Fixing Bouncing Floors

There are a variety of ways to stiffen a floor.

Fixing bouncing floors.

For example sistering with new lumber the fix tom s dad used makes sense only if the joist bays are not cluttered with electrical cable plumbing lines and ducts. The method or methods tom chooses depend as much on practicality as on effectiveness. But if you have an unfinished basement or a basement with a drop ceiling you just might have enough access to stiffen up the floor from below. The first and second floors in our house seem overly bouncy and sag toward the middle.

Fixing bouncy and sagging floors. Tom s house was built in 1765 but bouncy floors aren t just an old house problem. You can also pull up the subfloor and look at it from above but this is. How can we evaluate whether the floors need reinforcement and if so what is the best way to do this.

It was a complex expensive job. Fixing bouncy and sagging floors. Bouncy floors are one of the most vexing problems faced in houses both new and old. January 24 2014 by buildingadvisor 7 comments.

Tom s solutions for fixing bouncy floors shown here in order of effectiveness are easiest on the first floor where joists are accessible from the basement or crawl space. In most cases repairing bouncy floors is no easy task. How to fix springy and spongy floors. Even structurally sound code compliant new floors can deflect or flex more than feels comfortable.

For a bouncy ground floor you need to get under the house or look at the floor from the basement. A springy or spongy feeling could indicate a minor issue a major problem or. Let s take a look at some of the different options for stiffening up a floor from below for each of the possible floor. Working in the unfinished basement below the bouncy floor we had to remove the plumbing and electrical lines running through the joists and then rerun the lines.