Sinking or Uneven Floor Repairs in Johnson City, Chattanooga, Knoxville

How foundation problems can lead to floors that are sinking or uneven

This wood floor in a Maryville home is sinking by 1/2". It's located over a crawl space.

Sinking floors can lead to a variety of other issues, including jamming doors and drywall cracks.

In addition, uneven floors over crawl spaces are often accompanied by serious mold problems.

The problem:

The floors in your home are significantly out of level.

Telltale signs:

• Sinking or heaving concrete slabs
• A floor that sags toward the center of the houses
• Interior doors jamming
• Floor cracks
• Mold & rot in the crawl space

How we can fix it:

If you have a crawl space and the floors above are out of level, you may have a structural problem in your crawl space. Crawl space jacks can address the structural problems.

If a concrete slab is uneven, it could be because of settlement or foundation heaving. Foundation settlement can be solved by installing foundation piers.

Foundation heaving can be a very complicated problem -- one that requires a highly experienced specialist to evaluate. If you suspect that this is the problem with your home, a foundation contractor should inspect the problem in person.

Causes of Uneven Floors

Uneven floors are rarely caused by problems with the floor system itself. Instead, it's often a settling or shifting foundation issue that has impacted the floor system.

Floor beams and joists are made from wood that will usually bend or flex rather than crack or break. The same can't be said for masonry foundations. When soil issues cause a foundation to break, the floors above usually bend.

Floors Above Crawl Spaces

The floor joists above a typical crawl space are supported by the perimeter walls of the crawl space foundation, and by a post or column-and-beam framework that extends down the center of the crawl space

Although the perimeter walls of a crawl space can settle or shift to cause floor problems above, it's more common for the center support system to settle or sag because it wasn't properly built in the first place.

A center post-and-beam support system can also weaken and settle because moisture in a dirt-floored crawl space has caused wood supports to rot and collapse. As crawl space structures begin to sag, the floor above will sag in turn. Other symptoms of a sagging crawl space include interior wall cracks, jamming doors, and gaps between walls or doors and the floor underneath them.

Our warrantied crawl space jacks can effectively stabilize your crawl space -- usually in a day.

Settling, Sinking Concrete Floors

Concrete floor slabs can settle and develop cracks because of several different reasons: drying and shrinking, washout of the soil under the slab, or poor compaction of the fill soil.

Since masonry is more likely to break than bend, concrete floors that are uneven are generally cracked and/or broken as well.

If your foundation is settling, it may be lifting the concrete floor as the rest of the foundation experiences movement.

There are also times where the slab floor can lift or sink independently of the walls. Concrete slab floors crack and settle when the soils underneath them shrink, settle or wash away.

Likewise, a concrete slab will lift, or "heave", when the soils underneath expand.

A concrete slab can move independently of adjacent foundation walls, or along with them. Since settlement isn't uniform, one section of a slab may be elevated as another section sinks down.

More about foundation settlement.

Slab floors that are sinking independently of the walls can be repaired with a slab pier system. These piers are placed in cored holes in the floor, extending down to competent soils to hold your floor in place. They can even be used to lift a slab back to its original, level position.

If the floor is cracked and uneven because of foundation settlement, then your contractor will recommend either foundation push piers or helical piers to stabilize the entire foundation. Foundation piers can also be used to lift the foundation to its original position in some cases.

Foundation heave is a complicated and multifaceted problem that requires a professional inspection.

We're Your Local Foundation Repair Experts in TN

To get your foundation fixed permanently, you will need to know exactly what is going on with your home -- and which solutions will best address the problem. It costs nothing to have a professional help you find out!

Our team of professional foundation contractors can help. During our foundation repair quote, we'll personally inspect your foundation issue, explaining what's happening with your home and making suggestions for repair. Each of our visits comes at no obligation, and it includes a written foundation repair estimate.

To schedule your free quote, call or e-mail us today! We proudly serve Johnson City, Chattanooga, Knoxville, surrounding areas such as Kingsport, Cleveland, Hixson, Dalton, GA, Powell, Ooltewah, Cookeville, and nearby.

Looking for a price? Get a no cost, no obligation free estimate.