Can I Fix Sagging Floors Myself?

Many homeowners believe sagging floors is caused by an issue with the wood. Because of this, many believe they can fix the problem themselves simply by replacing the wood. Sagging floors are almost never caused by complications with the floorboards. Most of the time, sagging floors are either caused by wood rot or foundation settling. Both these causes implicate serious foundation problems which should be dealt with by foundation experts, not by the homeowner.

When the wood in your crawl space is rotting, it no longer has the ability to hold up the floor, which is what leads to the sagging. Wood rot, and anything that involves mold, is dangerous and contact can trigger intense allergic reactions. Even if you replace the wood, you still need to address the elephant in the crawl space: The humidity. The wood was rotting for a reason and replacing it without taking care of the dampness means you’ll be back to square one in no time. Properly waterproofing a crawl space is not as easy as getting rid of rotten wood, so it’s not something you can DIY even if you wanted to.

Foundation settling is another problem that requires professional solutions. When a foundation is settling, the house becomes lopsided from the bottom up. The foundation almost always settles unevenly, and it begins to break off from the rest of the house. This, of course, affects the floors. To truly fix this problem would mean to repair the foundation using some sort of foundation support pier, which are only available to experts.