steel support

does it freeze in your area?

brick/stone/wood?

What is it sitting on now?

any setling? cracking etc?

If wood, has it rotted and become weak at the botom?

In essence you must analyze the forces and structural members of the house and replace that with a series of steel beams that will support the house.

These beams will then become the foundation and it must be bedded in the earth to a strong enough strata that the estimated weight of the house will bs supported.

"I want to use steel beams as support under the house."

Machinery Handbook or an Engineering hand book will have tables of "H" or "I" beam sizes and load capabilities under various methods of load distribution. Best to get the services of a licensed engineer to make selection, and locations for beam placement.

DIY could cost more than the professional services.

Take my word for it. You do not want to do this yourself unless you do not care if you loose the house. There are way to many variables to try and explain it to you.

If you do not mind losing your house, please do this in a manner that does not also cost you your life.

The house was built on rocks, it is only a few inches off the sand. I have tried to use cinder blocks to shore up the house but it is still sinking. I have tried to figure the weight of the house (about 30500 lb) empty. I tried to get permission from the building dept to put a foundation under the house, they told me it was not up to code and all I could do is repair any problems. I would have to move the house 12 feet to get it away from the street. I can't do that without destroying the house. Who do I need to talk to to get the help I need?

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22building+on+sand%22&btnG=Search&meta=

It looks like the town wants to use code coercion on you.

in this search are the many ways to build on sand. drill down into them and see what you come up with.

Here in Toronto there are houses built on the sand islands to the south.

These people dig holes about 4 feet apart and place a vertical rot proofed wooden pier. They make a row of these and run a beam along the top, and repeat as needed for the width of the house.

if the house has supports only on the perimeter, all 4 sides, and clear spans in the center, you may be able to place vertical footings from the outside by digging down to a load bearing level, pouring a footing with a wide foot and placing a treated vertical to support the existing sinkking one. You can adjust shims (wedges) that you use to gradually level the house. Digging in sand is risky and do not go down more than 3-4 feet in an unsupported hole.

If all else fails, just create adjustable shim points to keep the house level.

what are the forces eroding the sand? Can you apply a large bed of gravel and build on that to make the edge supports?

"Who do I need to talk to to get the help I need?"

Contact a company that MOVES houses. Cost of moving, however, may be exhorbitant!

For what it's worth, this is what I would do if I couldn't do it myself.

I would go to a house mover and ask him what size beams to use and where to place them. These guys are real experts at putting beams under a house so that they can be moved without damage. You aren't going to move the house, but what heck, get one of these pros and you'll get the right advice. Thet might even sell you some beams.

good luck,

Randy

With coastal erosion being a persistent issue in East Anglia, particularly in places near Dunwich on the Suffolk coast, the options are

• moving house, or
• moving a house.

The principal issue seems to be one of risk and liability. There are specialists that can tackle the second task and Yellow Pages might be an appropriate starting point to determine one locally. The engineering issue is one of mounting the house on a steel skid-frame of some sort, sliding or rolling it to its new location and either taking the frame out from under it or incorporating the frame into its new foundations. It is more common for buildings to be sympathetically dismantled into a kit of numbered parts and to be re-erected elsewhere.

Hi,

Following are the point on which support will depend.

1. Hight of house.
2. Type of floor.
3. Exact plan of building with location of walls and other joints.

and what do you want by putting steel beam.

if you provide me all this I can help you.

I am a structural engineer you can trust over me

I will try to find a house mover, I live in a very rural part of Nevada, so might be a problem. The house is a very irregular shape, basicly 23 ft by 21 ft with two add ons one 12 by 16 in the back the other 9 by 7 in the front side. single story wood frame with cinder blocks for support. thanks for the help.