Second Story Floor Sagging

You will have to make sure your joists can handle the addition of considerably more weight from the plywood subfloor and any floor coverings.

Second story floor sagging. 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. 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. On average nationwide repairing a sagging floor costs between 1 000 and 10 000.

Sagging floors are often the symptoms of structural damage to the floor joists below the surface. A plywood subfloor will bridge any minor waves in the existing floor and leveling compound would help too. 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. The average hourly cost for floor repairs is between 75 and 125 for the labor alone.

How can we evaluate whether the floors need reinforcement and if so what is the best way to do this. Thre ways to fix a sagging or sloping floor. Load bearing wall removed or altered on first floor. 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.

On the top side of the floor another fix it idea to lay down new hardwood over the existing 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. The first and second floors in our house seem overly bouncy and sag toward the middle. 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.

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. 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. Termites can rot or damage the joists typically made of wood rendering the pieces unable to hold up the floor. Again this could be a sign of dry rotted second floor joists.

Common reasons for sloping or sagging second story floors. Although most floors slope it is important to know how much and why. Sloping floors on the first floor of a multi story house could be a sign of missing support posts and damaged joists. As the posts naturally deteriorate and sink into the floor the house settles accordingly bottom to top.

This could be a sign of serious structural damage due to foundation settlement.