Sagging floor and walls

15 years ago

My fiance's parents own several rental properties including a 100+ year old farm house that they rent out. We've decided to fix it up between tenants. We'll be doing most of the repairs and improvements ourselves but one issue regarding the a sagging point in the house worries me a bit. I can do a lot of home repairs and modifications myself, but I'm no structural engineer. The walls and floor at the center of the house are sagging inward a few inches. I found that the original support post in the basement has been removed and a replacement now stands at the point of the sag. It looks to me like the replacement was put there in order to stop the house from sagging any further. However, that doesn't fix the droop in the floor and walls. The support post is holding up one large beam right through the center of the house, and it's clear that this support beam is what is sagging. Although the house has been stopped from sagging any further, I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for repairing this sag that preferably won't break the bank or add any sub-flooring. Thanks!

Comments (2)

lucy
15 years ago
What about a couple of other support beams - I generally see more than just one in such places, but you're still not going to suddenly have straight floors or anything - it's pretty well going to stay crooked (first hand experience!). I'd definitely get a structural engineer in (it's worth it!) to do a good once over before moving in all your stuff.
Carol_from_ny
15 years ago
Sounds like the replacement beam may not have been the right size...maybe a few inches too short. You may have to get a floor jack and slowly jack up the floor and then put in the proper size beam maybe even a few beams depending on how badly it sags.
Before you do anything I'd probably get a structural engineer in there to look. Your main beam might have a crack in it or it could have decayed enough over the years to cause some problems.
It could even be a matter of the foundation settling as well.
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