Sagging Wood Floors...HELP!

[Christopher Flynn]

I've got an old (1958) wood frame home that was built on a hillside, and the floor is sagging in the middle of the house. There's a rather large crawl space under the house( floor), about 7 feet of space in the slopping area. You can see where other owners had put timbers (4"x4") on rocks and then proped up againts the sagging floor frame. But how can I get the floor frame back at the right height???...with a jack of some sort?...or would a professional outfit like Power Lift be needed? I would hope to avoid PL because of the $$$ involed. Has anyone here delt with this sagging floor problem? I feel like the floor will cave-in if nothing is done, it's in a high traffic area and you can feel the slope down in the floor. I wouldn't say the wood is dry rotted but it's has seen some better days....just needs repositioned ....I think? Thanks for any help.

[greg6755]

From the sound of it you need to put some sort of bean under the sag and bring it back to level with jack posts.

These post have a screw adjustment that allows you to bring the floor back up slowly over a period of time which is sometimes the best way to do it.

Giving them a turn or so every few days or a week or so will fix the sag without the fear of cracking any of the joists.

Hope this helps.

[DanG]

Christopher,

You need to establish the proper height. This can be done by a string line stretched from outside wall to outside wall, an optical instrument, or a laser. I assume the joists meet at a center girder, usually tripled up dimension lumber the same size as the floor joists. I assume you have concrete bearing pads in the ground under this beam, probably every 8-12 feet.

If this girder is down more than an inch, do not plan on pushing it all back up in one day. It took many years to settle, if you shove it back up quickly you will crack plaster, walls, etc. I would plan on using dry laid solid patio blocks or similar to replace the existing props, they usually come in nominal 2, 3, and

4" thickness in 8x16 units; buy some of each. Cut up an assortment of wood shim pieces. Make them 8x16, using 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 thicknesses. Create a bearing pad: a piece of 1/2" steel plate or tripled up layers of 3/4 plywood, at least 12x12, bigger if you can work with it. I would use a hydraulic jack on this bearing pad close to the footing pad, probably 25 ton capacity or more, with another piece of steel at the bottom of the girder to keep the jack top from crushing the girder. Jack the girder up until it just unweights the existing junk. Build up your blocks as close to the bottom of the girder as you can get in full block units. Plan on raising each bearing pad about an inch, so jack up enough to slip in one more 1 5/8" block and the difference in wood shims. Let everything rest after you have done all the footing pads, at least a week. Plan on raising the bearings about an inch each time. They will pop and groan as they are forced back into position. Remember, you are raising any bearing walls and ceiling structures that bear here at the same time.

[Christopher Flynn]

Excellent..yes, That thought crossed my mind as a way to correct it....is that something that can be bought at Home Depot? TIA

[Christopher Flynn]

DanG...I agree this should be done slowly over time, and yes there are a few load barring walls involed that will have to adjust to the change....actually the whole house needs adjusting. I have a photo of ithe house at my yahoo 360 site....just scroll down about half way and click (enlarge) the pic if you have time. I think this house is older than 1958, but on the bright side I just added vinyl siding....just need to fix the floor.

Yahoo! 360=B0 - easy_living's Blog Address:

?cq=3D1Changed:4:20 PM on Sunday, December 9, 2007

[HeyBub]

Here's a bunch of screw jacks, from $20 - $40 each. You'll also need some dense wood planks (oak, sweet gum), some 1/2" steel plate.

You might be able to buy everything you need (used) from a local house mover.

[David L. Martel]

Chris,

Sounds as if the central supports have failed. Does your house have central supports? If not, why not? If yes, why have they failed? Most probably someone built the house without central support and the house has sagged as you describe. If that's the case you'll need to add central supports. These can be the jack posts that everyone has already told you about. The jacks need to be supported by some sort of foundation. A civil engineer can tell you how many jack posts, where to place them and what kind of foundation. Or tell you why the house is sagging. You'll find engineers in the phone book.

Dave M.

[ransley]

Make proper pad foundations for support jacks first spacing maybe 5ft apart or less if its more than one story or sagging is over 2 inches, use probably 2 bags of concrete per pad. Screw Jacks can be purchased for 15- 30$ most anywhere. Slowly increase height maybe 1/16" a day not 1.5" as someone said, and hydraulics are to expensive. When you get it to height reinforse the beam if needed . I would not do more than 1" over maybe 3 weeks or walls will crack more. You may have plumbing and electric issues if pipes are going to be raised.