Sagging floors: leave as-is or fix them?

19 years ago

Our 1886 townhouse has some serious 2nd floor sagging. Structurally the building is sound - exterior walls are straight as a ruler, and main beam is fine. But in the 2nd floor hallway, which is smack dab in the center, there's quite a serious dip, and the rooms alongside it have slanty floors as a result. (There's some settling on the 1st floor too, but it's much less pronounced. I'm guessing the 2nd floor sags more because of a plumbing leak that went unfixed for - oh, 40 years or so.)

So here's my question: should we try to fix this? And if so, how? The hallway has quite a lovely parquet floor that we don't want to damage. Joists in the neighboring bathroom (epicenter of the rotting) have been repaired already, which necessitated ripping up the whole floor.

I know you will probably tell me to suck it up and savor the "character" that this gives our old house. Hey, I'm a big fan of character. And frankly, we probably can't even afford to fix it right now. But we haven't moved in yet, and I'm just afraid that when we do, I'll get seasick walking down the hall every day. It really does feel like being on the deck of a ship. Is this going to drive me crazy, or will I forget all about it in 2 weeks?

If only there were some magically easy way to fix it from underneath . . . but replastering the ceiling is probably just as expensive and annoying as ripping up the floor. Agh, what a quandary. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Featured Answer

maddiemom6

19 years ago

We also have what I would call a Serious dip ( no, not my exhusband.. but if you knew him your would wonder).. It was not on the radar until I went to build a wall to give the throne in the bathroom some privacy.. whoa nelly.. seems we have a like a 1-2 in drop over like 10 feet... how is world did we never notice it?.. so straight to the basment we went.. Viola!.. three cracked supports and a very suspicious looking main support beam.. so this weekend (sat) we have a structual guy coming to we can get it fixed. So Yes you can live with it and within days I don't think you will notice it.. but do make sure that it's not a big deal. If all you had was a "house inspection" that will not be enough in your case ( as in mine it seems!).. get a structural engineer for peace of mind.. then move in and embrace the CHARM of your old house :)

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Comments (9)

housekeeping
19 years ago
If your structural report is fine (sills, beams and joists), well, welcome to old house living.

In our kitchen, across the 48" span in front of our range the floor drops 1.75 inches. Actually highly convenient, because the counter which is on an even level with the stove top on the right is fine for my tall husband, but the counter on the left is much better suited for shrimp like me.

You won't notice it after you've lived there a bit.
ericwi
19 years ago
There are two possibilities. Either the building was originally built crooked, or something has changed, resulting in sagging floors. What you describe sounds like a structural defect to me.
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Carol_from_ny
19 years ago
Have you poked around in the basement to look at the floor supports and at the foundation? Over the time people do stupid things to their homes...mostly out of ignorance, some times out of carlessness. I know in our old house we found missing floor supports. Somebody must have decided the post was in their way so they simply cut it out and removed it. We've sice replaced it with a support.
From what I've been told by other old home owners a missing support in the basement CAN and will affect how things on other levels sit.
gzec
19 years ago
I agree that your problem can probably be traced to the basement, unless this sagging does not continue to the floor below. If you were to remove something, to look at the frame of the structure I would remove the wall coverings, not the cieling.
User
19 years ago
I've seen sagging joists repaired in an 1800's townhouse from below which involved replacing the ceilings. It's not a little job and I don't know how you can tell if it needs to be done but you might want to talk to a structual engineer familiar with old houses. If it's not a structural problem then I would live with it.

The floors in my 1880 townhouse are absolutely level but the side staircase was pulling out of the side stringer and listing slightly. The perfect repair to level it would have involved massive destructive work running supports from the cellar to the third floor. I opted for the 'easier' repair, stabilizing it in place, which involved numbering and dismantling the walnut and mahogony handrail system, opening each step and replacing the structural supports and putting everything back. You can't tell it was touched and I did it in time so there isn't much of a slant.

Whatever you do won't be cheap.
sycamore_guy
19 years ago
I recently learned something from a structural engineer who took a look at our house. He pointed out that in our house the walls on the second floor do not line up exactly with the load bearing walls on the first floor which do not always line up with the load bearing structures in the basement. He said this was pretty common in older homes. He also pointed out our floors have sags and dips where things do not line up, but are pretty flat where things do line up. He assured me nothing is going to collapse and that as long as it didn't bother us it could last another hundred years.
mdaughn
19 years ago
My house had a 6" dip in the second floor and it was structural. Some well-meaning PO had cut through 9 joists to install plumbing....not drilled a hole through, but cut notches 3/4 of the way through the joist. We did the repair from the floor below, sistering new laminated beams to the old beams. It was a HUGE job and not easy; but the second floor is no longer in danger of falling through. It was also not cheap and we did the labor ourselves. If anyone is going to try this, ask and I will share some of what we learned (the hard way.)

That doesn't really answer your question though. I sure as heck noticed the 6" sag. The 1" in sag in kitchen and the 1" sag in the hall I am aware of but I don't notice them on a regular basis as a "negative" feature of my house.
DruidClark
19 years ago
How do you know it's structurally sound? Like MDaugh, mentioned above, if the joists supporting the bathroom have been compromised (more than 1/2 cut through), then that could cause the sagging and that part of the floor, at least, is no longer structurally sound.

But since the first floor sags, too, well, I would figure if there is a bit of list in the first floor, then it's magnified when you get to the second floor, so perhaps the the joists in the basement are compromised.

On the other hand, I've been in a house recently where the floors go every which way, but the joists are fine. The floors sagged because it was unheated for several years. Still, the fix would've been pricey and the owners are living w/ it.

Jump up and down all up and down the areas where it lists and see how much it moves. If it's not joists, it shouldn't move too much. If the walls jiggle a bit, I'd investigate its soundness further. Then, I'd think it's structural engineer time. Our rates are low in this area (around $150 for a visit), but peace of mind is worth it and if it saves you thousands.....