How To Raise Floor Joists

Floor joists and posts support the flooring and damage to them is the most common cause of a sagging floor.

How to raise floor joists.

A good rule of thumb for floor joists is to lift them no more than 1 8 per day. Before undergoing any substantial changes to the structure of the house be sure you consult a contractor or other professional. Tack a beam under the sagging joists. Cut new floor joists 24 inches longer than your measurement.

Replacing joists costs around 100 to 300 for each new joist. If you have an uneven floor you may need to think about leveling floor joists with shims. Raising a floor joist is a process which many homeowners can tackle if the damages are not too extreme and the initial causes aren t pervasive. In many cases you can remove your sunken living room subfloor and match the construction pattern of the adjacent floor.

Then set new joists same height as existing ones alongside the old. Understanding how the entire residential structure fits together is key when significantly altering one portion of the. Deteriorating floor joists posts or beams can be caused by termite infestation water damage or dry rot. Observe the construction used for the adjacent floors.

Leveling the floor with shims is when you attach thin wedge shaped pieces of wood on top of the low areas of the joists to make the top joists even. Place two hydraulic floor jacks under the 4 inch by 4 inch post and raise the post until it contacts the floor joists. Nailing two 2x4s together will work to span about three joists unless the sag is under a weight bearing wall. Thre ways to fix a sagging or sloping floor.

This job can run you 1 000 and 5 000 depending on the extent of the job. Deteriorating floor joists or posts. A day until they re level. Depending upon the conditions it is possible to strengthen or repair existing framing members such as floor joists or roof rafters by adding reinforcing material sandwiching the member on either side with plywood is sometimes worthwhile but the plywood must be installed correctly for greatest strength.

Set a hydraulic jack and post under the beam and jack up the joists about 1 8 in.