If you start noticing your floor is sagging or feels spongy, the problem might not be with the floor itself. Sagging floors can indicate a deeper structural issue. One of the potential causes is rotting or weakened floor joists. In this case, your best bet is floor joist replacement.

What Are Floor Joists?

Floor joists are horizontal beams, often made of wood. They provide support for the flooring above. They are found in areas of buildings where there is an open space beneath the floor. This includes the main floor in homes with a crawl space or basement foundation.

The joists provide stiffness for the subfloor, distributing the weight of the items above them between the joists. When they are functioning properly, the floors shouldn’t sag or be uneven.

Why Floors Sag

Sagging floors usually occur when the structural support beneath them weakens or deteriorates. Since they no longer are properly supported, the floor will start to sag or feel spongy when walking on it. Potential causes include:

• Age and Wear: If you have an older home, wear and tear might be the culprit. Time can simply weaken the joists until they no longer provide proper support.
• Moisture Damage: Excessive moisture, be it from leaks, floods, or even abnormally high humidity, can cause mold or wood rot, often weakening the floor joists or other structural components until they must be replaced. This is especially true in homes with crawl space foundations that aren’t properly encapsulated and waterproofed.
• Poor Construction: Whether the issue is improperly placed beams or excessive space between floor joists, construction failures can cause floors to sag.
• Termite Infestation: The wood-eating insects can compromise the integrity of any of your home’s wooden structural components, including the floor joists.

How Floor Joist Replacement Can Help

If the floor joists are the cause of the sagging floors, floor joist replacement might be necessary.

Getting your joists replaced can have benefits beyond no longer feeling the floor sinking slightly when you walk on it.

• It Restores the Floor’s Structural Integrity: Replacing the damaged or weakened joists, not only stops the floor from sagging, it also restoring the structural integrity and stability of the building.
• It Enhances Safety: Sagging floors can cause trip hazards, but the bigger issue comes if they weaken to the point of collapse. New, uncompromised joists can prevent these issues from occurring.
• Improves Property Value: If you are trying to sell your home, you don’t want a prospective buyer to take one step onto the floor and immediately know there is a structural issue. Ignoring structural issues is a good way to decrease your home’s value.

Replacing the Joists Might not be Enough

Unless general wear and tear caused the damage to the joists, the underlying cause of the damage to the joists must be fixed as well.

In homes with a crawl space foundation, that could mean having a professional encapsulate your crawl space in order to prevent the type of water problems that can cause wood rot. If you have a basement foundation but water was still the culprit, you might need to look at a French drain or other waterproofing solution to divert rainwater away from your foundation.

If termites are the cause, well, call an exterminator before you have the joists repaired.

Pierman Offers Floor Joist Replacement in Oklahoma City & Beyond

At Pierman, we have plenty of experience replacing floor joists as part of our pier and beam foundation repair services. We serve much of Oklahoma, including Oklahoma City, Ada, Durant, Norman and Ardmore. If you are experiencing sagging, spongy floors and live within our service area, contact us today.