Sloping Floors Upstairs

In some cases the slope is caused or aggravated by similar deflection in the girder main bearing beam that supports one end.

Sloping floors upstairs. Slightly sloping floors which are common in older houses often worry homeowners who want to install new rigid floorings such as laminate ceramic tile or hardwood. A slant slope situation might be one where over the course of 15 or 20 horizontal feet the floor slopes down one or two inches. 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. Measure the distance between the string and the floor as you move a ruler from one side of the room to the other.

Thre ways to fix a sagging or sloping floor. 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. If you can take a ball put it on the floor and it rolls down the sloping surface then there is likely an issue with your foundation. However if the second floor slopes along with the first floor then there could be a more serious structural cause such as foundation damage or settlement.

Although most floors slope it is important to know how much and why. A common misconception. Sloped floors are common in older homes and even in homes as new as 15 to 30 years. Sloping floors are most often caused by normal and acceptable deflection bend in the wood joists which comprise the floor structure.

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. Sloping uneven floors are a problem that occurs when your foundation has settled or sunk unevenly. When first diagnosing un level second floors it is a good idea to first measure how much they slope or sag. Often the reason for the second floor sloping relates to framing issues poor engineering past remodeling water damage or pest issues like termites.

If floor sloping is limited to the first story of the house that is there is no corresponding slope to the 2nd story floor then the reason could be missing support posts and damaged joists. For rooms that have a general slope the issue may be foundation problems that require the assistance of a foundation repair company or a general contractor. Sometimes a sloping or uneven floor is hard to notice. This will help in determing the seriousness read about 5 ways of measuring sloping.