The SmartJack Is Your Solution to Sagging Floors

Floors have to carry a whole lot more weight these days. For example, the popularity of home fitness centers and large-screen TVs has definitely increased the load-bearing responsibilities of the average floor.

Items like treadmills and elliptical trainers impose a double load with their weight and jarring effect that occurs during use. Another big issue is the in-home theatre. With its oversize flatscreen monitors and massive cabinetry, it certainly challenges a floor's load-bearing capabilities. So how will your home's floors respond?

The Floor's Response to Weight

The floors in an older house often respond to heavy loads by sagging and becoming excessively springy. But the truth is that even without heavy loads to support, a floor can sag and/or spring excessively.

A floor's strength, stability and flatness depend largely on solid mid-span support for floor joists. The common construction practice of supporting floor joists on a central beam held up by wood posts, often results in sagging floors because wood posts can rot, settle and shift over time. When this major support beam sinks or shifts, the joists that rest on it are also affected.

Correct the Sag

Fortunately, sagging, springy floors can often be corrected by an experienced foundation repair specialist. Many experts have made sagging floors flat and strong again by using the SmartJack system -a surefire solution that replaces flimsy wood posts with strong steel uprights that bear on precast concrete footings. This repair work is most often done in houses that have crawl space foundations, but similar repairs can also be made in houses with basement foundations.

The SmartJack

Unlike a wood post, the all-steel SmartJack will never rot, warp, crack or shrink. It's as strong and stable after 30 years as it was when first installed. The solid steel threaded rod at the top of a SmartJack makes this upright adjustable, enabling the contractor to apply maximum load-bearing strength to the underside of the beam.

The upright itself is supported by a precast concrete footing installed over a base of crushed stone or recycled concrete that has been compacted and leveled. The support provided by this concrete pier is stronger and more stable than many original construction details, which typically consist of a wood post resting on a concrete block or pad. In some cases, wood posts simply extend into the soil.

Repair Steps

The first step in repairing sagging floors is to have the foundation inspected by a reputable foundation repair contractor. This professional evaluation may turn up other foundation problems that are also affecting the floor system. One such example is the excessive moisture in the crawl space or perimeter walls that are also in need of stabilization.

If the main cause of the sagging floor is the mid-span support beam, the crew can jack up the beam to return floor joists to level (or close to level), and replace inadequate support posts with SmartJacks and concrete footings. If the crawl space is vented and has a dirt floor, the contractor may also suggest crawl space encapsulation to improve the home's energy efficiency, durability and indoor air quality. Crawl space encapsulation also eliminates the pest, moisture and mold problems that plague most dirt-floored foundations.

Contact Southeast Foundation Repair today for more information about steps to repairing your home's floors and foundation. They offer a free estimate for foundation repair in North Carolina.

Southeast Foundation & Crawl Space Repair serves the greater areas of Greenville, Kinston, Havelock, Raeford, Washington, Clinton, Dunn, Camp Lejeune & Newport NC.