Sloping floors

[00rebsta]

Hi all again, I just wondered what anyones thoughts were about this. So in our living room of our 1930s semi, the floor slopes downwards a bit towards the bay window and towards the party wall. I had the usual drains checked out and they were fine. However there is a shared downpipe between our houses. Right in the middle. How do we check what’s going on underneath there? Excavation? Shove a camera down? It’s never been checked. Only had the ones under the manhole covers checked. Would there be a soak away there?
I don’t think anything has moved in the few years we have been there and tbh I haven’t checked the joists etc yet. We do need a load of other structural work/reinforcing doing to the front elevation of the house where some cracks are and query failing lintels etc but I wondered if an underlying problem is to do with that stupid downpipe and water not draining away properly underneath? There’s no trees nearby etc. I’m not greatly knowledgable about drains tbh. I’m just not convinced it’s all just due to lintel failure. I mean great if so. I’d rather it not be a foundation problem. But yeh. I dunno. Could it just be old settlement. It hasn’t changed at all

 

[Cubist]

What is the construction of the living room floor? Why do you think there are drainage problems?

 

[Mrs McG]

I’ll be interested to hear the advice you get @00rebsta as I have one or two sloping floors myself! Photos below. Do you want to level your floors, or just understand why they slope so that you know if there’s an underlying issue to fix?

 

[paulc]

So in our living room of our 1930s semi, the floor slopes downwards a bit towards the bay window and towards the party wall. I had the usual drains checked out and they were fine. However there is a shared downpipe between our houses. Right in the middle.

Also have a downpipe right in the middle of my late 1920s semi. The guttering around the bay also connects to this pipe.. Half way along the fence between me & next door is a 6' deep chamber acting as a soakaway. The old clay pipe had become blocked with roots from a privet hedge at some stage and has now been replaced with modern plastic pipe. Despite the blockage and subsequent overflowing guttering, I've not seen any rot in the joists.

As your property is of a similar age to mine, I wonder if you might have the same type of drainage arrangement.

 

[00rebsta]

What is the construction of the living room floor? Why do you think there are drainage problems?

It’s a timber floor. I don’t know really why I think that - just that the house needed a lot of maintenance when we bought it as things hadn’t been done. Had been empty a while. We found lots of silly things. Still got a lot of work to do tbh. So maybe I’m just always wondering what else there is.

Plus, I’m not used to living in an older house so not sure what’s normal or not. Drives me a little bit crazy but nothing I can’t learn to live with.

 

[00rebsta]

I’ll be interested to hear the advice you get @00rebsta as I have one or two sloping floors myself! Photos below. Do you want to level your floors, or just understand why they slope so that you know if there’s an underlying issue to fix?

View attachment 10030

View attachment 10031

Ah wow yes ours is the same. Tilts just like that. Especially in one of the bedrooms upstairs.

Just wanted to know if it’s something I need to look into or if it’s more normal than I think really. We didn’t really notice it when we bought the house. But it was empty. With the furniture it’s definitely more noticeable.

 

[00rebsta]

Also have a downpipe right in the middle of my late 1920s semi. The guttering around the bay also connects to this pipe.. Half way along the fence between me & next door is a 6' deep chamber acting as a soakaway. The old clay pipe had become blocked with roots from a privet hedge at some stage and has now been replaced with modern plastic pipe. Despite the blockage and subsequent overflowing guttering, I've not seen any rot in the joists.

As your property is of a similar age to mine, I wonder if you might have the same type of drainage arrangement.

Ah thanks that’s useful to know. Well I’ll check under the floor at some point to check for any rotten joists or not. Sorry if it’s a stupid question but how did you find the chamber?

 

[noj]

The older the place gets, the more it slopes...

You just have to create lots of blocks to make things level enough to hold a cup of tea

 

[Cubist]

Sloping wooden plank floor are usually the result of problems with the joists or the mounting of the joists in the walls or the brick piers used to support the span of the floor. There are a number of techniques, one of which Noj has provided above, to correct the problem. However, some of these may only provide a temporary solution. It would be wise to lift a few strategic boards to investigate and understand the root cause and if possible deal with that. You may find that the joist ends have failed due to damp/rot or beetle infection and need to be repaired or replaced.

 

[00rebsta]

Sloping wooden plank floor are usually the result of problems with the joists or the mounting of the joists in the walls or the brick piers used to support the span of the floor. There are a number of techniques, one of which Noj has provided above, to correct the problem. However, some of these may only provide a temporary solution. It would be wise to lift a few strategic boards to investigate and understand the root cause and if possible deal with that. You may find that the joist ends have failed due to damp/rot or beetle infection and need to be repaired or replaced

Okay I’ll lift the floorboards at some point. We have some noticeable slopes upstairs too, will they cave in if I leave it a bit? Wanted to leave the floors till last

 

[00rebsta]

Also, another quick question - when we re render should we have lime plaster if we can find someone who does it? Or any suggestions on a decent alternative?

 

[paulc]

Ah thanks that’s useful to know. Well I’ll check under the floor at some point to check for any rotten joists or not. Sorry if it’s a stupid question but how did you find the chamber?

Was having an old and very dead privet hedge replaced with a timber fence. When the guys went to dig the hole for the post, they found the top of the chamber a couple of inches below the surface. Ended up putting posts either side and got creative with the panel sizes.

 

[Cubist]

Okay I’ll lift the floorboards at some point. We have some noticeable slopes upstairs too, will they cave in if I leave it a bit? Wanted to leave the floors till last

Uneven wooden floors are something of a fact of life in old houses and owners will have come up with a variety of temporary or permanent solutions to overcome the problem, Here, the previous owner found the one spot in the master bedroom where he only needed to put two house-bricks under one corner of the bed to get it near level - that solution I believe lasted for the 15 years of his occupancy.

Others I have seen include flllets of timber, cut to compensate for the slopes {remember, in any one location the floor will always slope in more than one direction} (again to uniquely fit in 'one' strategic position) and formed into a box plinth to support chests of drawers/wardrobes, etc. In our case we got by with four blocks of wood cut to lengths that allowed us to level the bed in the desired location - those lasted 8 years before the priorities allowed me to level the entire floor - the only upside of which was that it inhibited the First Ladies desire to re-arrange the bedroom.

The floors of upper rooms bring slightly different problems, albeit they have the same root causes. The most significant being that the plaster ceilings below are attached to the bottom of the joists on which the floor is laid. This does bring an advantage as you can very quickly determine if a joist has failed - in either its connection to a wall or elsewhere in its length - as there will have been some corresponding sagging and cracking of the ceiling below. Provided there is no significant distortion of the ceilings you can be reasonably confident the that the joists are in fair condition - but I wouldn't go around jumping up and down on them until I'd thoroughly checked the floor out. Things to be concerned about include and significant 'spring' in the boards and particularly near to the supporting walls. Significant spring toward the centre of the room may indicate that one or more of the joists has weakened and needs remedial attention before the heavy furnishings are installed.

One further point after noting that you wanted to leave the floors until last - that's not such a good idea. When you finally come to sort the floors out its almost certain there will be a lot of plaster damage, skirting and other mouldings may need to be replaced, doors and their frames adjusted/replaced and consequently you will find yourself needing to re-decorate. Better idea, though perhaps painful in the short term, is to sort the floors first.

Good luck and welcome to challenges of period property ownership. You will have fun but there lots of sweat, blood and not a few tears too - but its worth it!

 

[Lacan07]

I can't wait to start installing skirting boards.....not.

Any suggestions, do you scribe, caulk, insert some of those expanding foam strips....or do you just leave the gaps?

 

[a twig]

Scribe

 

[noj]

Scribe first, do whatever else it takes thereafter...

 

[Lacan07]

I'm going to have to get my compass out and find a good youtube video, I'm thinking its going to be difficult keeping the individual boards all the same height.

 

[Cubist]

Sorry but I disagree with;

• Twig and Noj; First, you must find the lowest spot around the perimeter of the wall, you need that to determine what the 'all round' level will be for the top edge of the skirting.
• Lacan; No compass needed, use a 'flat' carpenters pencil laid on its side. Failing that, a pencil pushed through an old cotton reel

 

[88v8]

Hi all again, I just wondered what anyones thoughts were about this. So in our living room of our 1930s semi, the floor slopes downwards a bit towards the bay window and towards the party wall.

Sloping floors are usual in old houses, but not in a 1930s semi.

And what's with the lintels?
Is it just your half of the house?

 

[noj]

A bit of scrap wood with an 8mm hole for a pencil beats using a pair of compasses for the bigger scribes