Hello!
I have a house from the late 1800s, unfortunately the floor is sagging unnecessarily in a room on the second floor. I need some tips and advice on how to fix this.
I was thinking of sawing up the old floor (almost 4cm thick planks), adding some extra beams of laminated wood (the room is 9m, but rests on a central wall on the ground floor so the part that is sagging is 5m). The current spacing is about 90cm...
Unfortunately, I have a few question marks to sort out before I roll up my sleeves and get started.
-Am I overworking the situation when I plan to tear up the entire floor?
-It looks like the floor planks continue into the adjacent room, and I'm not sure if there is a joist directly under the wall, how should I solve this? If I saw all the way to the edge, it could lead to the wall "floating" on a trampoline...
//Rickard
I have a house from the late 1800s, unfortunately the floor is sagging unnecessarily in a room on the second floor. I need some tips and advice on how to fix this.
I was thinking of sawing up the old floor (almost 4cm thick planks), adding some extra beams of laminated wood (the room is 9m, but rests on a central wall on the ground floor so the part that is sagging is 5m). The current spacing is about 90cm...
Unfortunately, I have a few question marks to sort out before I roll up my sleeves and get started.
-Am I overworking the situation when I plan to tear up the entire floor?
-It looks like the floor planks continue into the adjacent room, and I'm not sure if there is a joist directly under the wall, how should I solve this? If I saw all the way to the edge, it could lead to the wall "floating" on a trampoline...
//Rickard
Hello!
I think you should reconsider a bit; cutting up an old original floor is an operation that can't be undone. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I believe that it's part of the charm in older houses to be a bit crooked and wonky. If you still plan to go ahead, I advise you to be careful; it sounds like the floor has been there forever, and if there has been any form of pest damage to the joists, the floor might be what's holding everything together. But often in older houses, the walls were built on top of each other, but you should be able to measure this to find out. If you proceed, I think you should cut the floor along the old floor moldings, reinforce the beams that are sagging—meaning, add a cut batten or whatever is needed—and then lay the old floor back, sand, and treat it with soap or whatever is suitable. Wow, what a messy post. Good luck! =)
Best regards,
Kristoffer
I think you should reconsider a bit; cutting up an old original floor is an operation that can't be undone. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I believe that it's part of the charm in older houses to be a bit crooked and wonky. If you still plan to go ahead, I advise you to be careful; it sounds like the floor has been there forever, and if there has been any form of pest damage to the joists, the floor might be what's holding everything together. But often in older houses, the walls were built on top of each other, but you should be able to measure this to find out. If you proceed, I think you should cut the floor along the old floor moldings, reinforce the beams that are sagging—meaning, add a cut batten or whatever is needed—and then lay the old floor back, sand, and treat it with soap or whatever is suitable. Wow, what a messy post. Good luck! =)
Best regards,
Kristoffer
Hi,
Thanks for the response!
I'm fully aware of the importance of preserving the old, I've done that in all rooms but here it's unfortunately impossible...
I had a floor sander here who was ecstatic about the floor and wanted to buy small pieces for display, unfortunately, it's probably not good for more.
Anyway, I carefully removed a board and it actually looks like I was painting the devil on the wall a bit too early. There's a floor beam under the wall to my great satisfaction. The floor beams there today are about 150mm, my plan, as described above, is to strengthen the joists and then lay new flooring on the surface. Maybe the best option is to frame with 60cc and lay flooring on top without any chipboard?
Do you think a 170x45 joist is enough? The room measures 5.1m (4.7m in width so it will require 9 joists). If that works, I can lay a new 25mm floor on top and achieve roughly the same level as the other rooms. The alternative is to use glulam, which would be, for example, 180x42mm, much more expensive, how much better?
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the floor isn't holding the house together...
//Rickard
Thanks for the response!
I'm fully aware of the importance of preserving the old, I've done that in all rooms but here it's unfortunately impossible...
I had a floor sander here who was ecstatic about the floor and wanted to buy small pieces for display, unfortunately, it's probably not good for more.
Anyway, I carefully removed a board and it actually looks like I was painting the devil on the wall a bit too early. There's a floor beam under the wall to my great satisfaction. The floor beams there today are about 150mm, my plan, as described above, is to strengthen the joists and then lay new flooring on the surface. Maybe the best option is to frame with 60cc and lay flooring on top without any chipboard?
Do you think a 170x45 joist is enough? The room measures 5.1m (4.7m in width so it will require 9 joists). If that works, I can lay a new 25mm floor on top and achieve roughly the same level as the other rooms. The alternative is to use glulam, which would be, for example, 180x42mm, much more expensive, how much better?
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the floor isn't holding the house together...
//Rickard
The idea is to place the old beams+wall when possible, but it will only be at 0, 180, 360, and 470. Otherwise, they must be attached to the wall, which I assume must be done with joist hangers. I see some difficulties with fitting the new studs into the old ones since these are round with planed upper and lower sides.
Yes, it's often a bit tricky to build new in old. =) Joist hanger sounds like a good idea, a 170 beam should work, how much space do you have? It might feel safer if you can fit a 220 beam? But is the timber in the old floor structure so bad that you need to add new structure? It's a simpler and cheaper solution to reinforce if the timber is in good condition. That they flex is quite natural considering the span.
Today, as mentioned, it's a 150mm beam and about a 40mm floor, hence the idea to go with 170mm + 25. Another option would be chipboard directly on the current floor joists, but then I must reinforce them somehow. What do you mean by "sala"? The current timber is fresh (from what I've seen so far...)
Is this "sala"? In that case, I only see a bit of difficulty in putting boards on each side of the beam since it is rounded.
http://www.byggahus.se/forum/golv/164101-jamna-till-gammalt-bjalklag.html#post1241370
Is this "sala"? In that case, I only see a bit of difficulty in putting boards on each side of the beam since it is rounded.
http://www.byggahus.se/forum/golv/164101-jamna-till-gammalt-bjalklag.html#post1241370