how to jack up an old cabin?

Jacking up a cabin is not so straight forward a process. You need multiple lift points in order to raise it properly. Otherwise you can cause it to come apart. Jacks with load sensors and weight scales to maintain equal lifting force at all the right places. Simply putting a jack under a corner and lifting will likely cause the cabin to come apart.

I'd recommend hiring someone OR tearing it down and starting over doing it properly. To say the least, building on old trees is NOT the way to do it.

Here's an idea: Try contacting one of those home shows that do renovations. "This Old House" comes to mind. They will know the right way to do the job, have the resources AND making a TV show out of your house, they may do the job for free. There's other DIY programs that also might do the job without charging you. "Rescue Renovation" is one that comes to mind. If you're in Canada, "Holmes on Homes" may be a good resource, another TV show that helps people with odd problems.

To say the least, your problem IS an odd one.

Good luck with your project.

'')

Do what JimW said - hire a contractor.

Messing with something like this is how people get killed, and a contractor may actually be able to save the cabin - or tell you if it's even worth saving.

A good foundation is everything, and if you don't have one, you don't have much - so start with the assumption that it may be better to take the cabin down and rebuild, and anything else the contractor tells you may be gravy.

But never ever try to jack up a building by yourself. What goes up must come down.

Hard to say without knowing more about your structure. Is it a log cabin vs framed walls? If the latter, you'll have to figure out how the loads are being transferred to the foundation. You may not need to jack up the whole house, but only the areas that are sagging and do an in place foundation replacement, segment by segment or corner by corner. The key is to jack up the structure little by little to allow settling to occur. I would worry about the area with the brick work as it might develop cracks.

if you can actually crawl underneath that would make things easier. You will need girders to span the floor or construct jacking points. You will also need cribbing to set underneath as you go up for both ease and safety. Bear in mind this is not the most difficult task, albeit, it is labour intensive and will take time. You might want to check around for modular home setters as they usually have electric jacks that can get underneath the perimeter box and lift the whole structure at once, if the building is sound enough. They will know, just by looking at it. For them to raise and lower if possible it should cost in the neighborhood of 1,000.00 dollars. The foundation if you are on a sound granite outcrop could be cored and poured right to it. If not, you will either have to build forms for a wall pour or mud in a bed and lay block. There are many variables and methodolies to consider. pouring the wall will cost you about 3,000.00 and laying block 2,000.00. Just make sure you do it right the first time and it should last you a hundred years. You might also want to consider installing girders under the floor joists when you're done to strengthen the floor and get rid of the dips, shimming is usually in order. If your floor joist are indeed sagging and you need to straighten them out, tack cotten towels to them and soak them down for about a week in the bad spots this will soften the wood fibers and making jacking easier and virtually eliminate and cracking.

You consult a building engineer and hire a professional contractor to do the project in the correct manner. This will probably mean a complete foundation that puts the wood off of the ground so the wood will not rot.

First need a jacking point to do this you may need to contact a pro to do this some one who has experience with log cabins. Best of luck

I would tear it down and build a new cabin. Buildings have a certain life span.

this sounds like a delicate job,, be carefull