Jacking the Floor

Our floors are uneven. We know that. When we reframed the ceiling, we saw that the wall between the den and the utility room was sagging about 5/8ths of an inch in the middle. The below photo shows the discrepancy between the new joist (under the paper) and the old joist.

Unfortunately (?) for our readers, we didn't take any photos under the house this time. It's hard enough getting under there in the first place and I'm usually not looking forward to it.

I jacked up two of the supports 3/4". I had a mild amount of apprehension during this process. I positioned myself parallel to the floor joists so that if the house came tumbling down, I wouldn't be severed in half (just crushed and smothered). While getting the last quarter inch of height, I could really hear the creaking and groaning of the house. I even heard something fall off the shelf in the room that was right above me.

In addition to the two locations that I raised 3/4", I was able raise four other supports about 1/2" each. When I checking the ceiling joist inside, it had only moved about 3/16". Oh, well. I guess the old wall is just too solidly built to move.

I was planning on chiseling out the part of the old 2x4 that hangs low, but it'll be hidden by drywall mud and crown molding so I'm not going to worry about it.

When my spouse came home from Pilates and later when my brother-in-law came back from MT, they couldn't see a difference in the floor. I swear it's better, though. The laser level doesn't lie.