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I am working on two old houses, one my own, the other is a job remodeling a 200 year old log house. As with most old houses, the floors tend to not be level, and in the case of the log house I’m working on, the floor is out of level about 3 inches across 11 feet. My task is to level the floor, but how? Whatever method I use, it must be every bit as strong as a good solid floor. I thought I might have to cut wedges of 2x and put 3/4 subfloor over them to level it. But if I do that, then how do I make sure the floor is level both ways and stays level? I need to do this in my own house also and have been putting it off for a year because I don’t know how. In both the log house and my house, the rooms are large, and the entire floor of the room must be leveled out. Thanks in advance for help.
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Rich,
The best way is to raise the whole house and redo the foundation. This is usually not cost effective. But other than that you cannot be for sure that it will stay. Cutting large wedges is very time consuming. sister the joists with a new joist glued and fastened on the side. usually in the old housed here in Charleston we do not level the floor. It will usually interfere with your doors and windows if they have sunk with the old floor. and sometimes the houses were built out of level. We simply straighted the floors if they sag too much.
Rick Tuk
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Rich, here in L.A. after the Northridge earthquake we had the opportunity to level a bunch of floors. There are two conditions we encountered, one where the floor had been thrust up in the centers of rooms , and the other being where a section of house had settled. Both may have been due to the foundations settling, the first being perhaps that the post-and-piers hadn't.
In the first condition the rooms had a "hump" in the center and was easily fixed by shortening the posts. There, too easy, right?
The second was a pain in the neck and involved bottle jacks and lifting the house off the foundation, or, if possible, lifting it off of the treated plates, and installing rips under the joists and rims, then lots of Simpson hardware to hold it all down again. Because most of the treated plates were 2X6 or better we generally ripped 4X6 or even, in one extreme case, 6X6.
It's possible to do, but as Rick said, it plays havoc with doors and windows (although, because it was a sudden incident, sometimes the doors were brought back into alignment when the house reached level.... if it was a gradual movement and doors had been shaved and planed with time as the movement occurred, then correcting the level will make the doors be off again.)
Good luck, and don't let tne jacks kick you.
-Ben
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I rejected the wedge idea pretty quick for the reasons mentioned. Besides, the kitchen joists were curved from the high to low point. Because the joists were oversized to begin with, I decided to shave them using a circular saw and sawzall. Not too bad once you get used it, but of course you have to rip up the subfloor. And now there is 2" jump to the pantry to design a transition for.
If there is a happy way of of this predicament, I'm all ears.
*Rich,As you can see from the previous post, this is no eay matter. There are companies that do this for a living. I strongly suggest that you call a pro. Don't get caught under the house if it comes down around you.Ed. Williams
*Rich Have You looked into a gypcrete floor? This is an option that levels the floor. Most times it is not the best way but is an option. The log cabin may be the best choice of the two. Reaarranging all those logs with the floors tied in seems daunting. I'm assuming that the cabin floors are tied into the walls and not built on a box like todays framing.
*If the floor is sagging and you can remove the sub floor you can attach new joists to the old. install the two end ones first level to each other. Then stringe a couple of lines back and forth and install the remaining floor joists. I've also seen, but have never tried mysef, filling the low areas with 15 and 30 pound felt paper. This allows you to feather the floor. You may want to start with some plywood in the lower areas to get started. you also need to strike some level lines around the perimeter of the room and string some random lines. The new laser levels may work better than running string lines, for getting your center heights . TC
*Stay away from gypcrete. I know of several horror stories of it used after Hugo. Including my Church. Andrew Those jumps are why we leave well enough alone unless it is really bad. I have done houses out 6 or more inches in 12 feet. As for a transition you will needa piece of wood a skil saw a block plane and a lot of patience. good luck.Rick Tuk
*It was out about 2 1/2" in 12 feet and I only did it because it's annoying when you drop a raw egg in the kitchen and it goes scurrying away. Once I noticed the curve -- and realized why the adjustments on the appliances had come out so bizarre -- it made me feel seasick every time I walked in there.The transition ... well, it's just not a priority right now... I think I'm going to bevel several 1x oak strips and laminate them for a mini-ramp.
*Rich;Years ago we did a major restoration on a 185yr old post and beam farmhouse. First floor had a 2.5 inch "belly". We found that the floor, beams and posts were all sound, but settled. We decided against disturbing this system which had settled for so many years. We wound up using plywood and filling in the belly. many multiple layers of 3/4" out to 1/4". Troweled on filler at the edges, asphalt felt paper, and then finished with a contiguous layer of 3/4" then hardwood flooring. 25 years later, not a squeek or dip. (Come to think of it, 25 years ago, plywood was affordable.)Two keys: the floor was very sound, just sunken. we removed almost all interior partitions, except one against the stairwell. Getting into individual rooms would be tough, and as has been pointed out, doors and jambs need to be redone.g luckadam
*I am a DIYer and I have been renovating a 100 year old I-house in the south. Its had lots of termite damage, so I had to replace some of the supporting beams; seems termites really like to eat the corners of this house! It's supported on concrete blocks. I had a crew come to level it and after they were finished with their poor job, I made it right! Tightly stretch a string along the perimeter of the room and nail it in the corners on 2x spacers (use a 16d duplex nail). Get a cheap line level from Walmart and use a hydralic jack to level the string (length of the room). Use another 2x spacer and run under the string to see if there are any sags or humps; fix them accordingly. Its a messy job, but 'ya can't get good help these days'! Dave
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I am working on two old houses, one my own, the other is a job remodeling a 200 year old log house. As with most old houses, the floors tend to not be level, and in the case of the log house I'm working on, the floor is out of level about 3 inches across 11 feet. My task is to level the floor, but how? Whatever method I use, it must be every bit as strong as a good solid floor. I thought I might have to cut wedges of 2x and put 3/4 subfloor over them to level it. But if I do that, then how do I make sure the floor is level both ways and stays level? I need to do this in my own house also and have been putting it off for a year because I don't know how. In both the log house and my house, the rooms are large, and the entire floor of the room must be leveled out. Thanks in advance for help.