Why is My Floor Uneven?

An uneven floor is a big indicator that something is wrong in your Fargo home’s foundation. It either indicates that the foundation is settling or that there is something wrong with the floor’s support system. When a foundation is settling the house starts to shift to the side. Because the whole house is sinking, the unevenness will be most notable on the floors as round objects refuse to stay still and our eyes catch the asymmetry of the wall-floor joint line. If your foundation is experiencing differential settling, then you will notice a gap between the floor and the wall.

Differential settling also affects the floor joists and support posts. As part of the foundation breaks away from the rest of the house, the joists and posts shift and may even break under the uneven distribution of the house’s weight. Part of looking for foundation settling problem signs is looking at floor joists and post damage. If they are warped, broken, cracked, or bent, it will have an impact on the evenness of your floor. When looking at your floor support system, you’ll also want to check for wood rot.

The support system that holds up your floorboards is primarily made up of wood. In a humid crawl space or basement, that wood can get infected with wood rot, which will debilitate the structure. As the wood eats away at the structure, the wood becomes soft or breaks apart easily. Because the wood is unable to support the structure anymore, the floor becomes uneven.