Fixing Bouncing Floors

Fixing bouncy and sagging floors.

Fixing bouncing floors. There are a variety of ways to stiffen a floor. 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. 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. Even structurally sound code compliant new floors can deflect or flex more than feels comfortable.

A springy or spongy feeling could indicate a minor issue a major problem or. The method or methods tom chooses depend as much on practicality as on effectiveness. 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 first and second floors in our house seem overly bouncy and sag toward the middle.

Contributing editor mike guertin teams up with structural engineer david grandpré to detail six common and not so common ways to stiffen up the joists and keep the china cabinet from wobbling. Bouncy floors are one of the most vexing problems faced in houses both new and old. Tom s house was built in 1765 but bouncy floors aren t just an old house problem. 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.

How can we evaluate whether the floors need reinforcement and if so what is the best way to do this. Fixing bouncy and sagging floors. Years ago while working as a carpenter i helped stiffen a bouncy floor by nailing a new 2 10 to each of the 2 10 joists that supported the floor. For a bouncy ground floor you need to get under the house or look at the floor from the basement.

January 24 2014 by buildingadvisor 7 comments. How to fix springy and spongy floors. In most cases repairing bouncy floors is no easy task. You can also pull up the subfloor and look at it from above but this is.