Hi All, I'm after some advice. The upstairs floor in our detached house sags in the middle - by about two or three inches over two meters from the front to the back of the house. We bought the house last November, but only moved in 3 weeks ago. The sagging seems to slowly getting worse. There's a lot of weight in the middle (three wardrobes). The slopping floors dont bother me, just the thought of the ceiling collapsing. I lifted up the floor boards and can't really see any issues... the beams span across the sagging section and to my untrained eye seem straight. So the paranoia of the ceiling collapsing is my main driver. Should I get a surveyor in (dont know what type) to advise what needs to be done or a builder to ***** and fix? Cheers
Try one of these people: https://www.istructe.org/ https://www.ice.org.uk/ http://www.cbuilde.com/ You will have to call them at some point, so just do it now without any delay. Do not procrastinate.
50mm-75mm sag is pretty drastic over 2mtrs, how old is the house. Has a loading bearing wall been removed on the ground floor below the sagging joists?
Thanks for the links. There was a doorway put into a serving hatch. Similar to this http://www.batterseascouts.org.uk/images/kitchen2.jpg The builder said as there way only a clay wall above so didnt need extra support. Looking at the beams above the new doorway, some of them do stop over it. I guess my question, is should I get a surveyor to recommend corrective action (no idea on cost), or go straight to a builder.
It'll cost no sleepless nights. Does his builder have the correct PI insurance or qualification to design a solution? Maybe the first one didn't.
Cobblers! If there block work above a doorway, then there should be a lintel to support it, especially imprtant if joist are running in same direction. Building Control Officer from your council can advise you on the work need to correct the problem, but I would be looking to get structural engineer to have good poke around.
Just following a couple of the links. I'm a bit lost as to what grade / qualifications etc.. i should be looking for, also there doesnt seem be a way to filter by area (I'm Manchester based); http://www.cbuilde.com/find-a-building-engineer/
If he had a structural survey at purchase, there may be a claim against the surveyor.... That could get exciting.
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