repairing sagging floor

[billone]

gidday to all
I am renovating my terrace house, she's 115 years old and a bit delicate, but so far so good.

Have removed carpets from 3 bedrooms, the original pine floorboards in two of them and the hallway are in ok condition but one room in bad shape.

The boards have been chopped up over the years (to make way for electric cable runs and so on I spose), so I have carefully pulled up the boards and can reuse 70% them - will have to source matching extras from a restoration place. (Any suggestions of where to shop in Sydney for those?)

The floor joists are, however, sagging a bit in the middle. Room is about 3.5m square and running a straight edge shows a gradual drop of about 12-15mm in the middle.
Any advice for packing the tops of those to get everything plumb before I re-lay the floor? What is best material to use and how to go about it.

I'm getting a carpenter in to lay the floor, but hoping to save some cash by doing as much prep as I can.

Thanks in advance,
Bill

[munruben]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Personally I would attach new joists to the existing ones to create a new level for the floor boards to be nailed to. If you can nail or bolt a piece of timber to the side of the joists that are sagging, given the ends of the joists are level, using the same thickness timber then if the two ends of the new timber is flush with the top of the joists, then the sag will be eliminated when you lay the floorboards because you would be nailing the boards to thenew timber attached to the joists.

A cheaper alternative would be to just pack the new floorboards as they are laid. I would have thought the carpenter would do this anyway.

[watson]

G'day Mate,
You'll probably get more specific answers on www.renovate.com which is our other forum, but specific to renovations.
You'll have to do the "join dance" again, but its well worth it as there are specific tradesmen there willing to help with your problem.
Give it a go, and I'll see you there.

Regards
Noel Watson
Administrator

[artme]

G'day billone and welcome to the forums.

Do as Watson says and that will be more suited to you needs.

Munruben has given some sound advice to begin with.

[ian]

The boards have been chopped up over the years (to make way for electric cable runs and so on I spose), so I have carefully pulled up the boards and can reuse 70% them - will have to source matching extras from a restoration place. (Any suggestions of where to shop in Sydney for those?)

Bill
you could try Ironwood at Rozelle
They often have wide timbers sourced by resawing beams and columns from old warehouses and warves

[Christos]

Welcome to the forum.

I was reading the name and though that I read billion. Got me a little confused on the reason why you would want to save some money.

[rrobor]

If you have the floor boards off you have the perfect chance to see what is wrong. Have you a bad stump, If you have digging a hole and fitting a new stump now is reasonably easy, If the stump sunk a bit but is OK , Jack the floor up and pack the gap between bearer and stump and leave it for a few weeks before you do final levels.

[echnidna]

Are there bearers under neath the joists through the centre of the room?

[billone]

Thanks to all for your welcoming notes and advice.

In answer to some suggestions, etc...

The floor is on the first floor of my 2 storey terrace, so no sunken stumps to fix. It's a smallish room (3.5m2) so the joists simply run the length from wall to wall with nothing below, except the old ceilings and hallway wall.

Have decided to get carpenter to do the leveling as he said it won't take long and it's important to get it right.It's a bit tricky where the old hearth was (I have concealed a fireplace that hasn't been used in decades - I've got 2 downstairs so decided I didn't need it). Have attached pics, so you can see what I mean if interested.

This site is a fantastic resource, mostly due to the helpful & friendly community - pleased to have found it and thanks Ian, will check Ironwood in Roselle.