Depends on the location: is it near a load bearing wall? What are the underfloor as built construction details? Is there a finished ceiling in the space below? Can the floor joists be shimmed or is a self leveling compound the best method?
Unless you’re a structural engineer or have done a number of floor releveling yourself, requesting the contractor to use a specific method might not result in satisfying results.
Ask your contractor for their opinions and if you have a suggestion, you might want to start out asking your contractor "since I have had to live with that for a while and I have wondered if (your method) might be an option?
Good Luck with your project Miss Margie
Regards,
R Wehrli
Floors can be leveled in several methods and it depends on your foundation type as well. Sometimes when the house is sitting on raised foundation, the beams are not leveled and you will need to level the beams first. Sometimes the problem is with the sub flooring under, and sometimes with the floor itself. If your house is sitting on top of a concrete slab it might be that your slab is settling.
If you are having this problem and need our professional help (Bay Area, California) please feel free to contact us - (860) 800-2202
LEVEL or FLAT?
Wood flooring needs to be installed over a flat subfloor.
Often “level” is confused with “flat”. A flooring contractor should use caution when using the word “level”, as in a large house there could be several inches of height difference from one side to the other. If he has contracted to make “level” that could become very exspensive.
“Flattening” a subfloor is often done by adding self-leveling underlayment to low areas (don’t be fooled by the name, it doesn’t actually self level). Likewise, high areas are planed down for wood or grind down for concrete. Different flooring manufactures have different specifications of how flat the subfloor needs to be for proper adhesion. Most good flooring contrators carry an 8’ or 10’ strait edge or level. Sliding it around on the ground will revel the highs and lows. It should be checked agian after fixing as sometimes fixing a low causes a new high somewhere else. It often take a lot of practice to get good at this.
Ardex K-15, it is one of the leading brands of self leveling underlayment for about $45.00 for a 50lb bag. With the correct primer it can be used over wood or concrete, and many other substances as well. Other generic brands work well too, as low as $18.00 per 50lb bag.
On average it costs $0.40-$0.75 per square foot to flatten most floors. Some extreme cases could be as much as couple dollars per square foot.
In 20 Years, I have never seen a floor that did not need flattening.
A good lisenced flooring contractor maintains a reputation for taking pride in his work and one of many ways to insure that is by making flat floors that stick (flat floors don’t squeek).
