Victorian house floor issues

newfoundglory · 15 May 2018 at 7:55PM

Hello

Recently moved into a Victorian (1900) house, just about detached so air-bricks all around, which has a few odd floor issues.

Neither my surveyor (or the sellers surveyor prior to that) found any significant cracking, current settlement/subsidence or structural movement + no indication of foundation problems. Floors were indicated as apparently level and firm.

Although I didn't notice on the viewings, some stairs and the bathroom are sloped. some of the door frames are very wonky upstairs (although the floors basically straight in most cases). one of the bedrooms is slightly sunken in the middle of the floor and sounds like a few lose boards (clunking, not creaking)

The house was refurbed by the seller and the floors covered in carpet/underlay, so inspecting not easy now.

My biggest concern is the hallway, which again seems firm, but very lumpy and you can feel either raised or sunken boards under foot.

I am concerned at what I might find under the carpet, but have found an old for-sale image of the living room;

https://imgur.com/a/NWTg4t7

Is this an original floor or not? Not all the boards look the same...
Grateful for any thoughts and experiences on victorian floor issues.

anselld · 15 May 2018 at 8:08PM

newfoundglory wrote: »

Hello

Recently moved into a Victorian (1900) house, just about detached so air-bricks all around, which has a few odd floor issues.

Neither my surveyor (or the sellers surveyor prior to that) found any significant cracking, current settlement/subsidence or structural movement + no indication of foundation problems. Floors were indicated as apparently level and firm.

Although I didn't notice on the viewings, some stairs and the bathroom are sloped. some of the door frames are very wonky upstairs (although the floors basically straight in most cases). one of the bedrooms is slightly sunken in the middle of the floor and sounds like a

You seem to have fallen through the floor as you were typing.

newfoundglory · 15 May 2018 at 8:17PM

Oops.... I posted it in DIY, but instead half of it ended up here?

Cant find the delete button so fixed the post instead.

G_M · 15 May 2018 at 9:27PM

100 year old house. It'll be wonky! So?

If you're worried about the floorboards (and what might be underneath, then lift a few and take a look. Not hard to do.

You can check for damp, worm, rot etc by doing that.

If it's just that the boards are loose, buy a hammer and some nails and bang them down.

If some boards need replacing, replace them.

AnotherJoe · 15 May 2018 at 9:29PM

Its a hundred plus years old who knows what original material was used and what's been used since then, the foundations certainly wouldn't have been to today's standard so some settlement or movement before stabilising (hopefully) is almost inevitable. It would be a miracle if there weren't wonky doors and floors unless someone did a recent major fix up.

All you can do is take up carpet and use a Mk 1 Eyeball to work out what needs fixing.

Ps. IMO better to screw floorboards down than nail.

newfoundglory · 15 May 2018 at 10:01PM

Thanks for your replies.

Yeah, the footings are very shallow. The neighbour mentioned it (who has taken up their floor), reckons approx half a meter in the void below!

I can 'feel' holes or dips in the boards.

I don't think the refurb was well done in all areas, cutting corners in some places. The house was well looked after by the previous occupant (who is not the same person as the seller), and I have a duty to look after the place and fix what needs fixing, as I do love this place.

Im not sure this is a job for me. Do I need a carpenter or another trade?

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Victorian house floor issues

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