I recently bought a house built in the 1960's. The inspector noted that the original center beam in the crawl space had dry rot but had been "sistered" on both sides with new beams. One of the sister beams seems to be tipping--like the top is falling out of place. All the floors in the house have a defined slope to the center. We now realize that the floor in the lower bathroom needs to be replaced as it has rotted through. Should we try to jack up the center of the house or just level the floors from the inside? We would like to replace the bathroom floor before it gets too cold. Thanks for your help!
2007-09-03 10:30:03 · 6 answers · asked by wayaheadofya 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Jack it up and install permanent supports. Leveling the floor from above will not stop the sag from continuing to get worse. Fix the sister that is pulling away.
2007-09-03 13:18:59 · answer #1 · answered by John himself 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You've got some serious problems with rot
that haven't been addressed.
Have it evaluated.
Has the rot spread from the original center beam
to the surfaces that the 'sisters' bear on?
How far has the rot from that bathroom floor spread?
Band-aids won't solve the problem for long.
You might need another pier under the center beams.
2007-09-03 14:18:17 · answer #2 · answered by Irv S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have the room and the ability to jack the house, it is the proper solution. I don't know how much you need to jack, but if it is a considerable amount, try to do it in stages. If you jack to much at one time, you may run into problems such as cracked plaster or broken tiles on floors. Just jack a small amount and block it well. Wait a few days and do the same thing. Keep doing it this way until you reach the desired level.
2007-09-03 11:00:01 · answer #3 · answered by shawnd518 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Leveling floors from the inside will only mask the problem for awhile. You need to go under the house and level the floor from there repairing any foundation damage you find. If at all possible wherever you need to place new supports, put a 12"x12"x12" concrete footing under support. Apply weight of house upon footing to seat footing and allow for the most intial sinking that will occur then relevel floor with support on new footing.
2007-09-03 15:17:59 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a crawl space so it would be easier to jack it up from underneath. Cheaper too. Jack it up till it's level and shim the beams.
2007-09-03 10:36:15 · answer #5 · answered by Rusty 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you need to jack up the house and use oak 12"*12" cribbing to support the house temporarily while you are doing a permanent fix IE: new pier footers,new columns and a new center beam.
2007-09-03 10:46:01 · answer #6 · answered by john v 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋