Levelling Sloping Floorboards

[jamesingram]

Hi,

I have a room where subsidence has caused the floor to slope fairly uniformly. The subsidence is old, so no current movement. I have been told that the best way of levelling the floor would be to lift the boards and place furrings?? (long, thin wooden wedges) along the joists and then lay the boards back down on top of them.

I have been told I can get the wedges cut to spec at a timber yard.

Is this the best way of fixing it, or would you recommend another solution such as ply and self levelling solution? The room will be carpeted, so I'm not fussed about the finish of the boards and I don't need a super firm floor to stop tile cracking or anything like that. Cheapest and quickest way is probably best for this.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[mattysupra]

nothing wrong with how you have been advised.

 

[jamesingram]

cheers!

 

[gavos]

Putting furring pieces down is a good way but they need to be measured accurately and specially made.

I assume the existing joists can't simply be packed up with some slate to the correct level?

An alternative DIY-type solution would be to take up the floorboards and bolt/screw some new joists to the sides of the old joists (but to the correct level). This save a lot of fiddly cutting. Use ample fixings and ensure that noggins are fitted between the joists to avoid any twisting due to the eccentric load. This method is adequate but wouldn't be considered to be best practice.

Always wise to check the joist ends for rot before boarding over.

 

[gcol]

An alternative DIY-type solution would be to take up the floorboards and bolt/screw some new joists to the sides of the old joists (but to the correct level). This method is adequate but wouldn't be considered to be best practice.

That's what I'd be doing.

 

[jamesingram]

Hi,

Solved the room in question, but have other rooms that need similar attention.

Slate option sounds good, but have about 4 inches to take up in terms of slope in the largest room, so would they become dislodged? Also, what about flex, particulalry if boards were stripped?

with bolting new joists to existing ones I would also worry about extra wieght on the floor. Is this a consideration?

Don't really want to do the furrings if it can be avoided (like you say - fiddly), but am keen to do a decent job.

Cheers chaps,
Jim

 

[jamesingram]

Hi,

Does anyone have feedback on this one?

Slate option sounds good, but have about 4 inches to take up in terms of slope in the largest room, so would they become dislodged? Also, what about flex, particulalry if boards were stripped?

with bolting new joists to existing ones I would also worry about extra wieght on the floor. Is this a consideration?

Cheers!
Jim

 

[Thisoldhouse]

Hi,

Does anyone have feedback on this one?

Slate option sounds good, but have about 4 inches to take up in terms of slope in the largest room, so would they become dislodged? Also, what about flex, particulalry if boards were stripped?

with bolting new joists to existing ones I would also worry about extra wieght on the floor. Is this a consideration?

Cheers!
Jim

Jim, did you ever solve this issue?

I'm looking to start my bedroom floors this March, so I'm reviewing these old topics for inspiration.

I plan on going down the "furrings" root, but a DIY version.

 

[jamesingram]

Hi.

I went down the furrings route - got them cut to order at the timber yard pretty cheaply and then screwed them to the top of the joists. Maybe it would be quicker and you'd get a more uniform cut if you got the timber yard to cut them down wather than doing it yourself?

One thing that helped was numbering the floorboards before I took them up - otherwise would be a nightmare jigsaw puzzle.

Another thing I found useful was a laser cross plumb - made measuring up easier and more accurate than it would have been - particulalry as the bottom of the walls were very rough under the skirting boards.

Good Luck!
Jim

 

[Thisoldhouse]

Thanks Jim for your reply.

Where can I get a laser cross plumb? lol

How long did the job take you?

 

[jamesingram]

Hi,

It was quite a big room - 7m x 4m. There were 2 of us working and we did pretty long days.

Once the room was clear of carpet and furniture and skirting board it took a day to lift the boards, number them and measure up. Hopefully you have a decent size garden - I had to keep the boards on the stairs for week, which wasn't ideal.

I wrote the measurements for each furring on the wall above each joist - length of furring and depth at each end.

The furrings were cut and delivered next Saturday morning. It took a day to put the furrings in place and put the boards back.

New skirting board and decorating took longer than levelling the floor.

Cheers,
Jim