Sagging House Floors

Though a sloped floor might indeed bring some character to a house some of the issues that can cause them can lead to other problems down the road.

Sagging house floors.

Over time the dirt your house sits atop can compact causing the foundation to sink. These problems can result from open crawl space vents or doors excessive moisture and humidity and wet rotting wood. Some are serious structural issues that require the attention of a contractor while others are more routine cosmetic problems that you can solve yourself if you re a fairly advanced do it yourselfer. Although most floors slope it is important to know how much and why.

Foundation repairs are the most expensive reason for sagging floors in old houses. Minor workarounds are possible such as leveling individual elements within the floor tables armoires cabinets etc. Sagging floors a common problem in old homes have many potential causes. If you have a crawl space foundation which is common in the south a sagging floor often means you have a structural problem with your floor joists or beams.

Here s a quick review of the most common problems and a few of the typical remedies. Floors out of level windows and doors sticking or not closing properly bouncy floors or floors that sag in spots in a room. Although generally only an annoyance sagging floors can be an indication of worsening problems. The average person can sense if a floor slopes 1 inch in 10 feet and sloping floors or sagging floors are often one of the warning signs that structural engineers look for when analyzing a house.

Well after doing the navy seal crawl up under the house we found that the joists that were supporting that floor were not actually attached to the sill plate any longer as seen in the photograph below. One of the most common complaints of old house owners is sagging floors. That house has a structural problem. Sagging floors result from failing floor joists in the crawl space underneath your house.

Check sag locate the area on the floor where it sags by measuring the height in the room from the floor to. There are lots of clues that indicate structural problems in a house. Many older homes have problems with sloping and sagging floors. Even historic houses have saggy sloping floors.

Old houses often have floors that are less than perfect. Fixing a sagging floor requires patience and construction experience but it can be done. In my own house for example every floor pitches toward the center stairwell. And not all structural problems are that big a deal.

Some homeowners when confronted with staggering bills for floor repairs come to terms with their floors.