Prevent Long-Term Home Damage: Know the Signs of Sagging Floors
Our homes are so much more than mere physical structures that keep us safe and warm. Over time these spaces provide the setting for a rich collection of memories, family history, and life experiences, all of which confirm the age-old proverb: “There’s no place like home.” Of course, the passage of these wonderful years can also take a toll on our home’s very foundation. The most obvious tell-tale sign is when our floors begin to sag. It’s often a fairly easy fix – or it could mean a foundation or structural problem that could lead to major repairs and significant expense if left unattended.
Signs of a sagging or a deflecting floor system are easy to recognize. Furniture may not sit level or may shake when someone moves or walks across a room. Tile may start to crack or have broken or damaged grout lines. Kitchen islands can be a sure sign that your floor system is failing. Look at the island or put a level on your countertop. You can often outright see the problem. If a floor continues to settle and sag over a long period, you run the risk of being unable to relevel the floor system. As it changes over time, wood actually forms a memory. Again, like us, once a substantial memory is created, it’s usually not forgotten.
Typically the causes of sagging floors are wood rot or failing support systems and/or piers that can cause the floor to drop, bounce and/or compromise the entire home's structural integrity. While there can be other issues, these are the two we see most often. Sagging floor joists can be fixed relatively easily, but the underlying issues should also be addressed so that the problem doesn’t reappear. If the framing is in good condition, reinforcements can be added by using our proprietary steel column support system – known as the Alpha Jack Steel Support System – with a drop girder set at the area of sagging or deflection to strengthen the floor. If there is wood rot due to termite damage or high moisture in the crawl space, it will have to be removed and replaced with a new framework.
The best and only real way to help prevent these issues from happening in the first place is to install a relative humidity monitor in your crawl space so you can keep an eye on the actual moisture levels. Be sure that termite treatments are current and that there are no active wood-eating insects in your crawl space.
You can learn more about preventing home foundation issues and sagging floors in this article from our friends at Redfin.