When it comes to the structural integrity of your home, floor joists play a critical role. These horizontal beams form the foundation of your flooring system, ensuring stability and distributing weight evenly. Over time, however, floor joists can weaken due to a variety of factors, including moisture damage, rot, and pest infestations.
If you’ve noticed sagging or uneven floors in your home, a musty smell, or bouncy floors, keep reading. These are all signs of damaged floor joists that threaten your home's structural stability.
What Causes Damage to Floor Joists?
Before you can fix your floor joists, it’s important to find out what’s causing the problem. Otherwise, you’ll end up repairing the damage without addressing the underlying cause, which means it will just happen again.
Here are some of the most common causes of floor joist damage in a home:
Too Much Moisture
Moisture is the biggest threat to your floor joists, especially in our area where humidity is a constant concern. Moisture can lead to mold, fungus, and rot, which breaks down the wood and compromises its integrity.
Pest Infestations
No one wants to see pests crawling around their house. But bugs aren’t just gross—termites, carpenter ants, and other wood-destroying pests can wreak havoc on floor joists. These pests feed on wood, weakening your floor joists and potentially causing them to collapse.
Overloading
Every floor joist system is designed to bear a specific load. Heavy furniture, equipment, or poorly done renovations can exceed this capacity, causing the joists to crack, sag, or fail.
Foundation Settling
If your home’s foundation settles unevenly, it can put stress on the floor joists, causing them to shift and potentially crack.
Signs You Need Floor Joist Repair
Recognizing the signs of floor joist damage early is crucial. The sooner you notice a problem, the sooner you can get it fixed, reducing the risk of serious structural damage. Here are some red flags to watch for:
- Sagging floors - A noticeable dip or slope in your flooring can be a sign of weak joists.
- Bouncy floors - If your floors feel spongy or bounce when walked on, it’s a good sign your floor joists are rotting.
- Musty smells - A musty or damp smell in your house is often a warning sign of moldy or decaying joists.
- Cracks in walls or ceilings - Shifting or sagging joists can cause cracks to form in drywall or plaster.
- Visible damage - Rot, cracks, or pest damage can often be seen by inspecting the joists beneath your home.
Mistakes to Avoid When Repairing Floor Joists
Foundation repair is a big job, even for trained professionals. If you’re getting ready to tackle a foundation or floor joist repair project in your home and want to make sure it's successful, watch out for these common mistakes:
Waiting too long to start repairs
If your floor joists need to be repaired, you have to act fast. Waiting too long will make the problem worse and could also make it more difficult and expensive to fix.
Ignoring the cause of the damage
It’s crucial to repair or replace damaged floor joists. But it’s just as important to find out what’s causing the damage and fix that, too. Moisture, pests, and foundation issues will all return if the root cause isn’t eliminated, and you’ll have to repair the damage all over again. If you want to avoid that headache, call Total Home Performance. Unlike most floor joist repair contractors, we are a whole-home performance expert. We’ll investigate every angle to find out what’s causing the damage and implement a lasting solution to stop it from happening again. Then, we’ll repair the damaged joists so you can enjoy a permanent fix.
Attempting the repair without professional help
If you’re handy and have some experience with home repair, you can probably handle a minor floor joist repair or reinforcement. But if the issue is complex, it’s best to call a professional so you can make sure the issue is fixed completely and the root cause is addressed.
Need Floor Joist Repair? Call Total Home Performance
If you’ve noticed signs of damaged floor joists like a bouncy or uneven floor in your home, or even a musty smell that has you worried, call Total Home Performance. We can take a look and let you know whether a repair is needed. We are locally owned and operated with over 16 years of experience serving homeowners on the Eastern Shore and Anne Arundel County area in Maryland and the Sussex County area in Delaware. We can help you preserve the safety, stability, and value of your home with professional floor joist repair.