Sloping Floors
Question:
In our one-year-old home, as you approach the hallway, the floor slopes downward. Our home inspector said that this was most likely due to the fact that the walls were resting on the floor as opposed to being load-bearing walls. What has been your experience with sloping floors in a new home? The floors are very flat elsewhere until the walls start. Do you think this sloping could turn into a structural problem eventually?
Answer:
It is very difficult to say whether or not this is or could be a problem. Floor systems may exhibit differential deflection (one area may deflect more than an adjacent area), which could cause this floor unevenness. We recommend that you ask the engineer-of-record to come out and take a look at the project. The engineer is responsible for the overall performance of the structure and might be able to provide you with more information after looking at this particular assembly.