Turn of the century porches like yours were usually built without in-ground footings to prevent up and down movement, the result of ground freeze and thaw. Your brick or stone supports holding up the weight of the entire porch,including the floor, walls and then the columns holding up the roof above were usually built on top of a shallow little footing and some were built right on top of the ground. I would guess that that is what you have.

After a hundred seasons of moving around, your support posts are probably out of plumb, crooked and may even be loose. Replacemnt of them, if they can not be repaired, can be a challange for the DIY in consideration of just how much height you have from the ground to the bottom of the porch framing to work. Will you be able to get in there to work?

This old porch does require care just like the rest of your home.

Remember that this is not a one man job and saftey should be foremost. Any thoughts of lifting the entire porch till the floor becomes level would require removal of all glass,
walls and support columns (that carry the roof weight). With the removal of these and the porch roof temporarily supported directly to the ground (and not on the columns, because they would already have been removed), you can now begin to do what ever you'd like with the floor.

The question is, "Is it all worth it?"

A porch is a porch and they are intentionally slanted away from the home to prevent water infilration into the foundation areas that it is attached to. They were open areas to sit and enjoy the breeze.

Perhaps your footings are OK and you just want a level floor. Consider this - Add 3/4" plywood right on top of the existing porch floor, building up the outer edge in-between the old floor and the plywood with the required lumber thickness to bring it up to level. Add a little indoor-outdoor carpet and wha-la! You have a level floor.

My reccomendations were based on the limited knowledge of your exact porch situation. I sure hope this advice was helpful and would be more than happy to work with you further on this project.

All the Best,

The Porch Guy

To answer your question, yes porches are sloped to drain water AWAY from your house.

Even if you keep the porch enclosed, the floor should still have a slight slope to it - just in case you do get a leak. A slight slope is a good thing.

If the current slope is enough to bother your husband, either he is fussy or the slope is too dramatic. You can level it slightly - but I would highly recommend retaining some slope in the floor. I say this because our enclosed porch leaked and it was not a pleasant experience trying to keep water AWAY from the main structure of the house during a month of heavy rain. Water loves to find its way in under the door to rot your carpet and subfloor.

You don't think it will matter, until something goes wrong. When it does goes wrong, your husband will suddenly love that sloping floor.

Chances are you will be fine, but the slope is your best friend during a week of miserable weather (generally when a leak shows itself).

Do Not Install Plywood over an existing older deck,,ghessss Man I dont know where your coming from with that but it defentley is not a long term fix. In a very short time that plywood will warp,buckel,and rot x 10 with carpet on it. J.

Thanks all for the info. The porch flooring is in great shape and I wouldn't consider covering it up. Luckily, we can access the area under the porch. I hope that we can take out some of the slant, just to get it back to how it was intended to be.
Diane

Hmmm. I have almost the identical problem. 1917 house, enclosed porch sags on one side (the side with the downspout - water over time has made the brick column and earth sink...)

I was hoping to use those column jacks that support 2 tons each, put two of those under the sagging side and gradually lift the porch to alignment. Windows are out of wack so I wasn't thinking removing them would be needed - I would be straightening the alignment by raising porch.

Can I do it like this?

theporchguy,
Are you kidding? Putting plywood down with carpet on top, on an open porch? That's a recipe for disaster. Come on man.

Agreed. Her porch is/was enclosed though.