Am refinishing what used to be a bedroom in the 50's, into a laundry room, and the floor is not perfectly level. It has it's share of slope and sag, and then repairs where plywood has been used to fill in spaces where walls have been moved over the years. What I found under the ancient carpet is 1 x 6 lumber at a 45 degree angle on top of 2 x 10's. Then a layer of some sort of tar paper as a moisture barrier, then another layer of 1 x 3 lumber at a 90 degree angle to the 2 x 10's. Then a few layers of linoulem.

I thought about jacking it up, but the room is in a corner, and part of the problem is settling in the foundation, and that would present other problems and start a whole series of the begats.

So I thought about chalking a level line all the way around the room, then cut / plane some lumber to the contour of the floor and screw it down (on 8" or 12" centers), then lay some plywood down on top of that, and then put down my flooring (a hardwood of some sort).

Thoughts / suggestions?

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), October 10, 2001

Answers

Eric -- when my mom and dad finally converted one of the small upstairs bedrooms in their 100+year old farmhouse into a bath (after us kids left, of course!) they found that the floor was at such a slope that a toy car would roll across, gaining speed toward the door! What my dad did was to build, essentially, a room INSIDE the room -- because walls, ceiling, everything was out of kilter, he just framed a room within the existing walls that was level, shoring up where necessary.

I don't see why you couldn't just build a "floating" floor that would work just fine.

-- Tracy Rimmer (trimmer31@hotmail.com), October 10, 2001.

How about something like cement? I know they use some sort of cement like substance when they install in-floor heating tubes. Obviously, the cement would be thicker in the low areas of the floor, but it would allow you to level the entire floor with a minimum amount of material.

-- Jake (Jake@hom.com), October 10, 2001.

I'm with Jake: use a cement floor leveling compound. And while you're at it, install a tile floor on top of that. Tile is great in the laundry room.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), October 10, 2001.

Your idea is the one that popped into my head first. A friend used the same method finishing a basement with a sloping floor. It worked out great. I'd advise using adhesive (liquid nails or such) under your shims as well as on top before you put down the plywood.

Is your foundation still settling? Might want to shore that up before working so hard on the floor. The tar paper is there to help minimize nail squeaks by cushioning the hardwood flooring.

Concrete would work, but would be a pain to deal with if you ever want to do anything different in that room. Unless you use it as a "deep bed" for tile with thinset on top. Even then I'd probably go with your system and use concrete backer board on top of your ply and then tile. Sounds like fun, good luck!

-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), October 10, 2001.

I would worry about the weight with concrete.What we did was build a 2x4 frame and leveled that then put plywood ontop.What I am doing this time is using 2x6 and 2x8 for a permanet floor and supporting the low spots under neath them .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), October 11, 2001.

I appreciate the comments and feedback! Thought about the cement idea, and that would seem like the quick and easy solution, but the wife isn't sure if she wants tile or a hardwood yet. If she agrees to tile I think I'll do the cement thing.

FYI, I'm fairly sure the foundation's settled all it's going to at this point. No new cracks or sags in the 4 years I've been here. That part of the house was built in 1946.

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), October 11, 2001.

My husband is an architectural designer, a construction & remodeling contractor, and a certified HUD building inspector. He says, take ALL the material off the floor down to the 1x6 lumber you said was set at the 45 degree angles. At that point, check the slope on the floor, and if it is less than 1/2 inch slope (assuming it's a 10x10 or 10x12 room), use a powdered compound called "Floor Stone". It comes in a bag and you mix it up like cement. Level the floor with this product so that it tapers in to obtain the existing floor level, and let it dry. Once it's dry, then apply 3/8" high density plywood underlayment, which should be glued and screwed down to the previous application, with screws approximately 4 inches on center at the splices and 8 inches on center in the field (middle), and it should fasten to the 2x10 floor joist system. Then you can apply vinyl floor covering, or ceramic tile, or carpeting over the top. If it's more than a 1/2 inch slope, cut 2x4 s on an angle (at a taper from 0 to as much as 3 inches, as needed) and place them directly on top of the 45 degree subfloor material (after all the other materials have been removed). The tapers should be anchored with glue and screwed down directly on top of the 45 degree subfloor, and in line with the 2x10 floor joists. A taper should also be placed along the wall after removing the baseboards. Then use 3/4" tongue and groove plywood subflooring, which should also be glued and screwed down to the 2x4 tapers, 4 inches on center at a splice, and 8 inches on center in the field (middle) of the plywood, directly on top of the 2x4 tapers. The only problem with this is that the doorways adjoining the room may also be out of level and may have to be removed and some wood planed off the bottom edge so that it will close easily. Any exterior doors, and the frame of the exterior door, will have to be removed and shortened to accomodate the taper. The taper should extend through the doorway with a solid 2-by material on the face of the exterior portion of the base of the door opening, cut to fit and applied in the same manner as the tapered 2x4, to achieve a solid nailer, even with the exterior of the door opening (not the brick or siding, just the door opening). Any doorway that opens into an adjacent room will also have to have the door removed, and the frame removed, and the frame and door shortened. The door should be cut off about 1 inch above the new plywood when in place. If the door is a Hollow-Core door, it may require a new core molding on the bottom side, which will need to be glued and clamped on the inside of the hollow core door skins. The new tapered floor should go underneath the existing door opening that goes into the room. You would also need to taper the adjoining doorway that goes into the adjacent room, under the carpet, which could be accomplished with #1 Cedar Roofing Shingles, nailed and applied under the carpet padding. A much easier way to accomplish a utility room floor, assuming you are happy enough with the existing floor to avoid all the other work, would be to level just a 36" x 62" platform, which would be used directly beneath the washer and dryer. The rest of the room wouldn't make that much difference, unless it looks REALLY BAD. If you're only a quarter inch out of level where the washer and dryer go, the leveling feet on the appliances will allow you to adjust for that.

-- Claudia Glass (glasss2001@prodigy.net), October 11, 2001.