I have a 50 year old house with a several visually sloping floors. I have been told that adjustments to raise the floor joists must be made in gradual increments. How much can the joists be raised at a time and how much time must be given for settlement before other adjustments are made to complete the project? Thanks for all help.
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how much slope we talking here?
What would be the best method of calculating the slope? I did take about an 8ft section of baseboard, found the high spot on one of the worst floors and measured a little more than a 3/4" gap. The floors also have some bounce in certain areas.
well. I guess you want to find the slope of the whole floor, and are talking about various rooms. easiest way is to use a laser when checking entire rooms, but it is certainly not the only way.
a regular builders level also good, for larger rooms - small rooms not so good. long levels are great - the longer the better the longest I have is 6'- 8". but you can also use level with straight edge, as you did with baseboard. one can also set a string in midle of room with a tack and rotate the string in a wide circlle to sight the high and low points. also in some cases it is easier to assess the floor from underneath if you have say a wide open basement, as opposed to hallways, closets bunch of small rooms on the floor above.
I get the impression that you feel that you have some extreme slope over the entire floor of your house. 3/4" over 8' is pretty bad, but could simply be a 3/8" high spot and a 3/8" low spot. I don't know you would have to determine that. or does the slope continue? so that we are talking about a situation where you looking at stuff that is 2 1/4" out over 24'.
wavy floors can be a result of varying factors, and could have been there to start with if the house was built sloppy with reversed crowns on the joists. if the house has settled so that you have a massive slope over the whole house, it can be a whole different ball game.
for a lot of stuff selfleveling compound willl do wonders for the floor. ( doesn't help ceiling below however.)
but for the heavy duty stuff it gets involved. before proceeding..you ( we ) need to know what you are dealing with.
I generally will lift a beam a bit at a time, I'll stop when I hear the structure moving (creaks, groans, etc). Then a bit more an hour, a day, or a week later. Remember, the floor was level and in plane at one point, and took a long time to get where it is now. Don't be rushed to get it back. Also, it's doubtful that you'll get it back 100%.
If it's an old house with plaster walls, be prepared to redo the walls if you want a level house.
There are at least three reasons I can think of off the top of my head why floors would be sloping. It is hard to comment intelligently without knowing more about what your particulaar situation is - why your floor has a slope
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