The floors of your home may move, slope or begin to form alarming bumps over time. Although these are often due to simple wear and tear, uneven floors can also indicate a problem with your home’s foundation. This type of defect can even lead to particularly costly repairs necessary to maintain the value of your home.
How to identify sloping floors
There are many ways to identify swelling or sloping floors.
Use a marble
Placing a marble on various areas of your floor and seeing which direction it moves toward will indicate which way your floor slopes. The faster the marble moves, the steeper the slope.
Use a level
Placing a level at various points on your floor will more accurately determine slopes, but it is generally less accurate than a marble for determining the exact direction.
Look at your door and window mouldings
Though it may seem strange to look at your doors and windows to detect uneven floors, these architectural elements give you very useful information about the condition of your floors. If mouldings are deformed, or if your doors and windows are difficult to close, it is usually related to uneven floors.
Warped floors: signs of foundation problems
If your floors show any of these signs, it is recommended to contact a foundation inspector to clearly determine if your foundation is the root of the problem. In most cases, wall and floor movements are the result of foundation expansions or contractions. Heat and humidity causes concrete slabs to deform and sometimes crack.
To see if you have foundation problems, check your basement for any visible cracks or pay attention to any odours. If there are no apparent cracks but your basement has a strong mold smell, your foundations and floors are likely being warped by water infiltration.
Conclusion
If you notice uneven floors, you may be dealing with a more serious foundation problem. Start by making sure that your floors have any of the above problems before examining your foundations for unmistakable signs like cracks or mold.
Do not hesitate to contact Foundation Crack Expert for foundation crack repairs or inspections. A member of our team will gladly answer all your questions and help you keep your home in good condition.
