Sag in second floor ceiling...should I worry?


  #1  
Old 12-16-04, 08:08 PM
jdaresta
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Sag in second floor ceiling...should I worry?

I wanted to ask something that has bothered me for a while. We live in a house built in 1968. When we looked at the house we were aware of several places in the house that had sags or slopes. One part appears to be simply because the builders built a wall crooked (the house was built by "friends" of the original owners). One area that had settled, but was not settling more just in case I had some one install a new beam in the crawl space (I want to say 3 combined 2x2x8 or 2x2x8) to provide additional reinforcement because it appeared the joits lengths were too long and thus some sagging.

However there is one area that still slightly concerns me or more so bothers me. Our second floor is one that has a low slope roof in the back and on the sides of it are the normal angled roofs. In the second floor area near one these angles there is a wall that meets another wall to form an outside corner. The corner is where the outside normal slope roof meets the wall of the low slop roof. When we first looked at the house (1998) in this corner wall there was a gap just about or slightly less than 1 inch. You could tell it was due to sagging. We were aware of it an it factored into some price reductions on the house. Below this area is the master bedroom on the first floor. Since we moved in on one side of the wall is four 5 shelf book cases filled with books and on the other corner side is a large computer desk with the computer case near the corner.

Now its hard to say, but the gap may be bigger. Not much, but maybe some. When I installed the book cases years ago at the top of the book case on the wall behind it I marked it at the top point of the book case. The gap as I said looked bigger, but the mark did not appear to have moved or if it did it was at the most slightly less than one millimeter.

The fact this area is above the master bedroom and there is this about an inch gap in the corner bothers me. I have tried to determine if it could be a risk. I have jumped in the area of the corner (I weigh 224). When I do I hear the corner creak. Much in the same way as our kitchen floor does when I walk. However, I do not see it sag anymore nor does the mark on my book case move. The reast of the walls do not have gaps Just this one corner that is above the master bedroom.

My questions are these. First, should I be overly worried? The contractor that did the beam reinforcement said that he did not think it was an issue and he felt it was just settling of the house. Again though its about an inch gap that bothers me. If it was a concern I would be curious as to what could fix it. I mean below the corner is just the ceiling and empty space.

Any advice would be appreciated. Forgive any misspellings....its late. Oh, I can provide a picture if necessary.
 
  #2  
Old 12-17-04, 04:04 AM
ronni_e
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I believe a picture would help but there are so many things what would need to be checked. I would recommend calling a licensed building inspector. It may cost you a few bucks but its better to play it safe than sorry.
 
  #3  
Old 12-18-04, 09:45 AM
jdaresta
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Well after posting this message I called a structural engineering company. They guy said they could come and look at the problem for 350.00. However, after describing the problem he said that likely the problem is combination of settling of the house and perhaps the span and size of the joists. The joists I checked in the accessible attic are 2x8 and the spacing appears to be 14-15 inches. I am not sure on the spacing because when I measured the gap it was 14 inches, but when I measured from the center of each joist it was 15. The span where these book cases and desk are at is 14 feet across. He then said I could two options for now. Move the book cases and desk and see if the floor "bounces" back. If it did not likley it was due to settling. The other option was to leave the items there and check to see if there is more movement. If told me if there was movement more than 1/16ths of an inch I needed to get them to come look at it. If it did not move then likely there was no issue other than the settling and that it may be an issue when we ever sell the house. He also said by the fact that since I installed the book cases and such 2 - 3 years ago and by the mark I made it did not sink anymore he felt likely it would not be an issue of it collapsing on us or anything.

That being said I am little more assured of things. However I would like to take care of the problem. I was talking with a friend of mine and we had an idea of how it might be fixed. Luckily the walls to the this inaccessible space is is paneling and I can easily remove it. The idea then is to remove the paneling and insulation to this area. Check the angled beans for the roof. Determine if they are strong enough to handle struts (I think that is the term). Then in the master bedroom check the second floor sag up. Once level above put in struts with the second floor joist attached to the roof beams. The idea is that this would give more support and prevent the sag. I determined in the attic again that the joist for the second floor is 2x8 and the roof beams are the same. Both have the same spacing I mentioned above. Once done I can put the paneling back up and all will be hidden again.This type of job appears to be something I can handle.

What I was wondering is if this sounds like a good approach and what concerns should I have. Thanks.
 
 

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