Slopping floors on all levels of house

[OurBeachHouse]

Hello,

I recently purchased a property. a 3 storey terraced built in the 1960s. It is only since moving in that I have noticed slopping floors on every level of the house - ground floor, first floor and second. The floors all slope in the same direction, from the right of the house to the left. I have been told they follow the same direction as the joists. Where the floors slope, it has impacted on some of the door frames which also lean! I think if you measured, the ceilings slope too, although it is not noticeable.

I was quite concerned about this, and being a novice when it comes to any type of building work, it was quite a daunting prospect.

I quickly organised a pricey level 3 building survey. Fortunately, it came back as nothing structural wrong with the property and no sign of current or historical movement and simply just the original build!

I subsequently checked with some neighbours and they also report the same slopping issues.

Obviously it is a great relief that the survey come back as nothing too serious, but I am still curious (and sometimes obsessive!) about the slopes and what is causing it. I also would like to remedy it so everything is nice and straight and in order.

If anyone has any advice, solutions or same experience as me, I'd love to hear!

 

[big-all]

how much are you talking ??
remember sort the floors and ceiling then the doors windows and chiminy breast will still be sloping

 

[Alec_t]

Are the walls accurately vertical?

 

[OurBeachHouse]

Thank you for the replies.

I'd say there is about 3cm difference.

The walls are vertical - well, I've not noticed anything strong about them.

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

[Notch7]

Thank you for the replies.

I'd say there is about 3cm difference.

The walls are vertical - well, I've not noticed anything strong about them.

Thanks for the replies so far.

if you just want to level for cosmetic purposes - You will need a laser level to set out a datum across the whole floor level. Bear in mind you can’t alter the height of the top tread of the stairs - so aim to keep that the same.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You think you have problems?

Nah!

I quickly organised a pricey level 3 building survey. Fortunately, it came back as nothing structural wrong with the property and no sign of current or historical movement and simply just the original build!

I subsequently checked with some neighbours and they also report the same slopping issues.

Obviously it is a great relief that the survey come back as nothing too serious, but I am still curious (and sometimes obsessive!) about the slopes and what is causing it. I also would like to remedy it so everything is nice and straight and in order.

If anyone has any advice, solutions or same experience as me, I'd love to hear!

Basically if it isn't subsidence or settlement, because the survey would have picked that up, then it's shoddy building and poor attention to detail. When you install joists you are supposed to check that they are level (both end to end and side to side across several joists) - this is done using a 6ft or 2m level these days, but before they became available you simply taped a smaller (say 1m or 36in) level onto a straight, planed 6ft length of 3 x 2in softwood and used that. You also need to check your level regularly to ensure that it is reading plumb and level correctly, especially after a drop or fall (takes a few minutes - any competent chippy knows how to do it). It could have been that the brickies messed-up and the joiner worked to the level of the mortar joints (which is wrong, too), but under those circumstances the windows would probaly be out of kilter as well. TBH it sounds like you had some pricework cowboy joisting it out who didn't bother to check and correct his work as he installed the joists, that's all. Seconfcyear apprentice should know better, but you havd to wonfer what the site manager and quantity surveyor were doing letting this past

BTW even lasers have to be checked as drops can affect their accuracy

 

[OurBeachHouse]

Hello,

Thanks for your replies!

Yeah, we have to believe it was just shoddy building work as it has affected all the properties in our row and all go from right to left and you can only see this internally and not externally. Hopefully we can get it sorted. It is just hard because of our lack of knowledge, so it is easy to spend a fortune on investigating.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You might be able to level the floors, but it is a lot of work, but what about the ceiling on the floor below? BTW, what are the door openings like? Are the door casing legs the same length snd are the heads level? That is another thing which can cause you issues

 

[OurBeachHouse]

You might be able to level the floors, but it is a lot of work, but what about the ceiling on the floor below? BTW, what are the door openings like? Are the door casing legs the same length snd are the heads level? That is another thing which can cause you issues

This is an issue of mine - the ceilings are also slopping, but of course not as noticeable as the flooring.
Yeah door openings are a very odd shape and doors have been cut to bits to fit the odd shape!!!
In your experience, what would you do? - please don't say not buy it in the first place lol.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The ceilings slope because the boards are fixed to the underside if the joists.

Were it mine I'd probably tackle it a room at a time, and as I'm naturally a bit OCD about doing a good job I'd tackle it head on (but it is my trade): remove skirtings, architraves, door off, door casing out, floor up, fix 3 x 2 CLS to one side of each joist (levelled this time), new flooring down, lip bottom of door, refit door casing (might require one leg extending), rehang door, new architraves, replace skirting. You'd need to check the levels between rooms (ideally with a laser and a staff) and work to a standard level throughout. It's a lot of work, but the alternative quick fixes you could do instead potentially leave you with different room floors at different height

 

[Why Not Indeed]

what would you do?

Nothing. It's a hell of a lot of disruption to remedy a cosmetic issue.