Architecture - Floor leveling
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ccnjmn3
12-25-08, 04:22 PM
I am planning on helping my sister in law work on her house. The original owners removed a wall to enlarge a room. The floor has since sunk in this area at least one inch and possibly two. It is two stories and has a crawl space. She would like a pergo floor put in but it is my understanding that the floor needs to be level for this type of floor. I have read the posts on raising a house with jacks and am leery of attempting this. My question is can I remove the underlayment and try to level the floor with new lumber and adding support for the floor in the area where it has sagged. If any knows of any potential problems I might run into I would appreciate any advice.
pmgca
12-25-08, 06:33 PM
Hi ccnjmn3
I would strongly recommend to check first why the floor is sinking and then, look for solutions. The fact that the floor is sinking where the wall was, is probably speaking about a serious problem
You should check the wood structure including the reinforcements and also, check the foundations.
Probably is a good idea call a professional (an engineer)to check this issue
I would strongly recommend to check first why the floor is sinking and then, look for solutions. The fact that the floor is sinking where the wall was, is probably speaking about a serious problem
You should check the wood structure including the reinforcements and also, check the foundations.
Probably is a good idea call a professional (an engineer)to check this issue
Bud9051
12-25-08, 08:19 PM
Can you describe the area where this wall used to be? Is it the floor where the wall sat or the ceiling it used to hold up (floor above) that has moved? How old is the house?
Patching the problem from above will not stop it from moving further, so I would suggest a visit to the crawl space to inspect the support in this area. If it was the bottom of the wall that attached to the floor in question, then the removal would have had no effect, thus you have another problem. Let us know what you see down there.
Bud
Patching the problem from above will not stop it from moving further, so I would suggest a visit to the crawl space to inspect the support in this area. If it was the bottom of the wall that attached to the floor in question, then the removal would have had no effect, thus you have another problem. Let us know what you see down there.
Bud
ccnjmn3
12-30-08, 05:17 AM
Hi Bud,
Thanks for the reply. The wall was located in the the center of the existing room and its the floor that the wall sat on that has moved. A contractor removed the wall and did add a header for support. She thinks the floor was like that when the wall was removed. I know her ex jacked up a corner of the house close to this area when he redid the bathroom. maybe this contributed to the floor problem. I have not been under the house yet to look at the foundation and sills but plan to this weekend. Right now she wants the existing floor torn out and new plywood put down with the new floor. I figure I can inspect and replace any floor joists and add support for this area before laying new plywood. She needs finish work done upstairs which I was going to start on first so I really do not want to raise the house up afterwards and possibly cracking the walls.
Thanks again for the reply
Chris
Thanks for the reply. The wall was located in the the center of the existing room and its the floor that the wall sat on that has moved. A contractor removed the wall and did add a header for support. She thinks the floor was like that when the wall was removed. I know her ex jacked up a corner of the house close to this area when he redid the bathroom. maybe this contributed to the floor problem. I have not been under the house yet to look at the foundation and sills but plan to this weekend. Right now she wants the existing floor torn out and new plywood put down with the new floor. I figure I can inspect and replace any floor joists and add support for this area before laying new plywood. She needs finish work done upstairs which I was going to start on first so I really do not want to raise the house up afterwards and possibly cracking the walls.
Thanks again for the reply
Chris