Longstanding building movement? Anything to worry about?

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Sorry for posting this again. I put it to the flooring forum but think this is more a general building question. Any help appreciated. Cheers

I live in an older property, a semi built in the mid 1920s. I have been there for about 2 years. I am sure there has been some structural movement in the property judging by some of the door frames, picture rails etc but I am sure any movement is of a long standing nature. What I want to ask about is the floors. All the floors are wood with the exception of the kitchen which is concrete. As I have progressed around the house removing carpet etc. the floors all appear to be about a half inch below the bottom of the skirting and arcatrave. Beading has been added to the bottom of the skirting to hide the gap. I am sure this is not a recent addition, I would say no major work has been carried out on the property for over 30 years. The question I have is do I need to worry. The room I am working in now I intend to replace all the skirting/arc and picture rail. I was intending to fit the skirting closer to the floorboards after the walls have been skimmed. Doe this seem sensible or do I need to take any other action with the floor, I hope not.
 
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When we had the CH system replaced I noticed in the back room downstairs that some of the sleeper walls under the floor had been toppled over to make way when the old CH pipework was installed (bad/lazy workmanship). I am planning to get some boards up next week and have a good look around but what should I be looking out for?

Cheers
 
Rotten joists, wood worm, damp, mold, leaking water pipes, check the joist hanger/built in fixings for signs of rot, sleeper walls are intact.. etc etc. take photos and post them here if in doubt.
 
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What you describe doesn't fit with a foundation problem because the settlement has taken place between the skirting and the floorboards. If the foundation had settled the floor and skirting would have settled equally.

In that period it was common to place floor joists on a 1" thick timber wall plate which would have been built on a brick shelf. That wall plate can become compressed or may be rotted. Look under the floor to see if that is what you have?

If not, you probably just have drying shrinkage due to modern central heating.
 
Hello

Finally got some of the boards up this weekend now the room has been cleared. I have also removed all the beading at the bottom of the skirting. I will try and get some pics on here if it helps.

What have I found....

The room is roughly 15ft by 12ft and there are 5 sleeper walls positioned the length of the middle of the room. Two of the sleepers have been toppled over by some previous dodgy CH work, the remaining sleepers are there but they are not supporting the joists. There is a gap of about 1 inch between the bottom of the joist and the top of the sleeper. There appears to be some damp proof membrane on top of the sleepers. My first thought was to insert wedges between the sleepers and joists to hopefully raise the floor in the middle of the room. There is a definite drop in the floor in the middle. What is throwing me though is the edges of the room. There is a gradual drop of about 1 inch from the entrance to the room running towards the far window. You can see the gap decreasing under the skirting. I forgot to say there is no sign of dry or wet rot, woodworm or anything else that may be a problem. The floor space is nice and dry and there is no smell of damp.

What do I do now? Is this a job for a pro or can I sort it? Do I need to remove all the floorboards to do the work. Is it an easy job to sort wall plates? If I need to get someone in would I go for a general builder or are there specialist firms that deal in floor probs. And finally is this a costly job?

Any help is always appreciated. I am diy not a pro.

Cheers
 
pictures would be good .........sounds like the oversite is sinking.......have seen this happen on solid floors where the infill has settled maybe the same @ yours .......my trade is plumbing ........but I`m sure a brickie/builder will have a solution for you ;)
 
Rebuild the toppled sleepers and shim up the other sleepers so the joists bear onto them.
 
Finally got under the floor with my camera. Here is a link to about 30 pics of my floor problem. If anyone could add anymore advice it would be appreciated. If you hit the link it will take you to Photobox and it might be best to view as a slideshow. The pics are not in any real order but hopefully they will show something to someone with more knowledge than me.

http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/3930747

I have a joiner coming around tomorrow morning and the conservatory firm are coming to demolish the bay that is at one end of this room. I want to try and get the floor levelled before the base goes in for the conservatory.
 

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