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I live in a 150 year old farmhouse. Very charming ...

I live in a 150 year old farmhouse. Very charming and somewhat updated, but the kitchen floor is sagging! What can I do? I don't have much money, but am very handy.


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Home improvement projects, "Get'er done."

It is very difficult to give a straight answer without being able to inspect it visually. If you have access to the under side of the floor, you need to find out why it’s sagging. If it’s due to floor joist damage, then you need to replace, sister, or jack the joists back up.  Sistering is when you sandwich the joist with wood to help strengthen the old joist. If it’s just the floor boards that are sagging, you may need to replace the individual boards that are sagging. If the joists are good and it’s just the floor boards, you could cover the whole floor with ¾ inch plywood then cover with your choice of flooring like vinyl sheeting or cork flooring. Maybe even just painting the plywood with good quality floor paint. For more info check out this web site.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/asktoh/question/0,,192863,00.html

Posted 2009-08-23T02:12:12Z
 
3 helpful answers

Hi Kate!

It seems like you're in between a rock and a hard place: You've got a sagging floor and, as time goes by, it doesn't seem to be getting any better! So, you've got to act as fast as you can--further traffic, in my opinion, will make it worse and possibly irreparable without immediate corrective action--it's not gotten to that point already.

So, while I understand you are handy, you'll still need professional help.  In fact, given the inherent trades involved, I would try to rely on one contractor, and that is a local general contractor or--more often the case to be around everywhere--a local remodeling contractor.

In either case, you need to get plenty of free estimates. I think you know this, but the cost of material and labor greatly varies by location, So, hence, the need for local estimates--that should be given for free.

Out of convenience, here is a handyman site that I come to use, which not only offers informative home improvement articles, but, towards the far left bottom of the following home improvement page, you'll find a bright, kind-of-orange home-guru Bob Villa-endorsed ad that offers up to four (4) Free estimates from local remodeling contractors in your area, whose estimates can be given to you right away, as I understand it:

http://yourhandymanzone.com/Your_Handyman_Zone_How_To_Pages_Home_Improvement_Zone.htm

Once on the above-linked page, scroll down to the bottom to take advantage of the free estimates as a way of easily getting a hold of some local remodelers, and get their free estimates; the rule of them is to get at least three estimates in order to become an informed customer and choose the best contractor in terms of price and quality. Good luck with repairing your sagging floor.

Posted 2009-08-23T09:37:07Z

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