How To Identify & Fix Sagging Floors
Do You Have Sagging Floors in Your Home?
The floors within a house or townhome are considered to be one of the centerpieces of the home.
Often, many homeowners take what flooring they use in their homes very seriously, as it can be one of the main aspects of the interior home views. From engineered wood floors to lush carpets, there is a flooring material to fit every homeowner’s style and needs.
When the floors within a home begin to sag, they not only degrade the beauty inside the home, but they could be a sign that there is damage to other aspects of the home.
This damage could be serious enough to affect the structural integrity of the entire home, therefore it is important to diagnose and repair the problem sooner rather than later.
It’s not always easy for a homeowner to fix a sagging floor by themselves. Sometimes sagging floors can be caused by foundation issues, and those can be tricky to identify and repair alone.
In fact, trying to repair a sagging floor without any experience or professional knowledge could cause more damage than good.
Therefore it is essential to hire a reputable and experienced foundation company such as Brown Foundation Repair to ensure that all repairs and work are done correctly and sufficiently.
Call us today at (972) 271-2621 to speak with our representatives, or book a free evaluation online at your convenience.
Identifying & Fixing Sagging Floors: What Homeowners Need to Know
- What Causes Sagging Floors?
- What Happens If Sagging Floors Aren’t Repaired?
- How A Professional Company Can Fix Sagging Floors
- Book a Free Evaluation Today
- What Our Happy Clients Have to Say About us on Google
What Causes Sagging Floors?
Sagging floors can be caused by a wide array of issues.
Many times homeowners do not notice sagging floors right away as it happens gradually. Eventually, the floor will sag so that if a ball, pen, or liquid is dropped on the floor it will pool towards where the floor is sagging.
Homeowners may also notice dips in the flooring or that their windows or doors aren’t fitting or closing properly.
Knowing what can cause sagging floors is very helpful when determining where or how the floor is sagging. It will also give the homeowner enough knowledge to be able to identify or notice that floors are sagging before irreparable damage occurs. Here are the most common causes of sagging floors in homes.
Moisture
When excessive amounts of moisture are present, the wood in and under the flooring will absorb it. Once wood has absorbed moisture it becomes malleable and bends easily with pressure.
This means that the supports for the flooring could expand to cause a slope in the flooring, or the flooring itself could have absorbed moisture over time which caused it to bend or slope.
Many times the moisture comes from a leak in the basement or crawlspace.
This is generally caused by cracks in the foundation or too much moisture pooling around the foundation outside. Eventually, the moisture content builds up and starts to affect the wood, concrete, and other materials that are susceptible to water damage.
Faulty Structural Floor Support
Another common cause of sagging floors is inadequate structural flooring supports.
When floor joists are not properly installed or built to support the full weight of the flooring they can start to bend downwards or buckle.
This is caused by the weight and pressure of any overlying materials or furniture on the floor above. The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to either replace the floor joists to adequately support the floor, or to keep an eye on them for any sign of buckling or bending.
Often times the fix can be quite simple.
If the flooring needs additional support or to spread the bearing weight around to be more efficient and supportive then it is much easier than replacing all the flooring support joists.
When the home is bought or inspected, it’s important to have them look over the floor supports for any damage or inefficient techniques.
Insects
Texas has the highest concentration of termites in the entire country.
Termites are well known for their proclivity to destroy anything that is made of wood. These little insects can be smaller than a grain of white rice, which makes it especially hard to notice their presence, especially after they have buried into wooden structures.
Once they have established a home within the wooden floor or its supports they lay eggs. Once the eggs hatch they demolish any wood they can find. Once an infestation has taken place within the structural wooden flooring system, it can wreak havoc and severely compromise the integrity of the structures.
Eventually, this can cause the floors to sag within the home as the flooring’s support system is being eaten away, thus not allowing it to support the full weight of the overlaying floor materials.
What Happens If Sagging Floors Aren’t Repaired?
If sagging floors aren’t taken seriously and repaired within a reasonable amount of time, then serious complications could ensue.
Eventually, the structural floor supports will buckle and no longer support the overlaying flooring material, if they have been compromised through moisture, inadequate installation, or insects.
If a compromised foundation is causing the sagging floors, then waiting to repair it could cause serious issues with the rest of the home.
Eventually, the flooring will collapse and that is an extreme hazard to those living within the home. Sometimes if foundation issues are not repaired immediately, then the home could become unsafe to live in.
It may seem a little pricey to have a professional repair any issue that would cause the floors in a home to sag, but in reality, the cost is nothing compared to what it will cost to fix a floor that has collapsed or any other permanent structural damage to the home.
Additionally, if the sagging is caused by moisture then toxic mold can begin to grow inside the home, exposing those living in the house to a serious health hazard.
How A Professional Company Can Fix Sagging Floors
Many homeowners these days are opting to perform repairs on their homes themselves.
While sometimes this is a great option to save money, trying to repair sagging floors without professional knowledge and certification can cause even more damage to the home.
Thus resulting in the homeowner having to hire a professional company anyways, but this time it will cost more to fix the original damage and the damage the homeowner created.
Oftentimes, repairing sagging floors involves the use of a jack. If this is done improperly, then it can cause severe if not irreparable damage to the flooring and support beams.
Therefore it is always important to have a professional foundation company, like Brown Foundation Repair, to perform any necessary repairs.
Not only will we perform repairs, but we will also assess the state of other factors like the foundation to ensure no other issues occur.
Here are the most common ways we fix sagging floors for our clients:
Add Materials To Reinforce
This process is not a one size fits all repair.
If the conditions are right, reinforcing material can be added to existing framing members, such as floor joists or rafters, to strengthen or repair them.
In order to achieve maximum strength, plywood can be sandwiched between either side, but it must be installed correctly to work properly.
Sistering Floor Joints
This type of sagging floor repair method is relatively straightforward and easy to perform.
This process involves simply securing new joists to the damaged or sagging joists. This will double the thickness of the framing member, giving it more support and strength.
The new joists will be installed right next to the old ones, so it is important to have them measured to ensure they are the same size. These joists will be sistered together by structural screws, and regular framing lumber is an acceptable material to use.
Jacking
When floors sag, or when sills and ends of joists become damaged, jacking is often the solution.
Temporary jack posts and support beams are often installed over new footings, followed by permanent posts and beams. Since the floor sank over a long period of time, it cannot be pushed back up quickly without causing cracks and damage to other aspects of the home.
It is also very important to perform jacking properly, as it is with all structural repairs. A screw jack cannot simply be placed under the lowest spot and cranked until the floor isn’t sagging anymore.
Upon assessing the situation, our team will install posts and beams as needed. Once this has been accomplished, the homeowner can continue to adjust the jacks every month or two as needed.
It’s important to keep in mind that perfection is not the goal of this project, but rather stability and improvement along the way.
Book a Free Evaluation Today
As soon as you notice sagging floors in your Texas home, give us a call to first inspect the situation for free, then repair the issue once and for all should you elect to retain our services.
You can trust in our expertise and knowledge — with over 50 years of experience, we’re the team for floor joist inspection & repair.
Call us today at (972) 271-2621 to speak with our representatives, or book a free evaluation online at your convenience.
What Our Happy Clients Have to Say About us on Google
Brown Foundation did a phenomenal job. I had Tony come and look at my foundation and right off that bat he told me what would be needed done and also see what I was able to work with. Great service extremely professional as well the work crew. I still have work on my forever home to be done and will definitely use them again.
Emily L.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
