Second Story Floor Sagging

Sloping to one direction.

Second story floor sagging.

Thre ways to fix a sagging or sloping floor. 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. As the posts naturally deteriorate and sink into the floor the house settles accordingly bottom to top. Sagging floors are often the symptoms of structural damage to the floor joists below the surface.

If the floor is sagging visibly in the middle or is very bouncy you may want to reinforce the floor to eliminate the sag and reduce the bounciness. Depending upon the conditions it is possible to strengthen or repair existing framing members such as floor joists or roof rafters by adding reinforcing material sandwiching the member on either side with plywood is sometimes worthwhile but the plywood must be installed correctly for greatest strength. The average hourly cost for floor repairs is between 75 and 125 for the labor alone. Common reasons for sloping or sagging second story floors.

If a load bearing wall is removed on the first floor then the second story floor joist or trusses may drop down in the area where the load bearing wall was removed. Be suspicious of wood posts set on dirt floors or wood posts with concrete poured around the post bases jordan says. How much you pay will depend on what s causing the floor to sag type of flooring concrete hardwood etc and how many square feet of floor is involved. Isolated to first floor isolated to second floor both floors.

This could be a sign of serious structural damage due to foundation settlement. Although most floors slope it is important to know how much and why. There are several problems that can cause a sagging or sloping floor which is one of the reasons why fixing a sloping floor is difficult. Termites can rot or damage the joists typically made of wood rendering the pieces unable to hold up the floor.

Sloping floors on the first floor of a multi story house could be a sign of missing support posts and damaged joists. You will have to make sure your joists can handle the addition of considerably more weight from the plywood subfloor and any floor coverings. The first and second floors in our house seem overly bouncy and sag toward the middle. Water damaged or structurally damaged first floor joists causing the joists to deflect or sag.

On the top side of the floor another fix it idea to lay down new hardwood over the existing floor. On average nationwide repairing a sagging floor costs between 1 000 and 10 000. A plywood subfloor will bridge any minor waves in the existing floor and leveling compound would help too. Load bearing wall removed or altered on first floor.

To prevent the collapse of your second story or injury from falling through a rotten floor you must repair the joists as soon as possible.