[dhauser]

Hello
We're looking at an old 3 level (walk up attic) Victorian, early 1900s. Structurally, it appears to be sound, solid foundation, straight lines, etc - however, a couple of the floors sag - the dining room on the first floor, a bedroom on the second. They are both solid however. An inspector who went through the house called them normal for the age, and neither of us see any glaring issues in the basement - there is an added support pole that appears to be under the family room, but nothing around it to indicate that it is replacing a failed structure. How much of a worry should this be? While the upstairs would seem to be more difficult to get to, it seems we could add another support in the basement for the dining room. My understanding is that it is best added to help maintain where it is now, not to try and raise it? Any thought appreciated...

[barbe4]

Hello
We're looking at an old 3 level (walk up attic) Victorian, early 1900s. Structurally, it appears to be sound, solid foundation, straight lines, etc - however, a couple of the floors sag - the dining room on the first floor, a bedroom on the second. They are both solid however. An inspector who went through the house called them normal for the age, and neither of us see any glaring issues in the basement - there is an added support pole that appears to be under the family room, but nothing around it to indicate that it is replacing a failed structure. How much of a worry should this be? While the upstairs would seem to be more difficult to get to, it seems we could add another support in the basement for the dining room. My understanding is that it is best added to help maintain where it is now, not to try and raise it? Any thought appreciated...

You don't state the amount of sagging. You can fix any individual space by tearing up the floor and attaching stringers to the exsisting ones that would be level and putting the floor back down. Settling doesn't often occur only to the floor. In leveling the floor will the ceiling now appear out of plumb? How about the windows and window sashes?