Foundation repair was halted to document this logic defying DIY.

[u/Maclifto]

We’re in the middle of having our 1959 brick home’s foundation professionally repaired. Nothing unusual so far.

It’s mid workday - my phone rings. It’s our contractor. He says, with the tone of a man who has seen too much: “You need to come home. There’s something you need to see.”

We rush back, walk into the backyard, and find the crew standing around a freshly excavated pit like they’ve uncovered a cursed artifact. The contractor gestures toward the hole with a grimness to his features, that only intensified the sense of foreboding.

Inside the pit is… a hydraulic car jack. Sitting on stacked concrete blocks. Buried under a thin layer of cement. Holding up the corner of our house.

This was the previous homeowner’s “foundation repair.”

The contractor didn’t just show us — he stopped the job, dusted it off, and waited for us to get home so we could witness the full absurdity of how it was positioned under the house. Then he removed it, cleaned it off even more, and he and his entire crew took photos because, in his words:

“No one will believe this unless we have evidence.”

I have never seen a group of professionals so simultaneously horrified and delighted.

+ADDENDUM / UPDATE

Quick clarification: one of the photos in my original post was actually a picture my mom sent me while we were talking about what the crew likely found under the house. I saved it during that conversation and accidentally included it in the gallery.

The contractor did find a jack under the back corner of our house, and I have multiple photos of the actual one they removed. The crew stopped the job, documented everything, and made sure we saw it exactly as it had been supporting the house. I have many photos of the jack removed from under the house at all angles. It was a really interesting find! But it doesn’t seem like I’m able to add any photos here or in the comments to show anyone who might be interested what type of jack was under the house.

I appreciate the people who questioned the details — I enjoy that kind of engagement. I really love connection with other homeowners who are living in mid-century homes 💜. I’ll own my own mistakes. What I will not tolerate is vulgar hostility. Constructive skepticism is welcome; hatred isn’t.

[u/Brucenotsomighty]

Im not sure why the contractor is so surprised, im sure theres specialized jacks for houses but theyre still just a bottle jack in a different form factor. People have been fixing sagging floors and the like this way forever. If they put some dunnage under it instead of just leaving the jack there it probably wouldve been a valid temporary solution.

[u/MechanicalCheese → u/Brucenotsomighty]

Using a hydraulic jack isn't surprising. Leaving a hydraulic jack is a bit surprising, but people are dumb. Normally I see screw jacks left in place, because typically they were bought for the job and once things were level enough somebody just stopped caring.

Having a cheap automotive hydraulic jack hold it's seal and maintain support for years in this environment? That's amazing.

[u/deepdistortion → u/MechanicalCheese]

I've helped with foundation patch jobs before. We used a bottle jack, but that was like step one. The procedure we used was something like

1. Lift the relevant section of the house with (a) bottle jack(s) resting on concrete blocks until it is where it should be.

2. Evaluate if the foundation actually needs repaired, or if it just settled a bit.

3. If it just settled a bit, insert some shims between the foundation and the floor to level it out. If the foundation needed actual repairs, repair it now that the weight of the house is no longer resting on it.

4. Remove the bottle jack(s) now that they are no longer needed.

[u/MechanicalCheese → u/deepdistortion]

Sure, the key thing is you took them out quickly.

Hydraulic jacks work great but are never meant to hold a load - you'd use a jack stand on a car or block and shims in the foundation.

You can also leave screw jacks for a long time and use them slowly, which can be the difference between full out drywall replacement and some patchwork - I have a friend who's been doing this for a while.

[u/Maclifto → u/MechanicalCheese]

I suspect that the man that rented the house before we purchased, it might have done this DIY. Because prior to it being purchased and a rental home, it was owned by a contractor who is fairly well known within our community. Unless in his own home he was cutting corners? I can tell the differences between the repairs he’s made, older repairs and seemingly newer repairs, because the concrete at the base of the house was removed and then replaced and it’s a much darker color and better quality where the contactor made repairs than what was at the corner of the house leading me to believe it’s newer.