What is the most practical way to get a floor flat in a 200 year old home? The floor is crowned in the center.
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Replies
First figure out why it's crowned.
Not to sound snotty, but until you know why it's crowned, it's hard to give a good answer.
I'd look at the floor joists and see what's been dropping around them.
And if the floors not too badly crowned, you can always sand most of the crown out. But be careful not to sand into the tongue.
well, at least he made it past Breaktime Fests.
One day, when my axe had come off and I had cut a green hickory for a wedge, driving it with a stone, and had placed the whole to soak in a pond-hole in order to swell the wood, I saw a striped snake run into the water, and he lay on the bottom, apparently without inconvenience, as long as I stayed there, or more than a quarter of an hour; perhaps because he had not yet fairly come out of the torpid state. It appeared to me that for a like reason men remain in their present low and primitive condition; but if they should feel the influence of the spring of springs arousing them, they would of necessity rise to a higher and more ethereal life. -Thoreau's Walden
I was gonna say something about getting a better responce posting in the right folder, but I figgered someone else would do the dirty work.
<G>
Don't want to start being like JLC
Dang, Youse guys are Harsh!! ...but I couldn't get it done (Smiling) without ya!
Look for a water problem someplace. Crawl space maybe.
Worked on one one time where there had been a fire and the floors all swelled and buckled. Another guy wanted to start taking out entire boards. We waited until it all dried out and there were actually 3/8" gaps between every third board.
If you are getting consistent crowns on all the floor boards, that's too unusual.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
Worked on one one time where there had been a fire and the floors all swelled and buckled......We waited until it all dried out and there were actually 3/8" gaps between every third board.
That's interesting. I saw a house once with exactly that type of floor. Three strips would be tight together, and then there'd be a large gap between each group.
Is there anything to be done to fix it?
The memory's a little foggy since it was 20+ years ago, but we (my old man) fixed it. Went through the floor and cut out the tongue on every third board, then ripped oak wedges on the table saw, slightly oversized IIRC, and pushed (beat?) them into the gaps, nailed em, sunk the nails and that was it. When the floors were sanded, the old and new wood looked different, but it actually looked like a nice architectural detail.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
Thanks, Don.
Generally the floor is crowned in the center because the foundation subsided elsewhere but not the supports in the center. But you have to crawl under there to find out.
On the second floor it's usually due to foundation subsidence plus a load-bearing wall below.
Yup, Dan has it. That "whale back" thing happens a lot around here in 70 - 100 year old buildings. They put the same kind of piers and posts everywhere, under bearing walls and in the field of floors. If there's nothing else wrong in the crawl space, you can crawl around with a water level, and mark how much to trim the posts in the field.
-- J.S.
Other things that can happen (besides simple foundation subsidence) are that the outer foundation deteriorates from weather exposure, or the mud sill rots and slumps. When you see this condition it's important to examine the lowest parts of the house, to see if there's anything structurally wrong beyond simple subsidence.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
If you're not replacing the flooring (assuming wide floorboards) it likely isn't practical to make a 200-year-old floor flat.
If you ARE replacing flooring, there are ways to improve the floor flatness.
Jeff
Your situation is commom in very old homes. The floor joists shrunk and probably have somewhat of a sag. Where the floor is high there is a masonary wall underneath it. Actually the outside foundation may also have settled. To level off the floors in most cases means removing the entire floor system,finish floor,subfloor if any and the joists.The joists are usually way undersized anyhow in most very old homes.
Without actually seeing the floor I would say leave it be if there are no other structural problems,or remove the joists and replace everything.
mike
Sand them like I did on my 326 yo old house which were also way bad. start with a 36 grit or even smaller if necessary and work your way up using a drum sander.Those low number grit papers are a fortune by the way so make sure all nails are set.
Run the high spots first...duh.
If by chance the floors are painted which is the case in a lot of old houses you'll need to liquid strip them first like I did otherwise the drum sander will skate across your floor and also gunk up the paper in seconds.
"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit."
Abbie Hoffman
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Just pointing out (what should be) the obvious: That the OP's complaint about "crowned" floors was interpreted two ways -- either the individual boards are crowned or the entire floor is crowned. Two entirely different problems with entirely different solutions.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
That's why I said a little investigation work was required before any real solution could be offered.
But with all the advise the OP has received, I'll bet his circumstances have been covered.
Actually, he was really complaining that Paris Hilton had dropped her tiara in the middle of the floor.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
We need more information. I'm guessing that the whole floor is crowned. Is their a crawl space or basement? What is under the middle of the floor?
I saw one situation where some storage bins with partitions to the ceiling had caused the floor to banana about 4" when the rest of the foundation had settled. Cutting the top off the partitions lessened it to maybe 3 1/2"
That house was fixed by pouring light weight concrete over the entire floor.
Personally, I'd rather have the bananaed wood floors than flat concrete.