Your Crawl Space May Be Causing Your Sloping and Unlevel Floors

 A common problem in homes with crawl spaces are sagging, unlevel, sloping or “bouncy” feeling floors. This is often a symptom of a structural issue in the crawl space and can result in other problems within a home including cracks in floor tiles, gaps between the floors and walls or walls and ceilings as well as sticking windows and doors.

Generally, there are four causes of unlevel floors. However, we’ll focus on the most common situation: failing or shifting wood beams and posts.

The wood structures of the home are susceptible to the damp and humid environment within an unsealed crawl space. In this moisture-laden environment, the beams and posts become warped and often settle without resistance into the wet ground, resulting in structural instability… not to mention the mould and mildew growth! In older homes, there’s also the chance that the post-and-beam assembly may have been undersized at the time of construction, which may accelerate problems when combined with an unencapsulated crawl space.

What’s the solution to structural challenges in a crawl space?

At Advanced Basement Systems, we utilize the industry-leading, strong, corrosion-resistant SmartJack®  Crawl Space Support System. Here’s how it works:

-         Our design-specialist determines the exact location the jacks need to be to stabilize your home.

-         Our crawl space technicians excavate a two-foot-square and two-feet-deep hole below the jack location and fill it with concrete.

-         A pre-cast concrete footing is placed above the concrete to support the jack and the structure above. If necessary, a new beam will be attached to the old for additional strength and lifelong durability.

-         The jack is then tightened, properly supporting the structure and raising it back to its original position. If necessary, further tightening can easily be performed in the future.

-         This process of installation is quick, with very minimal disruption.

If you’d like your home to be stable and level, we’re here to help. Please reach out to us for your complimentary and no-obligation inspection and estimate: 1-866-277-12077