Leveling a floor


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Old 09-09-09, 05:49 PM
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Leveling a floor

I hope this is the right section for this. I'll start by saying I don't have a bunch of experience with this kind of stuff but mostly smaller home projects. Now, on with the show:
We recently moved into a house that was built in 1910. It's two stories. The basement has a few jacks in it and the floor seems to be in good condition with no obvious cracks although it's a bit uneven here and there and has probably been repaired. The whole basement is unfinished.
My question is about the first floor, er floor. It's hardwood and uneven. The basic layout of the ground floor is square with the back 1/3 separated by a wall (with doorway) from the front 2/3. The back 1/3 is kitchen then comes dining area then living area then front door then porch. Now, the last six feet of floor that lead up to the front door slope quite noticeably. The rest of the floor has subtle rises and dips. What I really want to do is even it out. Using jacks seems too drastic as I will probably end up cracking walls and who knows what else. What I'm wondering is can I put a new floor over the existing one that would be even. I'd rather not pull the existing floor up if I can just put something over it but is that sort of taking a shortcut and, other than making the distance between the floor and ceiling a little shorter, are there drawbacks?
Sorry to be so long-winded but I tried to anticipate and questions that might come up.
 
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Old 09-10-09, 04:55 PM
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a underlayment with a layex additive and a chicken wire mesh nailed to the floor will work over a raised [first floor] wood floor . use a 2x4 x8 as a strait edge to slope away from front door ,end wire mesh 2' before the end of the 2x4. it whould be best to use 1/4" plywood nailed to underlayment for finshed look.
 
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Old 09-12-09, 04:34 AM
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Seems like house settelment issue.

Adding on top of what you have will definitly raises the floor level and this can cause lot of problems. My concerned would be to trim all the doors (door way will be shorter). All wall base moldings will have remove and reinstall or replace. If you have radiator heating, then you need to manage that too. Besides that, you will end up making front door entry little shorter. Removing everything and reinstalling new floor should evenout most of the floor, but I not sure how much you can adjust at the front door.

I have uneven spot in my house. I have sanded the floor and refinished without trying to adjust the high/low spot. It is noticeable, but I can't do much with house settelment. If this would a one or two room, I could try to adjust, but that would be lots of work, if I want to do it right way.
 
 

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