Floor not even-to relevel

[Stockwhizben]

Hi,
I have moved into my ppor, a villa unit. I have just had a building inspection done as wanted to get property looked at and to run ideas by about what sort of Renos to do, ideas etc.

Builder said and demonstrated to me that areas of the unit were not level and dropping 10mm at least in areas. Instrument used to determine was a spirit level on the floor. He also pointed out this is why a couple of the doors are sticking when opening/closing and a couple of cornices are not lining up as floor has moved.

He recommended getting the property relevelled. Said the concrete stumps were ok and dry under house so no need for a restump and that packing was all that's required and not too awful a job.

When I told my dad about this he was totally against it saying all houses are never level, no big deal and that relevelling will cause other problems like cracks in the plaster in other areas. 10mm out is nothing he said.

Wondering if I could get others opinions on what to do? My view is that I should spend the grand or two getting it done as we are going to live in the unit for the foreseeable future and I'm a bit of a perfectionist too.

Thank you
Ben

 

[Stockwhizben]

I should add that the unevenness of the floor is not noticeable at all to walk on for me. Although builder could tell when he walked on it.

 

[ricflair]

Plane the doors and repaint them. I wouldn't be levelling floors .If there is se nose just buy some wedges from bunnings and pack it so or is quite

 

[bob shovel]

Not to much of a problem BUT would definitely be worth having a look under the house to make sure it's not going to get worse. There could be a water leak or low spot collecting water and making the ground soft or supports need repairing

 

[marks]

How long has your dad been a builder for.....

 

[eek]

My IP is situated in P classification highly reactive clay (high reactive worst type of ground classification possible). I had variances up to 40mm difference, and ended up having the place partially restumped with galvanised steel adjustable posts and the rest packed to level.

Most of the time movement is due to moisture conditions under the house, so as long as you're directing stormwater away from the foundations it should be reasonable stable and shouldn't keep moving.

A few panels popped out during the exercise, but all the doors and windows still worked fine after restumping and levelling. There's supposed to be a limit you're allowed to pack stumps to (35mm?) I don't remember, but 10mm will be fine to pack if you wish.

Are the stumps timber? Concrete? How high off the ground? I'd say leave it as is...see if it gets worse, then pack/restump. Costs can vary a fair bit.

 

[Scott_Snap]

I wouldn't bother fixing 10mm but I would find out why it is happening. Floors mainly move for 3 reasons 1. too much water ( Poor Drainage -most houses I inspect or over watered gardens against the house ) 2. Not enough water ( large trees, gardens, drought) 3. structural failure caused by poor design / poor materials or termites. Assuming it was built to code and you builder knows what termites look like it is more likely drainage. I would fix this before I packed the floor or it is only going to be a temporary fix. I would make sure all water drains away from the unit and nothing sits stagnate around it . Check and repair any broken down pipes. Look for pipes that may have pulled out from the inlet/ storm water or gutters that overflow or leak and silicone them. Then I would sit back and monitor the 10mm to see if it gets better in summer or winter. But in general 10mm is not a large movement and jacking does have its risks. If you go down the jacking / levelling path get a copy of the insurance policy of your tradie and make sure it has "run-off" cover so if anything goes wrong your covered.