The floor in our house sags considerably in some areas - a difference of 1" from one side of the room to the other in some areas. Some other areas are bouncy, while some spots seem to be raised. We're planning on extensive renovation, but the floor needs to be taken care of, first.

How can we figure out if we need to relevel the house or just relay the subfloor - if I get into the crawlspace, what do I need to look at to decide what needs to be done? Are there other things to look at - the walls, roof?

1. Check for proper joist and beam sizes, which may require the services of a good architect or structural engineer.

2. Check for damaged (rotted, broken, etc.( joists and beams.

3. Check for any failed or settling foundation elements.

4. Identify and cure all problems, before considering jacking the house.

5. It's an old house...accept some quirks if there are no structural failures.

Thank you for your reply...

Well, my husband and my son went under the house, today - took some pictures. Broken support beams (7 horizontal beams cracked completely through, I think. The only thing holding them up is tension and the way they're broken), shabby repair jobs from the previous owners - they fixed some things but not everything, and rotting floors underneath the second bathroom.

So - your suggesting for us to repair/replace the broken support beams - verticle and horizontal. And then we can replace the bad flooring? - Do these things before we seek out leveling the house.

We think part of the problem is that the yard - it's large and flat - doesn't drain well. So undrained water sits on the outside, and underneath, which has weakened beams and the floor. .. Would a french drain all around the house - leading out to the ditch - be sufficient to alleviate this problem? Or do we need to install some type of drainage directly underneath the house as well?

Under the second bathroom there is a gap in the pipe where they didn't join things properly, which just floods under the house with tons of water, I'm sure. - so when we take care of that (we just won't use it in the meantime) that should also help take care of the total problem. - Do you think that might be the main cause of the flooring issues? Just this one pipe being incomplete?

Thank you, again.

Could be a combination of ills. Of course, you must have the pipe repaired. Then the earth around the house should be sloped a minimum of 3 inches away from the house in a distance of six feet, which you can do by either adding or removing soil, and creating a swale to direct water away from and around the house. Then extend the roof downspouts if there are any, to extend at least 4 feet and preferably six feet from the house.

Repair the broken joists by "sistering" a new full-length joist alongside the broken ones. The rotted subfloor under the bathroom may mean you will have ti rip up the bathroom floor, replace the subfloor PLUS repair whatever caused it to rot, and refinish the floor.