had separated 2" from the wooden 2nd floor. That's where the old cloth covered 6 - 6 - 6 Service Entrance cable entered, coming down the wall, and drilled thru the floor timbers. I think that cable was holding the two together, because since I put blocks under that corner, the electric cable is bulged away from the wall about 3 feet up the wall. I disconnected the power to that thing, and just ran a piece of 12-2 romex from the overhead triplex wires for a temporary power source while I work there. (yes, it goes into a small box with a single 20A fuse, which I stuffed inside the upper part of the barn thru a knothole for now). Raising that corner and blocking it, made a huge difference already. In fact the opposite end of the building (the long way), the sill was lifted a couple inches off the foundation, and is slowly settling back down.

I have not touched it since I raised that corner. I am just letting it settle back into position, (plus we had a bad rain storm and it's too muddy to work). Anyhow, now the whole barn swings to the lowest end and is off about 15" in that end, and nearly level on the other. As soon as the mud dries, I want to get a large timber under that corner and then proceed to build a cement block wall on that short end. On the long end, I might just build a few cement piers and fill in the reat of the wall with treated wood. By the time I buy all the blocks, or buy all the wood to make concrete frames, I may as well just make the wall out of treated wood. Of course plans might change as I get into it. Who knows, I might even rebuild part of that wall using the old rocks. I got to do something with them !!!

Which reminds me. If I use those rocks, would it be better to use a straight portland cement sand mix, rather than mortar? I want it strong, dont care about appearance, and portland seems stronger. Anyone know?

Thanks to all

Mark

[Larry Caldwell]

I don't think it makes much difference in your application. If you want stronger mortar, just add a little more cement. The primary purpose of the lime in the cement is to make the mortar stickier, so you can butter blocks and not have the mortar fall off while you set the block. A rock wall is not a brick wall, it is a concrete wall with really, really big aggregate. In fact, if your rock is pretty irregular, you might mix your grout out of turkey grit rather than sand. I dunno what is available in your area.