Now that we have “Ye Olde Work Permit”, work has started on the house and the first things that Thomas and Matt are doing is to replace some of the load bearing beams which had been hacked about badly. They are using Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) which is stronger than natural timber, in parts because it can exclude knots.
They first build a temporary frame to support the floor while they remove the old supports. They use bottle jacks to do the heavy lifting, that said the LVL must have been a struggle to get in place.
This new beams will help flatten the upper layer floors which are sagging quite a bit. There is only so much sag you can remove doing this, but hopefully it will be noticeable. You do see the ceiling rising as they jack up the beam which is pretty cool.
You’ve employed some really fast builders! All you need to do now is get them to work for more than two minutes. :o)
Looks like your floors are higher in the middle now!