Wonky Floors!

[Hannah]

We are currently starting to restore of a 300 year old house.
One of our bedrooms has a 'wonky' floor - a difference of 8" from one end of the room to the other. It is currently boarded - these boards forming the ceiling for the snug below - balanced on the original beams of the house. We wish to level the floor without losing the character of the buiding and still keeping the ceiling with the ability to plaster between the beams downstairs. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Nemesis]

I think you will find most people here would suggest that you leave it exactly as it is - it's part of the character and history of the house.

If you are new to repairing historic buildings, then don't rush into anything which you may regret later, when you've had a chance to learn more about them.


Joining the SPAB is a great first step if you haven't already done so - and going on one of homeowner's weekends, buying some of the literature, and generally learning more about the conservation approach to historic buildings is recommended.

If the building is listed, it's highly unlikely anyhow that you would get consent for something like this.


http://www.spab.org.uk

 

[Hannah]

No we're not listed - quite lucky really. Used to be 4 miners cottages which have been knocked in to one house. We like the idea of trying to keep everything original and trying to keep the character of the house, and intend to do this throughout the restoration, however in what will be the master bedroom we would also like to ensure it is usable and practical and unfortunately at present we can't put any fittings in the room without them either falling over or having to extend 'legs' which does not look appealing to the eye.

 

[Hannah]

Oh and thanks for the link - we'll sign up for sure.

 

[elm]

We have one remaining wonky floor upstairs, I think it's great - in fact I was a bit disappointed when we put the furniture back in which made it less obvious. It did become a little tricky when it came to replacing the skirting boards though.


[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]

Window to be replaced as soon as practical .....

 

[Nemesis]

What a wonderful floor!

 

[Gervase]

Ditto.

Cor! Fabulous colour and patina. Like having a floor made of conkers...

 

[Hannah]

That looks great - it's hard to have the vision of a finished wonky floor at present... 8" however is more of a slope than a wonk! Although the walls are wonky too - so we'll match! Thanks for the photo - it's given us some inspiration. Appreciated.

 

[NT]

Keeping the character while ironing out the character is a self contradiction. 8" is a lot of course. All furniture will need legs or horizontal strips added underneath, and sea sickness pills should be available by the door. Possibly also some soft buffers on the floor at the downhill end, for whe you rol out of bed and pick up a bit too much speed.

Levelling timber floors can be done by padding the joists, how workable this is depends which end is up. If up is at the entrance door, not difficult, but if up is at the window at the other end you'd have a lot of problem with levelling it, and I'd leave it be. Ideal for a kids room, makes tidying up so easy.


NT

 

[middi]

I agree with NT's comments.

If you have the headroom just build another floor above the existing.

If you are going to fit carpet in the room you can very easily and cheaply level it out by using 2.4 x .6 meters flooring sheets on a small wood frame constructed to eliminate the slope.

 

[Becka]

It can be done, my bathroom has a similar slope (it freaks people out as they have to walk uphill to the sink) but I wouldn't have it any other way even tho the bath is up on blocks... and I probably couldn't level it if I wanted to, the planks have happily settled into there wonky shape (it slopes up hill to about 2/3rds into the room then back down hill!) over many years and I very much doubt you could lay them flat again now if you tried.. and Elm, your floor is gorgeous..

 

[Sal]

Middi's suggestion is a good one - because it is reversable if you change your mind later

is the slope straight.. or is it sort of hilly.. across the room we have one room where you go down... then back up again.

if you put in a false floor.. you will have to consider how it will change things.. eg a step into room?, window seats? door height? fire place? We had to replace a floor recently, but kept the slope in the end as its going to be our office, and i can live with my desk being on blocks... although i might have to get rid of my wheely chair... and there where too many other factors
My home - 2 houses ago had severe slope and all my clothes sat at one end of wardrobe...
as always is a balance between keeping character and a home you can live with. but it is definitely worth considering the effect of levelling vs effect of not - and then deciding which is the best compromise.

 

[Nemesis]

I'd like to know what that lovely floor is finished with...

 

[geoff]

Yes, I have a wonky floor too. You sometimes feel you're going to break into a run heading for the centre of the room...... Oak blocks under one of the bed legs and the wardrobe are necessary.

Mind you, it's easy for us all to say live with it, it's character, but 8 inches is quite a difference in level. If it really is completely unworkable (I can see how it might be), your best bet may be to take up the boards and put in long wedges or packing to eliminate as much of the slope as possible and then reattach the boards - make a plan of where they came from in exact detail as very old boards vary in width, depth (often along a single board!) and length as they were hand sawn, and you will have a hell of a struggle to get them back properly if you don't. If you have lath and plaster actually attached to the boards on the downstairs ceiling, then you will have further problems - you may need to redo the lath and plaster (or plasterboard) on a framework under the boards (which is what I did anyway). You will probably need other work on the wall and skirting etc as well.

 

[Becka]

I second Evelyns request.. mine is done with osmo poly-x wax, which looked great at first and was very easy to do but is looking shabby now so needs another coat of that, or something else if there are better options out there.. ?

 

[Sal]

- you may need to redo the lath and plaster (or plasterboard) on a framework under the boards (which is what I did anyway). .

so how did you go about doing that?

 

[elm]

As far as we can remember (only six months ago, what are we like .....) the floor was done with three coats of Danish Oil. so, one room done - just the rest of the house to go now .....

 

[Nemesis]

Be interested to see how it lasts.

 

[Penners]

One of our bedrooms has a 'wonky' floor - a difference of 8" from one end of the room to the other.

Our first restoration house had a bedroom floor that was 11 inches higher at the door end than on the other side of the room. If you entered the room at too high a speed, you risked careening straight across and out of the window!

Leave it as it is. You'll soon get used to it, and love it!

 

[bournonite]

We use that stuff all the time - its brilliant - just wash it down and re-apply another coat - that'll keep you going for another 5 years.. Its just natural oils and waxes, but allows the wood to breathe - it doesnt water-stain either....

Pete