Straightening The Floors 200 Year Old House

A slant slope situation might be one where over the course of 15 or 20 horizontal feet the floor slopes down one or two inches.

Straightening the floors 200 year old house.

This job took two people one afternoon. The problem turned out to be a failed foundation along an outside wall that no longer supported the floor joists the cap joist across the ends. Over time usually years a floor joist and supporting beams will develop a slight sag or deflection. Typical of pre 1900 construction it uses notched tenon joists set into a mortise beam which is no longer al.

The foundation was one made of large rocks that were piled into a wall. If a 100 year old house is worth remodeling it probably has features worth keeping. Total cost was less than 200 while a pro would charge 500 1000. This 1859 house was used as an old schoolhouse.

We used 18 000 pound screw jacks 4x4 lumber a circular saw power drill driver and cement blocks. The floor sagged and was also bouncy. There s a feeling that comes with the grain in the floors and the high ceilings and the thick walls that you just can t capture click ahead to see 10 homes for sale that are 200 years old or older. The 120 year old house my mom lived in had a similar problem.

Cost time and skills. We got muddy because we were in a dirt crawlspace doing just that crawling. A span of 12 to 16 feet may have a natural deflection of a 1 2 inch over a period of years. Except for that slope the floor itself might be flat.

Floor slopes and slants are common in old houses.