Repairing Floor Sag

Idenitification

• Before installing metal support beams in your basement, you need to determine where the sag is originating. Analyze the floor closely and check to see which part of the floor has a slight dip to it and which part is level. If the areas close to your walls have a dip in them but the middle of your floor is level, then the sagging is occurring on the perimeter of your floor. If the sag continues towards the middle of the room, then the center of your floor will need support as well.

Proper Installation

• You need to put a buffer between the metal support poles and the wood support beams in your basement. Using a strong piece of wood between the metal pole and the wood beam will help to distribute the pressure from the poles to a wider section of the beam. This will prevent the beam from cracking when you start to raise the floor. Lifting a sagging floor is a gradual process. Raise the floor an inch or less once or twice a week until the floor is level. If you go too fast, you will snap the beams. Do not try to make up for years of floor sagging in a few seconds.

Support Placement

• Do not put a single metal support pole in the middle of the floor and start raising it. That is not going to offer your wooden floor the distributed support it needs to remain strong. For ideal coverage, place a support pole on either side and in then in the middle of each beam you will be raising. That means each beam will require three support poles to remain stable.

Warning

• Older wood support beams are not always the reason for a sagging floor. For a floor to sag, a part of the support structure needs to be weakening. In some cases, that weakening support structure can be the foundation of your home. Before you fix your sagging floors, have a professional contractor look your foundation over to make sure it does not need attention.