COMMUNITY FORUM

Hi again Melanie,

Piffin's post got me thinking a little ("me" and "thinking" is always a dangerous combination )

We recently had our house propped up a bit in the middle (it had sagged about an inch, over a 20+ year period).

Anyway, when they were jacking it up, both my wife and I found it to be an utterly excruciating experience--neither one of us could stay in the house while they were doing it! (at first I'd been in the crawl space with them). There was soooooo much racket; my wife thought the windows would start cracking, etc.

They said, "You know, those little 'house settling pops' you hear at night? We're just resetting 22 years of them back to (more or less) their original setting!"

Interesting! (But if we had to do it again, we'd still prefer to be out of the house!) And the drywall was only cracked in a couple places; the windows still worked (and weren't cracked); the doors that had stuck before still stuck--even AFTER the work.

Let us know how you're doing!

I would just like to remind ALL posters on this topic that this issue is a STRUCTURAL related issue and giving advice, other than that of seeking the help of an “on site” professional, is NOT sound advice.

Unless you are a structural engineer and willing to put your license on the line I would advise you that this issue is outside your field of expertise.

Melanie should seek the advice of a structural engineer on this matter and it sounds like she should do it in the near future for both her piece of mind as well as safety issues. The joist sizing needs to be checked against the load and the overall span.

Glenn www.consultationdirect.com

Glenn is certainly correct. I hope I've come across as one of those saying "seek professional help!" I am a long-time homeowner and I believe that one of the signs of maturity is "Knowing when to call in a professional!"

Glenn also (in a separate email about this post) states that structural engineers are more qualified than architects to do this analysis. TRUE TOO! I recall a house, built by Frank Lloyd Wright, where the famous (or infamous) architect had undersized a huge reinforced concrete beam! This caused sagging after many years and it eventually had to be replaced. (I wish I could recall where the house was--I think it's the one in PA that is built over a river.)

Continued good luck, Melanie; I hope things are working out well, in your home and your marriage!

Thanks to all that responded! Here's an update.

I have a very close, family friend who builds homes and is an all-around handy-man (and who I completely trust!) He came over to look at the problem and didn't see any immediate threat. The said that the beams were not over-extended and that the span was okay. He said that part of the floor was in a very high-traffic area (it is) and that he'd check to see if any of the beams were cracking or rotting. So, he worked from underneath the floor, from the living room below. He didn't find anything wrong with the existing beams. He reinforced them with additional wood beams, every 16 inches or so. Fortunately, I was out of town on business when he was doing all of this. :-) When I got home last week, the ceiling was mostly patched up. He's coming by again this week to finish mudding it. He told my husband that you could put a waterbed up there now, it's so sturdy. When I got home I made my husband walk all over the floor and the horrible creaking sound is indeed gone. It still creaks a tiny bit in a few spots, but I'm convinced that's just a couple loose nails on the subflooring.

So, case closed I hope. I feel so much more comfortable sleeping up there and I don't freak out when my husband walks upstairs and I can hear it from below. Now, I'm being neurotic about other things in the house!

Piffin, interesting that you should ask about my husband's size. He's about 6'3", 260 poundsand no, he did not play a green guy on TV. BUT, and I'm not kidding, I did date a guy for a couple years who looked JUST like Lou Ferigno. People would stop him on the street to comment about the resemblence! Funny...

Great report Melanie!

Sounds like you can put the valium away. Glad to hear things are much improved.

And as far as the neuroses switching to other areas of the house, sounds like the delusions are diminishing and you've achieved normalcy!

As I said on an earlier post--just watch out--you could end up LIKING your home!

Best of luck in your marriage and your home