Well, it sounds like maybe you don't have any automotive floor jacks or stands? Otherwise you could just use the ones you have. If that's the case, you really should have a set of floor jacks and stands for the cars & trucks. The Mo-jack is nice, but it's a dedicated design for use with one task only...raising the mower, and then the price comes into play. That guy on his back under the mower in the video looked like he had to move his head to avoid the horizontal support bar on the floor while removing the blades. The wench, on the other hand...hmm, I can't seem to remember what she was actually doing in the video

Aloha Ms. Brooks, Getting a bit more knowledgeable does wonders when dealing with men in the construction industry. I've been doing it for decades and they have improved a lot from where they were before. Either that or I've learned how to interact with them better? I only have my own viewpoint for comparision, I suppose. It is similiar to taking your car to a mechanic. You ask him if he thinks the valves need to be adjusted will get a much better response than asking if he can fix the funny noise. It does take a bit of research on your part, though. But, that's what this is! I've been jacking up our floor to make it level. Use a shorter four by four and a car floor jack to push the floor beam back up where it should be then put a new post with a concrete footing under it. I whap the post in place with a sledge hammer or you could lift the floor a bit higher than necessary then lower it back down. Check the beam for cracks, rot, termite damage or other irregularities. Hopefully you won't have to replace floor beams, that is much more effort than adding support posts. It sounds like you may need to do some foundation work if the house has settled very much. Some of the older houses were built with different construction methods than the newer ones. Ours was set on 4" x 4" posts which were set on rocks. I guess concrete was hard to come by back then. When we got the house about a quarter of the rocks had migrated out from under the posts and even a few of the posts were missing as well. So far we've replaced all the posts and added additional floor joists for all but the last eight feet of the house. So our house (except for the last eight feet) is now structurally sound. At least from the floor boards on down. The original floor joists were two by fours, but they were actually two inches by four inches. Today's "two by four" is actually one and a half by three and a half inches and they will probably get even smaller. I think there is a difference between a floor jack and a support post. Ours are just four by fours and they are support posts. If it is a metal pole with a screw device on it, then I think it is an actual floor jack and you can replace the jacks with posts and then use the jack to adjust the floor level in another place. What kind of windows do you have that you want to replace them? The old sash windows can be restored nicely and it isn't a difficult thing at all. Ours have the old wavy glass, though, so sometimes things look a little crooked when we look out the window. With an older house, doing most of the work yourself will save you tons of money. Gender has nothing to do with ability, but it does have a lot to do with early training. Fortunately, that is fixable. I've been meeting more females that do their own work these past few years and it is a good thing. Actually, my first choice of contractor is a female. She runs a real good company and does excellent work. Unfortunately, she is also expensive. Oh well! All the good ones are. A hui hou, Cathy

Thank you all for taking the time to respond here! I consider it a red-letter day when GW recognized experts like Casey, worthy, brickeyee, macv weigh in. And kaib, while I don't recognize your GW name, I appreciate the info from someone who's used one. macv, you wrote: In Massachusetts, any structural element that is not prescribed in the one & two family building code must be designed and stamped by an engineer (not an architect). and It is not wise to design one small part of an exterior wall without considering the entire house frame. Start with the whole and work toward the parts or hire a professional. I completely agree with the latter statement about being wise to hire a professional. What makes me nervous now is that I *have* hired an architect for this remodel. According to the MA license lookup, his license is current. However, in light of your comments and my own understanding (admittedly limited), I am concerned now that he hasn't thoroughly thought through this area of the remodel--and possibly has not consulted with a structural engineer on it. Is this something a licensed architect ought to have picked up on? Or at least mentioned to me? He's been licensed for 10 years and working as an architect that long. His drawing has the two window units, each 2 1/8 inches width away from the corner. (The 2 1/8 inches were put in at my suggestion to allow for that much casing--only because it balanced minimizing the width for the view and mimics what's done in the bay in the dining room at the front of the house. But this suggestion to the architect was aesthetic on my part--not structural. I am not an structural engineer, only fairly good at math and analytical stuff.) This is a house built in 1884 in MA. I think the architect is assuming 2x4 studs in the exterior wall. While I do understand that in an existing structure, it's impossible to determine everything about the hidden as-is conditions prior to opening up the structure, I would think that if he is assuming existing 2x4 studs for the plan drawing, that he would have at least noted a 3 jack stud requirement for this header span. I'll post an image of the latest plan drawing so you can see what I mean. Thanks so much for all the great input!

Bump! I want to order more, but still want to know the best time to plant. Thanks!