Architecture/unlevel floors

Advertisement

Expert: - 7/5/2008


Question
My daughter has an old farmhouse.  They just had siding and new windows done.  The ones who did the siding and windows said the house was structurly sound.  The floors are unlevel.  The downstairs is not so bad but upstairs the house sags in the middle.  A good six inches at the least, seems more on the one side, the end seems fine and one side not so bad but the other the beds need propping up so one does not roll out.  She wants to fix the floors.. could this be done and how.  If one jacked the house up ... would it not effect the siding, windows and roof?  She also wants to take out a wall down stairs to make a bigger room.  The kitchen floor has a bad spot (no floor covering) with what I would say is rotted wood and feels soft in places under the floor covering (probably more rot).  She plans on a mortgage to get money to have this done.  Thank for your input.

Answer
Sharon - the best advice I can give you is to hire a local architect or engineer to look at your daughter's house.  The problems you've described could be quite serious and potentially dangerous.  Once a house is out of level, the stresses on parts of it increase and can cause structural failure.

You are correct in thinking that any jacking or other structural repairs should have been done first - jacking now will likely ruin the windows and siding.

I would not recommend borrowing money to fix this home up unless you have reason to believe it will be worth more.  In similar cases, unless the house has historical value, I've recommended tearing the house down - it's possible that it's just not worth fixing.

Either way, proper structural repairs to this home might be very expensive.

Hope this helps,

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtaplans.com

Architecture

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Richard Taylor, AIA

Expertise

Ask me about all aspects of house, remodeling. , and room addition design and construction. Ask me about historic homes, renovation, and restoration. Ask me about materials and techniques, and about how you can get the best value for your design and construction dollar. Ask me how you can make your home a very special place. I can't, however, answer specific structural engineering questions in this forum - that's something you'll need on-site observation for.

Experience

I own a full-service residential architectural firm, and have been designing custom homes, remodelings, and room additions across the country since 1983. Check us out at Richard Taylor Architects and RTA Plans. I have written and been published extensively on the subject of residential architecture.

Organizations
American Institute of Architects, City of Dublin Architectural Review Board, Vice Chair of City of Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission, American Planning Association, Board Member Historic Dublin Business Association, Past Editor of SPLASH (a software forum), Past Editor of Open Directory Project, Assistant Scoutmaster, Boy Scouts of America

Publications
Business First of Columbus, Suburban New Publications, About.com, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Columbus Dispatch Residential Architect Custom Home Architect Remodeling Architect

Education/Credentials
Bachelor of Environmental Design (Architecture) Miami University 1983
For more about home design, check out my blog at Sense Of Place and join the conversation on our Facebook Page.

Awards and Honors
2010 Dublin Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.