2 story house is around 60 years old. I am remodeling the bathroom upstairs and the floor is not level. The main girder beam is 3 2X10 nailed together with a ledger board (2x4) underneath the joists. (Constuction employed is that joist are butted against the girder rather than over) There are 2 concrete columns supporting the main beam. The first span is 11 feet to the first column. The second span from first column to the second column is 9' 5". We drew a chalk line across the entire length and the supporting columns appear to be fine (level). The problem is a sag of 3/4 inch in the center of the 11 foot span and a 1/2 inch in the centre of the 9 foot span. 1) How can the sags in the main beams be fixed? 2) Will addressing the sag in the main beam also fix the level problem in the bathroom floor?
Answer:
If the sag in the bathroom floor is directly over the main beam you should get rid of it by levelling. You can jack the sags into place (one at a time)and once they're up there, you can install adjustable tele-posts under the centre.
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