Second Story Floor Sagging

Load bearing wall removed or altered on first floor.

Second story floor sagging.

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. How can we evaluate whether the floors need reinforcement and if so what is the best way to do this. 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. 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.

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. Isolated to first floor isolated to second floor both floors. Sloping floors on the first floor of a multi story house could be a sign of missing support posts and damaged joists. Sagging floors are often the symptoms of structural damage to the floor joists below the surface.

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. Foundation issues deteriorating wood supports especially sills which rest on the foundation footer improperly installed joists or sub floors and other issues can all cause a floor to slope or sag. On the top side of the floor another fix it idea to lay down new hardwood over the existing floor. A plywood subfloor will bridge any minor waves in the existing floor and leveling compound would help too.

On average nationwide repairing a sagging floor costs between 1 000 and 10 000. As the posts naturally deteriorate and sink into the floor the house settles accordingly bottom to top. The average hourly cost for floor repairs is between 75 and 125 for the labor alone. 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 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. Water damaged or structurally damaged first floor joists causing the joists to deflect or sag. Be suspicious of wood posts set on dirt floors or wood posts with concrete poured around the post bases jordan says. This could be a sign of serious structural damage due to foundation settlement.

Sloping to one direction. Thre ways to fix a sagging or sloping floor. 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. Although most floors slope it is important to know how much and why.

The first and second floors in our house seem overly bouncy and sag toward the middle.