Uneven Floor - Big Concern?
I'm looking at a house to rehab and the floor is a bit uneven in a couple of rooms. The house was built in 1961. I was wondering if this is something of major concern or if it is the normal settling of the house. Thank you in advance for your expert advice.
David
David,
How do you mean "uneven?"
And how uneven is "a bit?"
Are there cupped hardwood floorboards, or heaved plywood under carpet?
Is it a sharp 1/2" difference, or a barely perceptible 1/16"?
Or is there a rise and fall in the floor due to pier movement?
[addsig]
It's hardwood flooring throughout the house. It seems to be a minor slope, maybe 1/8" to 1/4". That's about all I can tell for now. Is there anything I can do to get the information you're looking for?
Thanks
1/8" to 1/4" slope?
Would that be a floor that slopes to the center of the room? That can indicate sagging joists due to undersized joists or excessive moisture. I would not give a second thought to a 1/8" sag in a 44 year old home.
If the floor has 1/4" or more and bounces as you walk through, it may be due to undersized or minimum joists. This might be fixed by adding piers and beams. Don't forget to get termite ground treatment for new piers if adding piers.
Or is it a 1/8" to 1/4" slope from one side or corner of the room to another, all the way across the room?
I would not consider that to be unusual in a 44 year old home.
I would rule out structural issues with a thorough crawl space inspection, including a thorough termite inspection and a good look at piers, foundation and framing. IMO, these inspections should always be done in the course of formulating an offer, and I'm not recommending these inspections as a direct response to your concern regarding level floors.
My gut instinct is that a slope of up to 1/4" across a room should not be a huge issue.
All that said, it may be if you put a long level across the room, it will show a greater variance from level.
1/8" is difficult to detect just touring through the house.
[addsig]
The slope is not across the room. It only seems to be in one area in each room. It may be more like 1/4" since I do notice it and you said I probably wouldn't notice it. So a home inspection would detect whether there were any major problems with this, correct? Thank you for your help.
David