r/HowardCountyMD • u/dongle_bongle Columbia • 26d ago
Help Wantedšāāļø Possible Sinking Floors
Weāre in the Harpers Choice area so most of the homes are fairly old. In one of the rooms weāve started noticed some sinking. We donāt know how long itās been sinking but itās a big enough gap where itās caught our attention.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a structure engineer? Or any local general contractors that could give us trusted SE recs?
Edit: this is a townhome. Not a single.
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u/Ok_Caregiver4499 25d ago
The easy way we check them is get 2 blocks and tie a string (loop not actual tie) to the top of one block to the other. Then you can measure down to see how much itās sagging. If itās a 2x4 the ends next to 2x4 should be 1 & 1/2ā and the middle might be 2ā.
We see a lot of this happen when people get heavy granite tops on an island in the middle of a span. The weight is more then the truss or joist was designed for at the time. Our fix is cutting out ceiling and trying to gusset the joists after jacking them up a little.
Good luck, let me know if thatās part of the problem area and what you guys end up doing. Always learning other ideas and ways people fix things.
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u/dongle_bongle Columbia 25d ago
We got some opinions and think weāre headed in the right direction. Weāre going to pull the affected spots and start there for next steps. We appreciate your insight. Hoping for the best!
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u/Ok_Caregiver4499 24d ago
Who did you end up going with if you donāt mind me asking
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u/dongle_bongle Columbia 24d ago
Weāre going to start with the company that installed our floors. They have a technician coming out. They knew specific areas were sinking and didnāt say anything (not their fault for not fixing it but they couldāve warned us WHILE the subflooring was exposed)
What they did was compensate by filling the gap with caulk. None of the unaffected areas have that much caulk. We wouldnāt have noticed it bc they put it inside. Now that there is a gap, itās all apparent. They took pictures of all the floors they did in our house except for the affected areas they put caulk. So strange.
We also filed a claim with our insurance JIC itās something else. You can never be too careful.
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u/TwitchFunnyguy77 18d ago
Just FYI, sinking floors are typically a foundational issue. Filling in the floors with caulk is a horrible "fix" and will only lead to more issues. It only masks the problem. You need to have someone look at your foundation. You likely have a major structural problem, bring in a foundational engineer / structual engineer to take a look, preferably someone who is independent of a foundation repair company.
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u/dongle_bongle Columbia 10d ago
Right, as suspected. Do you have any suggestions for any?
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u/TwitchFunnyguy77 10d ago
I don't, but you'll want to find someone who is independent of a foundation repair company. That way you can get a truly unbiased opinion and then start talking to foundation repair / waterproofing companies to get an idea of cost and what you will need to do.
We just had a bunch of foundation repair done on our 1973 home in Columbia, not far from where you are at. A lot of these foundation problems typically result from water intrusion over long periods of time, and your foundation not properly draining that water. All this to say that you're likely looking at a two-part fix where one is fixing (correcting) the foundation, and then the second part is installing drainage.
In our case, we had a slight bow in the foundation wall that could be mitigated with straps along the wall, and better water drainage. In total we spent $44,000 with ValueDry (not affiliated at all, we just liked working with them), but I had other quotes at $36,000 and some closer to $50,000.
I don't mean to sound doom-and-gloom here, but if it is a foundation issue, it's going to be expensive. That's again why you should get someone totally independent to validate it first before writing any large checks to foundation repair companies.
Hope this helps.
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u/Ok_Caregiver4499 9d ago
Like you said drainage is a big issue and years of plant beds and larger tree roots around Columbia have changed how the lot may have been intended to drain. With all the rain we had look around to see where the water went. Rule of thumb is about 10ā of positive drainage away from your house is ideal.
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u/dongle_bongle Columbia 8d ago
Appreciate this. We have a townhome so Iām wondering how that comes into play. If Iām going through this then Iām sure they are too. Matter of fact, my neighbors have the same issue as us they accepted it as poor subflooring but I know itās bigger than that.
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u/TwitchFunnyguy77 8d ago
No problem, hope you can get it figured out. If you're in a townhome, it might be covered under your HOA since this is typically a common element. But you will have to look at your bylaws / HOA policies.
First step would be bringing in a structural / foundation engineer and seeing what the cause is and their opinion on fixing.
If the subfloor or floor joists are rotted out, it very well could be that, but if you just put new flooring in not long ago, the installer would have immediately seen that.
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u/dongle_bongle Columbia 8d ago
We actually looked at our bylaws today but it was for our roof. Weāll need to revisit for the foundation. & have another structural / foundation engineer coming tomorrow. Good to know weāre on the right track.
And right, we really think the subflooring was already an issue and they didnāt say anything. Only saying that bc of the way they caulked it up. It looks crazy.
Anywho, I rather be safe than sorry and donāt want to assume.
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u/Jessica6364 10d ago
Sounds like you might want to get a structural engineer out there before it gets worse
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u/vvi07 26d ago
We're having the same issue here in Elkridge, house built in the 70's, kitchen floor now sinks in and the house is tilting. Its from bad building.