Leaning house – how to level the floors?
F22Raptor
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I’m thinking about buying an old house and do some renovation work.
The problem is that the house is leaning to the right and obviously the floors are not level anymore.
Short of jacking up the house and doing foundation work, what’s the cheapest way to level the floors? Should I hire a flooring specialist, how much would it cost? I’m pretty handy and I have lots of tools, is this something I can do myself?
When you walk into the house you can actually feel right away that the floor is not level.
Thanks
Replies
sounds like there's more than what's meeting the eye. Take a good look for structural issues either in the frame or in the foundation. Both can be a significant cost/liability that can break a project/bank account.
The problem is that the house is leaning to the right
And so has the country, at least since Reagan.
I would suggest determining the cause of the settling (rotting sill, cracking foundation?), repairing that, and then jacking up the house to level if necessary.
Solar & Super-Insulated Healthy Homes
Greetings Raptor.As a first time poster Welcome to Breaktime.
If you are really desirous for input on the house, posting some pictures here will really benefit in the details you might receive.
Just thought to mention that.
Cheers
Peach full,
easy feelin'.
When you walk into the house you can actually feel right away that the floor is not level.
Have a couple of drinks before you get home, you won't feel a thing.
(if this is really your first thread, consider yourself christened)
Unless this is some very special house, walk away or get quite deal.
There's too much inventory to be buying leaning houses.
DO NOT BUY THIS HOUSE! This is probably related to poor soils underneath the footings. Short of putting in a new foundation or shoring it up with helicial piers it may continue to sink. It will be an expensive fix. You could jack up one side, but that only corrects the problem short term. It will likely continue to sink. Save your money for a house from which you can get a decent return on your labors when you decide to sell.
WALK AWAY. That's the first rule for a house like this. You can buy them cheap, and that's the way it will sell when you want to leave.
It's not necessarily bad soils and sinking footing. We bought a house with same problem. It was the original post and pier on that one side. The posts were all rotting, and the house was about 4 inches out of level. Your house could also have a rotting sill. If it is a very old house, I would bet the problem is rot. Get an inspection and see what they say. But, If you can't do some of the repair work yourself, or you can get a real good deal on a cool old house, I would say walk away. We hired out to get house leveled on one side, cost $10,000 for that alone. If the house is leaning because foundation or posts problems, you can't level the floor without leveling the house and fixing the problem.
Vote for Obama!
You might need bracing to keep it from coming too far left.
OK, I'll walk away from the deal.
Keeping this non-political, and just for kicks, if it's leaning and has settled how do you fix the floor?
Thank you all for you replies, wow, I expected one or two but in a matter of minutes I got my first reply, thanks again.
F22Raptor
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PS1 This is my first post on FHB's forum.
PS2 To the poster who recommended having a drink before I go in: I wished it were that easy.
Seems to me the only way to have a squeak-proof repair would be to take all the subflooring out to the joists and sister in new joists to level and replace the subfloor and finish flooring.And other "fix" short of that would be asking for squeaks.JT
and just for kicks, if it's leaning and has settled how do you fix the floor?
The absolute way--get underneath and jack it up level. Best bet at that point is (probably) to get a house mover to lift it up clear enough to work under, and assume you'll need a whole new foundation. That's extreme, but, you will not be dissapointed when you come in under budget if it requires less, too. (May still require large quantities of Absolut, though <g>.) Now, there can be an up-side to that level of work, you often have not much extra work to get habitable space in the rebuilt basement after hoisting the house up. There is something to be said for properly built, drained, strong, basement walls with habitable space within (or that's better than a 5' clear dirt floored cellar with a house slouching into it).
Now, if an engineer can verify that the lean is not from rotting structure or bad soils, and, it's under 1" or so overall, a person could just "live with it" and put it down to the charm of an old house. (That's also predicated on the house being withing 1-3/4" of plumb, too, unless you want an Addams Family House sort of look.)
Generally, though, to "fix" floors you work from the bottom up. Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
In the first subdivision I bought into here in Anchorage (35years ago) about 4 houses away from mine one tilted over about 10 degrees. Apparently unbeknown to the builder there was a "frost pingle" under the soil below the footer and over a couple of years the soil heated up enough for that to melt and wipe out the house. That happened to some condos on the other side of town last year. The permafrost zone is north of us by several hundred miles but still some ice pingles or lens's are found around here.
Jim
Yeah, the doors closing (or opening) would definitely be a pain.
I will not buy this house that's for sure. I don't want to get into foundation repairs and other things like that.
I'm still looking for a house and now that I know this is a great forum if I have any questions I'll search for answers here or post a new message.
Thank you for your advice.
D.
Shims! Lots of them!
Houses like these scare many people and often you can get a very good buy on them. If you are willing to do the necessary foundation stabilization, they can pay off hansomely.
Figure 25k for the foundation repair and make the offer to reflect 50k. Negotiate it all out and leave yourself an out with an inspection. During your due diligence discovery process, contact several foundation repair people and get firm, warranted estimates. If it exceeds your negotiated discount: re-negotiate!
It's win win.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I worked on an out-of-level floor last year, and used a quick and dirty fix: poured self-leveling underlayment on the whole thing.
I wouldn't recommend it in all (or even most) situations, but for this particular house it was the only feasible approach. The key was that we determined the floor slope was cosmetic only. We were satisfied that the foundation had settled right after construction, but was now stable and not likely to settle any further.
Like I said, quick and dirty, but the only option that was remotely within budget. As long as the foundation stays put like we expect, the floor is just as level and solid now as it would have been with a $60,000 foundation rebuild.
You first have to know what it will cost to fix the foundation. Then double that figure and subtract that from what you think the house is worth to you.Only then can you offer a bid.I worked on several house in the last 45 years that were "leaning".
Unless you are prepared for lots of work after the foundation is in, I would skip this house or tear it down.
mike
F22Raptor,
If you somehow got the floors level without correcting the lean you'd have a whole lot of other problems..
Some doors won't open without a corresponding taper taken from the bottom of each door, some doors will slam shut all on their own etc. if it has visable lean nobody will want it when you do get the floor level.
Hey Mom that house leans!
Either plan on spending what it takes to fix the whole problem or pass!