sagging floor joists

I live in a 30 year old one story ranch style home. I have a crawl space under the floors. My water heater and furnance and water softner are all tucked in a small "closet" just off of the kitchen. There are no water leaks. The previous owners did have one several years ago though. The floor under the closet is sagging as I can feel it when walking towards the closet. When I bought the home two years ago I had them "sister" another board under this area to help shore up this problem but it feels as if it might be getting worse. Can I put some kind of jack under this area and just leave it there. Or is a more permanent fix nessesary.

Thanks

 

tbman,

Might be a good iedea to place 2 post piers, triple 2x8 for a beam and 4x4 posts. Use 2 hydraulic jacks and get floor to level state if we are talking about a problem with joists. If we are talking about an existing footing that is not properly supporting the joists that is another issue.

Seek a professional if this is the case.

hope this helps!

 

tbman,

Welcome to the fray!

Hate to say it, but you either need to get dirty yourself or hire a pro to do it, but you really need to crawl under there and get a clear picture of what's causing the problem.

If it's a footing, I'd hire a pro to fix it, get several bids & check references.

If footing is sound and joists are in decent shape, I'd go with a permanent post or pier jack system as Doug has suggested.

Good luck & let us know how things go.

 

This closet is in the middle of the house and there is no footing directly under the problem area. If I put in a jack, would this be an acceptable fix if and when I would ever sell the house? If I put in a jack or two would this have to be raised up a little at a time or would I be able to just raise it up to level all at once? The walls are drywall and I do not see any seperation from the wall and ceiling so I think it's just the floor that has the problem.

Thanks for all your help.

 

tbman,

Unfortunately, when you say selling the house, this "temp" fix may not be acceptable at all. If anyone requires an inspection prior to sale of the home, this could definitely put a dent in your plans.

I think based on what you are saying, a solid footing should be set in place, making it a permenant fix. Jacking this up may crack some drywall and this isn't really a one man job as the jack (s) should be lifted at the same time in a sychronized fashion to prevent unnecessay damage. If you can install at least 1 good solid footing if not 2, in undisturbed soil, use a metal post anchor, W/T 4x4 or W/T 6x6 to go under the beam, cut to proper length when the floors are perfectly level, you should have no problems at all!

You may want to have this done professionally unless you are willing and have some friends to help.

Hope this helps!