Would you buy a house with sloping floors?

7 years ago

this is a cross post from flooring forum. I saw a lovely house that has almost everything I want except it has multiple areas on the second level where hardwood floors are sloped. I would say it is mild to moderate and localized to some parts of the house, not the entire floor. I don't want to waste my money on getting an engineer to check it out if this is something that is serious (structural issue, etc). The house if from late 1960's. The doors all seem to close fine.

Featured Answer

cpartist

7 years ago

You might have better luck asking this question either in the buying and selling a home forum or the remodeling forum. This forum is mostly for those of us building a new home from scratch. :)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

St561 W
Original Author
7 years ago
my mistake! thanks!
Related Discussions
Buying a home with backyard sloping towards house?
Q
Comments (10)
I've lived in houses that were on a slope, and agree w/what Logic said, it depends on whether the slope ends at the house, or if there's a drainage swale in between so the lowest point is not right next to the house. If the lowest point is next to the house, drainage problems can cause leaking basements, foundation failure, sinking of one side of the foundation, and water can even come up thru the floor in houses built with a slab on grade foundation. Can also get in vents where builders put vents in a slab foundation. Water in crawlspaces, too. It can be remedied but the best thing is to prevent it by proper site grading and foundation construction. Remedies after the fact are usually expensive; often, the damage has already been done. And yes, Logic is also right that people will conceal water damage. I know of someone whose new house had a drainage problem that led to a basement leak. Rather than pursue the builder for proper repairs they finished the basement so the leaks are concealed. Everything in their basement reeks of mold. They are taking their chances that no one can prove it and sue them when they sell. Stupid and unethical, but it happens. Far too many new homes are built on slopes where you see every house has the lowest point of their lot against one side of the house as you go downhill. Even on a slight slope it can wreck the foundation to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. Just for future reference to any reader, I would not buy a house with a negative grade unless there was evidence a proper drainage swale and everything else required had been built right in the first place. I have lived in such a house and it never had any of the above problems even with a slope in the yard.
...See More
Would you buy a house w/o living room
Q
Comments (38)
51 - no kids - so generally the place is presentable enough if someone stops by that I don't need a special place to direct them to. I can understand how that's different if you have small children though as I've noticed how their stuff fills up the living areas of my friends homes. Am I the only one who grew up in a home where you had to keep your stuff in your room or a designated kid stuff area? We had one living area and our toys were never stored there - brought out for use but put away in our rooms daily. (And we had an attic play area - nothing fancy - a largely unfinished attic but it had regular stairway going to it.). I do like two separate living areas though so people can enjoy two different activities at the same time - reading, TV, listening to music, conversation, etc. I just don't care for the spaces to be "formal" and the living areas don't have to be on the same floor. I just watched a program last night with Sarah Susanka - The Not So Big House architect. It was fantastic - I am definitely a "not so big house" kind of person.
...See More
Would you buy a house that had a prior mold problem?
Q
Comments (7)
The other thing I would look into is potential homeowner's insurance issues. Call your agent and make sure your company won't have a problem insuring a home that has had previous, serious mold problems. Or, that the premiums won't be prohibitive because of the home's history. I just posted in another thread about the CLUE database or Comprehensive loss underwriting exchange. " 7.How can a CLUE report pose problems for homeowners or future homeowners? When faced with a prospective insured, insurance providers use the CLUE database to find out information not only about the customer, but also about the residence to be covered. Often this will cause problems for homeowners who have recently purchased a property. If they assume they will be able to get insurance easily because they always have had coverage and have never made any claims, they may be surprised when they are turned down based on claims made on their new property by the previous owners. Therefore, savvy realtors are increasingly requiring a copy of the seller's CLUE report as a condition for closing. Experts suggest that filing 2 claims within 3 years will subject an individual consumer or home to significant risk of being rejected by insurance carriers. ** However, even more damaging to the ability to get insurance for a given property is the presence of water-related claims. Insurance companies have responded to a recent surge in water and mold related claims by drastically cutting back on coverage for water damage and increasing premiums for properties with past claims for water damage. ** " Here is a link that might be useful: CLUE
...See More
cheap engineered wood flooring- would you buy a house with this?
Q
Comments (7)
Engineered hardwood should look like hardwood..I tend to agree that the agent..lets say was mistaken)) Maybe they picked some very unfortunate color? Some yellows might look more plastic-y.. Laminate is usually nice nowadays too..if the price is high-they might pick laminate still but they would pick good laminate. With the selection out there, not hard at all. Engineered hardwood is also not that cheap I must say. You can get real wood on sale for cheaper than nice engineered wood. it really depends. But what really matters is -are you given the right info or not. Because that's what would make me worry.. -if yes-can you live with these floors or not. It doesn't really matter what they are..for if I had to choose whether to buy a house with black marble, I'd still think how much it would cost me to replace it, marble or not.
...See More
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
7 years ago
Take a marble and a long level and examine the slope and distance of slope on the second floor to identify extent and magnitude.

Some movement and slope could take place as the result of drying of moist framing lumber. Substantial slope, on the other hand, suggest some other cause for deflection and irregular movement. The first and most serious thing to check is foundation cracking, settlement or movement.

Serious flooding could also be a cause of substantial cracking, settlement or movement.

Check the exposed foundation on the exterior for cracks and/or patching. If there is a basement or crawl space do the same thing from the interior, especially in the areas directly beneath the sloping floors.

If there is a basement or crawl space, check for signs of flooding or large amounts of water. Often the perimeter foundation walls and interior bearing elements may be discolored by significant amounts of water.

Check the wall finishes in the area of the sloping floors, and in the area in the floor below (if any) for cracking, patching or refinishing.

Check the doors and door frames and trim to see if there has been remedial trimming, leveling, refinishing, etc. resulting from building movement.

All of this is good advice for any prospective purchase of an existing house. Where there is noticeable upper story deflection or movement it's essential. Good luck!
Lisa G
7 years ago
We did once, and no, we would never do it again.

We purchased a 1905 two story home and the main floor was all pretty level except for one part of the living room floor which was irritating but not that big of a deal since it was a small space and only one way to arrange the furniture. Though now that I think back we did have to shim all of our furniture such as the tv stand in order for it to not tip. The 2nd floor had a bedroom that had a moderately sloped floor and it was a nightmare to deal with. It was difficult to place furniture because it looked sloped and was not very comfortable to sit in an accent chair because you felt angled. We'd never again buy a house like that.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
7 years ago
Look at engaging an engineer as a good investment.

Would you buy a house with sloping floors?

cpartist

Comments (6)

St561 W
Original Author

Related Discussions

Virgil Carter Fine Art

Lisa G

Mark Bischak, Architect

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Would you buy a house with sloping floors?

cpartist

Comments (6)

St561 WOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Virgil Carter Fine Art

Lisa G

Mark Bischak, Architect

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

St561 W
Original Author