Straightening The Floors 200 Year Old House

We got muddy because we were in a dirt crawlspace doing just that crawling.

Straightening the floors 200 year old house.

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. We used 18 000 pound screw jacks 4x4 lumber a circular saw power drill driver and cement blocks. Which generally would not be considered a defect but just a natural process.

This 1859 house was used as an old schoolhouse. Typical of pre 1900 construction it uses notched tenon joists set into a mortise beam which is no longer al. Natural deflection of second floor joist and supporting beams. 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. Cost time and skills. 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 foundation was one made of large rocks that were piled into a wall. Floor slopes and slants are common in old houses. The 120 year old house my mom lived in had a similar problem. 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.

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.