I have an interesting dilemma. My family recently moved into a large house, it’s quite nice, has heavy (perhaps too heavy) hardwood floors, etc. but we’ve noticed as the weather has gotten colder the floors squeak. While walking the house we also noticed slopes in unexpected places. E.g., a >1" deviation for 10’ in some areas where the floor slopes. We had a foundation expert come in and they confirmed our foundation is “excellent” and very level. This then points to a couple things:
The hardwood floor is too heavy, resulted in sagging on the main floor where the sloping/squeaks are prominent
Settling in the house forcing
Very poor construction work
It seems like all 3 might come in play. Besides the sloping we’ve seen some basic (luckily easy to fix) workmanship flaws. So based on this I was wondering the following:
Are there floor slope building regulations? i.e., is this a must fix, or should we seek compensation from the sellers?
Any suggestions on how best to fix this? It seems at least with the bottom floor this could be fixed by adding jacks + new floor joists. However, if I’m going to fix this once I’d like to do a full and complete job, and not just add floor joists randomly.
Is there anything I should do to monitor the situation to see if it gets worse and if the house is still settling?
If you say it has sagged by one inch in the middle it can be corrected. This would need to be passed to the structural engineer and a basic answer would be wise for a Home Inspector, not a way to repair this problem.
intermediate supports under an existing structure is not uncommon. the sag may be caused by a lot of factors- all non important unless this was just built and might be under a warranty. Most common repairs are small screw jacks similar to leveling an RV. crank them up a little at a time to avoid cracking drywall. half a turn per week or so. the better the surface you set the levelers on, the better they will work. a poured concrete pad dug down to frost would be the best option but also a very big pain in the butt. what I would do: remove loose dirt, gravel ect and place a concrete patio block on solid compacted soil and shim to get it tight and start turning the jack.
A structural engineer would be completely unnecessary and a waste of money.
You’ve already confirmed that the foundation is level and in “excellent” condition, and it’s very unlikely that the flooring is “too heavy.” All you need is a good contractor to come in and level it out from beneath.
Although 1" in 10’ is relatively significant, structures do settle. For the most part, settlement can continue for many years (if not indefinitely) - especially if you live in an area that is prone to seismic activity, or if the residence is built on poor soil composition.