You canât help but notice that your dog has been chasing after his food bowl because the sloping floor in your kitchen have a discernible incline that has turned Fidoâs bowl into the lead car of a roller coaster. You canât help but think that your flooring, which was once little more than a mere display of âpersonality,â has deteriorated into a serious condition that has you thinking that your house is about to fall off a cliff. If you have mushy or sloping floors, then it is critical that you identify the probable cause of the problem before arriving at a workable solution to fix the trouble.
Beyond the obvious 45° slant that has all your belongings rushing headlong into the corner of your living room from the sloping floor, you also have a discernible sag in the bathroom and this particular sag is floor related.
While homeowners understand that homeownership necessitates having to spend money on repairs and upkeep. But when it comes to big expensive repairs they are normally thinking about having to replace a roof system rather than a floor system.
While it is possible to ignore a sloping floor easier than a leaking roof if you get to the point where action needs to be taken to discern the problem you should enlist the aid of a professional to properly assess the problem. Typically speaking, a sagging floor is an indication that there is structural damage to your property, and isolating the specific cause will arm you with the information you need to make a cogent decision regarding making repairs.
Invariably, a mushy or sloping floor may point to any number of problems from a foundation repair job to dealing with damaged support joists, rotting timbers, water damage, or more. You have a number of alternatives when it comes time to evaluate your floorâs condition and explore your options to arrive at a solution. Not surprisingly, in terms of this initial expense, the diagnostic cost can run the gambit from the highly expensive services of a structural engineer to the relatively low fees charged by a home inspector. Additionally, if you suspect that your foundation slab is at the heart of the problem, you can always enlist the help of a qualified foundation repair company that can come out and offer a free evaluation.
Replacing a floor can be an expensive proposition, and so itâs, therefore, no surprise that most homeowners are more than willing to ignore the situation for as long as possible. Regrettably, ignoring a sagging floor wonât make the problem go away, and delays may even result in higher repair costs in the future.
While the services of a trained structural engineer might be pricy, the cost may well be worth it to correctly identify and diagnose a problem before instituting any wide-ranging repair projects. Experts in the field of structural design, these professionals can provide the homeowner with a clear blueprint on which they can base their repair and budgeting decisions.
A less expensive option, than securing the opinion of a structural engineer, involves hiring the services of a home inspector to assess your flooring issues. Home inspectors can give you a good idea of the problem, but not all home inspectors are created equal. As such, prior to initiating a contract with them, it behooves you to do your homework first. Towards that end, you will want to find out how long they have been in business and look for customer testimonials on either their website. Finally, take a quick moment to check out the B.B.B. rating of the service prior to agreeing to a business relationship.
The nice thing about free estimates is that they are free. At that cost, itâs always easy to ask around until you gain a consensus opinion as to the actual root cause of your flooring problem. A foundation repair company offering a free, no-obligation estimate is an excellent entry point to unraveling your flooring problems. With no financial risk to the homeowner, a reputable foundation repair company can point the harried homeowner in the right direction before any expensive outlays of cash are needed.