So, the background work had all been done: the town had come and marked the water and sewer entries; the mason had come and had done a sling for the remaining (furnace) chimney to hold it as the house was raised; the electrician had come and dealt with the panel box; the oil company had sent workers who had removed the oil tank and disconnected the furnace; the plumber had come and disconnected all water into and out of the house; neighbours had offered use of their bathroom as needed although we had a small camping potty we could use most of the time. We were, if hesitantly, ready for the big day!

Roger and his crew … two other workers and the mini-Cat showed up … with three 50 foot I-beams.

Before (remember, this is the “before house”) the I-beams could be placed, Roger used a laser level to decide where, exactly, under the house the beams would go and a cement saw to start the holes in the foundation, such as it was, through which the I-beams would go – making the holes big enough to slide the I-beams through. He had also cut through the walls of additions that had been put on the house that had no foundation.

Our street being narrow, it was not easy bringing each I-beam individually down the street nor placing them through the holes – our neighbour across the street was very gracious about the “trespass” committed especially since the process did create a bit of a path through his grass (which we promised to repair … and did later) while the neighbour behind us was quite rude, allowing Roger and his crew to manoever the I-beams over his property but not allowing them to step foot over the property line.

This became, for the duration, the way in and out of the house!!

To keep the house level, Roger and his crew built these Jenja type stands under the I-beams to hold them level.

Then Roger and crew set up huge jacks – this picture is much later in the process, but imagine these jacks raising the house, inch by inch while each is levered by human power!! First they would do the three jacks at the front of the house…then the three at the back … an inch or so at a time. Then, when four inches had been raised, they added a 4×4 inch wooden block into the Jenja pile … and carried on until the house was fully raised.

In the meantime, my employer had arranged for my spouse and myself, at their expense (!!) to take a “retirement planning course” in a nearby city … so, after the house was raised up, off we went leaving Roger and crew and one of our neighbours (as official photographer) behind the next day. Roger made good use of the mini-Cat to clear everything out from under the house, haul away the back porch stoop made of concrete, move the red currant bushes from beside the house into the garden. The neighbour had a lovely time watching all this and gave us his photos:

And, of course, when we got home, we had to have a photo taken:

…we may not have been physically holding the house up, but we sure were financially!