After reading about this on HN previously, I bought some used screw jacks [0] and lifted half of my house. They're amazing and effectively last forever. You ca

After reading about this on HN previously, I bought some used screw jacks [0] and lifted half of my house. They're amazing and effectively last forever. You can generally free one up with rust blaster + lube + muscle. If you have a rod long and strong enough, you can lift anything. The only caveats I'd make are: (0) understand structural load, and what and where you're lifting, (1) be very careful with the placement of jack and getting a good vertical plumb on the post (lots of checks with levels, continuously!), (2) think about where you want permanent supports, as there's no "swap it in" when the jack is now holding up your house... exactly where you want a post, (3) buy multiples, as you'll always want one more, (4) lift to max < fully unscrewed, as they're weaker and less stable-tolerant at full extension, (5) put something squishy (e.g. pressure treated 2x) between metal and crackable surfaces to widen contact patch, (6) make sure to get a solid, centered placement on your lifting post. Other than that, go have fun lifting the world with simple machines. :-) [0] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/House_Jack_2.5_tons.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/House_Ja...