Sloping and Sagging Floors in Savannah, GA

Why floors slope in Savannah homes

Most old homes here sit on piers. In neighborhoods like Ardsley Park, the Victorian District and Thomas Square, houses sit up off the ground. Piers, often brick, hold wood beams. The beams hold the floor joists. When one of those parts drops or weakens, the floor above it drops too.

The ground is wet. The Chatham County plan calls the county flat and slow to drain, with water close to the top. When the soil under a pier stays soaked, it gets softer. The pier can slowly sink. Piers on the wettest side of the house sink first, so the floor slopes toward that side.

The wood gets wet too. Damp crawl space air soaks into the beams and joists. A U.S. Forest Service lab paper says wood above about 30 percent moisture will decay. Rotted wood crushes and bends. A soft spot near a bathroom or kitchen is often rot from a slow leak.

Some ground was filled. The Ardsley Park historic record says part of it was built on a filled-in bog. Fill can keep packing down for years.

Old framing was built differently. Some older homes have joists that span farther than builders allow today, a point home builders often make about old houses. Over a hundred years, a long joist can sag in the middle.

What the fix usually is

The crew goes under the house to find what dropped. Then they fix that part. Most sloping floor jobs use one or more of these:

1. Add or reset supports. New steel posts or rebuilt piers go under the low beam.
2. Lift slowly. The beam is jacked up a little at a time so plaster and trim are not shocked.
3. Swap old shims. Rotted or crushed wood shims are replaced with steel or new supports.
4. Sister weak joists. A new board is bolted beside a sagging or cracked joist.
5. Replace rotted wood. Beams, sills or joists that have rotted are cut out and replaced.
6. Fix the water. If damp caused it, the crew fixes the drainage or the crawl space air too.

Typical ranges are in the cost table on this page. They come from a national cost guide, not a quote. A floor that needs one new support costs far less than one with long runs of rotted beams.