|
Wed, May 25, 11 at 0:09
| We just bought an old house and the floors have sagged badly to the tune of 2 inches. We've had it professionally appraised and were told that it's normal and explainable for a house of its age. So far, so good.
My concern is that the artisan we've hired to replace the hardwood wants to level the floor by sanding the floor joists and then putting new plywood down before laying the new hardwood. It seems to me that thinning the joists will make it weaker and sag even more. Am I being paranoid? Has anyone else heard of the joists being thinned and was it successful? |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Reducing the depth of the joists may not be your best option here. If they have sagged in the middle, then it would seem reasonable to me to sister new joists to the old to give a flat plane. |
|
- Posted by Old_Wood_Floors (My Page) on Fri, Jun 3, 11 at 13:28
| If the floor joists have sagged in an old house removing the subfloor and sistering new joists to the old ones can be a good solution. Adding stiffness to the framing is better than reducing stiffness. If you are not doing a large area and the plywood is sound you can use 2x4's turned on edge which are cut to follow the floor and create a flat top. We used to use a metal rail system and a router to trim the tops flat. Install the floor as you would over a sleeper system. It is still a lot of work |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Flooring Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.