Leveling Floors
We are currently living in a home with sloped floors. We were hoping to find someone familiar with this issue who can replace them on a tight budget. Any help would be greatly appreciated !
We are currently living in a home with sloped floors. We were hoping to find someone familiar with this issue who can replace them on a tight budget. Any help would be greatly appreciated !
Brucef is correct about transitions, but it’s not necessarily a deal-breaker. My house is full of saddles for this exact reason. But he forgot one other potential pitfall – doors. If you’re leveling one space and not another, you may have to replace doors that no longer open. That can get expensive unless you can just trim them down.
Regarding noise transfer: if you’re going to bother to pull up the floor, I highly recommend doing some noise mitigation while you’re at it (assuming you also own the floor below). You can fill the bays between the joists with rock mineral wool insulation or some other noise-stopper. I’d also recommend a layer below the flooring to dampen footfalls. We just put down this green foam stuff we got at Queensboro Floors. It’s very effective.
We leveled our floors, and I can’t tell you how glad we were that we did it. Sure, you can shim all your furniture for the rest of your life, but it’s really great not to have to.
we had our floors levelled by the contractor lumber liquidators sent us.
basically they take the highest point in the whole apartment with a laser then they had to lay strips about 2″inches wide from one side of the apartment to the other then they lay a new subfloor then they put the new flooring on top of this.
absolutely excellent job and worth every cent.
also means noise transfer to the floor below is hugely reduced.
been that way for 2 years and not a single issue so far.
I second brucef. The knock-on effect of leveling a floor can be quite extensive. If you are doing a gut reno, then yes, by all means, make it right. Otherwise, leave it, particularly if you are on a tight budget.
The parlor floor of my house is seriously off level. I don’t even notice it (that much) anymore. It also makes for a great conversation topic when guests are over.
Sloping floors in an old home aren’t always easy to correct. As a contractor the proper fix is straightforward, but the results are not.
Leveling one space creates a transition problem where that space joins another “unfixed” space. These problems can range from door saddles, door clearances, baseboard replacement, and trip hazards.
This certainly does not mean that repair is impossible, just that there is more to it than meets the eye. One distinction is between flat and level.
I could easily imagine a 15′ wide room with a significant dip in the middle. Where this room meets the hallway, the hallway is at the same level as the finish floor in the room, but 2″ lower than the far side of the room (the highest point)
One option is to rebuild the floor so that it is flat, with the masonry wall end as low as possible, and the side meeting the hallway remaining flush with the hall floor. The new floor would be flat, but not necessarily level. This I would recommend as the most bang for the buck, as it would probably look pretty good,especially with new finish flooring that was gorgeous.
A domino effect would start if level was the only option, as the hall would need to be fixed. OK, but now it won’t meet the top step of the stairs evenly.
Old house restoration is equal parts art and science, and in every way a compromise.
bruce at jerseydata.net
have a couple drinks. you’ll never notice.
Most old homes have some degree of sloped floors, and most don’t have serious structural problems – a lot of old brownstones don’t have deep foundations and they’ve settled over the last 100-150 years they’ve been standing.
If you are on a tight budget this is a pretty silly thing to spend money on unless there really is a serious structural issue.
Try Inti Renovation, they always came through for me when they did my floors (at my Bklyn Brownstone and NJ home). I had a budget to stick to and they were able to meet it.
Call Carlos at 646-281-2659 or you can email him at carlos@intirenovation.com
-Allan
Sloped floors indicate structural issues/problems. They are not fixed by replacing floorboards, and are unlikely to be a cheap fix. Try googling “sloping floors” or “sagging floors” and you’ll find plenty to read.
As to CK2112’s post above, check the profile and it will become obvious that s/he is a shill: http://bstoner.wpengine.com/profile/KC2112
Uwie contracting 516-852-1352