# 100 year old farm house with uneven floors



## Susanr (Mar 11, 2017)

Hi there,

We purchased a 100 year old farmhouse that has "sagged" in the middle. When we took possession there were crappy old indoor/outdoor rugs that we removed on the second floor, and have been living on the sub-floors since (for now).

We'd like to put new flooring down now. Each room has either a fairly significant "wow" in the room (1") and/or a slant.

We will not be levelling these floors. What are our best choices for flooring? 

1. Would nail down softwood (pine) work? (with some pL?)
2. Would we be better to use Vinyl planks which might accommodate wows and slants better than wood?
3. Please don't tell me rug - rug is not an option.

My concern with the Vinyl plank is the "tapping" one gets from an uneven floor (did this in my last house in the basement when there was a slant to the drain).

Any ideas on how to address/overcome? We have spent "umpteen" hours on this flooring issue, and yet, still not sure the best choice.

I am leaning towards vinyl, but maybe there is a better option?

Thank you so much for any insight you might have!
Susan


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Hi Susan and welcome to the forum.
I know you said "We will not be levelling these floors." but it would be a shame to move forward if some of that wow can be easily removed. I'm not there so not seeing what you see so I apologize for asking.

I have recently been looking at some 100 to 140 year old homes for someone who does not live in this area and it is painful to look at how much work is involved. They can be beautiful when done but the labor is intense. 

Can the pine floors be sanded? 

I'll let the pros answer as to best option.
Enjoy,
Bud


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Ayuh,.... I'm with Bud,.... If yer in this house for the long, or short run, doin' some levelin', Before the floorin' is always the best bet,...

That said,....
I bought a couple over 100 year old cottages a few years ago,...
One of which I turned into a rental, in 91 days,...
I stripped the junk off the 5/4 T&G, S/P/F eastern softwood sub-floor, spent a week caulkin' all the seams with tubes upon tubes of black caulk,...
Then sanded it out, 'n varnished it,....

'n, Yes, I leveled the floor somewhat before hand,...
Releveled since to nearly dead-nuts,...


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## clarenceboddick (Nov 30, 2016)

Are you sure that the wood planks you see under the old carpet is a sub floor, not the original wood flooring? In my opinion nothing is nicer than an old original wood floor that has been cleaned up and still has the look of age to it. Even if sections are rotted/heavily damaged, I'd patch them up compared to using newer lower quality stuff. 

The ground floor can probably easily be leveled by using a jack under the floor on the low spots and shoring them up. Good time to look for termite damage and upgrading the plumbing also.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

Big mistake if you don't take care of it now, be a good idea if you can get under the floors to see what's causing the problems, obviously it's in need of a fix.

Just had a niece that had to have the entire dining room floor in a 1740's house tore up so it could be leveled, nasty job but had to be done, looks beautiful now though.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

All of those old houses sagged into the centre most often caused by over-span beams and joists - no building codes or even standard practices back then. Our last house was built around 1895 but we had the advantage that the previous owners had installed some jack posts under the main beam. At least you have sub-floor - we had maple boards directly on joists.

I know most people warn against pine because it is soft but I have seen it last and look good if it well finished not in a high traffic area. I'm not sure what you mean by "vinyl planks". If not pine, perhaps a good quality engineered or laminate flooring. Regardless, I would strongly suggest look at bracing the floor, if for no other reason than to stabilize it.


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## Susanr (Mar 11, 2017)

It's definitely sheets of plywood, it's not original floor boards.

How does one "easily" take the WOW out of a floor?


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Hi again,
Be patient with us as we are dreaming from long distance, use what you can and forgive the rest.
Not sure if you mentioned it, but do you have access from below? There are 2 basic approaches to "taking the wow out". One involves pushing up from below which can be difficult with old wood that has become accustomed to its wow. The other involves sisters alongside the old wood with essentially the same wow going the opposite direction. 

On a forum several years ago the owner was jacking up the center of a floor to level it and looked over to discover he had lifted one corner of the house entirely off of the foundation. That's where the sister approach comes in because it straightens the joist without lifting the ends.

Pictures are always best.

Bud


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## 123pugsy (Oct 6, 2012)

Pull---eassse.....not vinyl planks!!!!!!! :surprise::vs_no_no_no:


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

Susanr said:


> It's definitely sheets of plywood, it's not original floor boards.
> 
> How does one "easily" take the WOW out of a floor?



There is no "easy" way, it's just one of those jobs that has to be done, like it or not.


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## 123pugsy (Oct 6, 2012)

Susanr said:


> It's definitely sheets of plywood, it's not original floor boards.
> 
> How does one "easily" take the WOW out of a floor?


You would need to pull up the plywood and sister 2x's to the existing joists to level and then reinstall new sub flooring.

As mentioned, a lot of work but well worth it.


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