Second story bathroom is slanting at an angle about 1-1.5 inches. I've put a hole in the finished room underneath the bathroom and could not readily figure out the problem. The joists and subfloor appear to be in very good shape. I suspect that the townhouse's load bearing plates, on top of several 4x6 posts and holding up 20' span and 10' spans, have been heavily notched with plumbing, return vents, and supply vents. Perhaps it wasn't properly braced for the notches. The townhouse seems to wing on both side walls (other units on both sides). The bathroom is along one of the side walls. Because I could not find the foundation problem, I'm planning to just level the floor. As you walk into the bathroom from one corner of the small bathroom, the floor slopes to the far diagonal corner. I could cut out the subfloor and buildup the joists with crosscut triangles. But my circular saw would not get a flush cut to cut out the existing subfloor. Maybe a flush cut would not be necessary if I can reach all the relevant joists? Since the joists and subfloor appear to be fine, can I leave the existing subfloor and buildup the problem area with plywood on top of subfloor and self-leveling compound fleshed out around the edges of the added plywood to level? I would have to extend the toilet flange for both options. Thanks in advance.

We planning on replacing the carpet in our main living area with engineered wood floors. Before we install, however, we would like to enlarge the natural stone pad that our wood-burning stove sits on. We have a few extra 12X12 squares of the hearth stone material. We would like to trim these down to 6x12 pieces and install as a border around the existing pad. A contractor friend told us that if we install them adjacent to the existing tiles, they will likely crack at the connecting grout line. Does anyone have an suggestions on how to do this installation? Is there some kind of transition strip (metal or such) that we can put between the old and new tiles? We are new to laying tile, but willing to learn.... Thanks in advance for your advice, Doris in California