Does anyone have vibrating floors?

[Purrrrfecta]

I have a bonus room above the garage that seems to be pretty shaky. When people walk across it the whole room vibrates .

I think it has gotten worse in the past 5 years, but my husband says it is my imagination. Don't think so. Think problem is with the floor joists.

Anyone else experience this?

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

LOL I'm sorry, I read the post and was like, What?? Are those like vibrating beds at those cheap motels? Not that I would know...

Sorry your floor is vibrating....wish I could help!

 

[CowboyCO]

He's right -- it's a problem with the floor joists. They were either placed too far apart or are substandard for the span they cover. There's not much you can do except tear out the ceiling in the garage and install steel I-beams to shore up the floor. We looked a t a house to buy and the floor was so shaky you could see it move... Weird!

 

[Purrrrfecta]

He's right -- it's a problem with the floor joists. They were either placed too far apart or are substandard for the span they cover. There's not much you can do except tear out the ceiling in the garage and install steel I-beams to shore up the floor. We looked a t a house to buy and the floor was so shaky you could see it move... Weird!

This is what I thought was the problem. It seems that the joists didn't have much pressure put on them before because the room was not often used, but now that it is they have weakened. It only seems to be about six of them that are weakened as well.

OK now another added problem to this house

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would get someone out to inspect it. At least you will know what you are up against and how much.

Can't you add joists?

 

[RNMOM]

Have you ever been in a hospital or other big building even a store and felt the floor shake when a piece of heavy equipment is rolled over it? I have many times and it get me nervous.

I have also been driving on a bridge that seems to bounce when a semi comes along. I do think some larger structures have a "bounce factor" built into them. I hope so anyway.

 

[Michelle67]

I have also been driving on a bridge that seems to bounce when a semi comes along. I do think some larger structures have a "bounce factor" built into them. I hope so anyway.

The Narrows Bridge is designed to flex (bounce)...it's one of the things that keep it from falling down like the first one did. Not a very nice feeling if you happen to get stopped mid-span, though. Kinda creepy. Some buildings here are also designed to bounce so they can move with earthquakes instead of falling down. Sorry, OT...

OP, sorry to hear about your house problem. House problems stink, even worse than car problems. I agree that you should probably just get it checked out and get an estimate, so you know what you are dealing with. Best wishes with the situation.

 

[mickeysgal]

We had a house once where the family room shook when someone walked by. You could be sitting on the couch and feel yourself move slightly. The joists were the proper size and just within code for the span they covered. To solve the problem, we actually put a couple of floor jacks in the crawl space to shore up the span. We really noticed the problem to be bad when we bought a heavy entertainment system. The weight on those joists seemed to make the problem very noticeable. It was really bad in the living room as well. During Christmas, the tree would shake if someone walked by regardless of their weight. Then again, we did have a piano in that room as well. Do you have a lot of heavy furniture in the room? By the way, we ended up selling the house...

 

[Purrrrfecta]

We had a house once where the family room shook when someone walked by. You could be sitting on the couch and feel yourself move slightly. The joists were the proper size and just within code for the span they covered. To solve the problem, we actually put a couple of floor jacks in the crawl space to shore up the span. We really noticed the problem to be bad when we bought a heavy entertainment system. The weight on those joists seemed to make the problem very noticeable. It was really bad in the living room as well. During Christmas, the tree would shake if someone walked by regardless of their weight. Then again, we did have a piano in that room as well. Do you have a lot of heavy furniture in the room? By the way, we ended up selling the house...

It is just the bonus room that does this. How did you sell it? Didn't the buyers question the vibration???

Did they ever tell you something like you had to rebuild the interior or replace all of the joists?

I am going to get a quote.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

It is just the bonus room that does this. How did you sell it? Didn't the buyers question the vibration???

Well...if it is bad, the inspection will reveal it to the buyer.

 

[mickeysgal]

It is just the bonus room that does this. How did you sell it? Didn't the buyers question the vibration???

Did they ever tell you something like you had to rebuild the interior or replace all of the joists?

I am going to get a quote.

The jacks were a temporary fix. Technically, it was within code. That's the first thing we went after because I would have gone after the builder who was still building in the area. They had the correct joists for the span - but just barely. Knowing that we would have a potential problem when we went to sell and the fact it was bothering us to no end, we took the jacks down and doubled up the joists to increase it's strength and put cross braces in. It did make a difference.

For the living room, we had a grand piano in it. If you're going to have a pianos of that weight most likely should have had stronger joists to begin with. As soon as we got that weight off the floor, it was fine.

For the family room, it wasn't that noticeable. We noticed it and it drove me nuts, but the average person wouldn't. It made a difference when DH and my father added those cross braces/doubling.

When we built the next house, we had the builder double every third joist. That house was rock solid.

More recently built homes are using engineered beams and those are super strong. This particular house didn't have those and was only 14 years old at the time (about 6 years ago).

 

[Purrrrfecta]

The jacks were a temporary fix. Technically, it was within code. That's the first thing we went after because I would have gone after the builder who was still building in the area. They had the correct joists for the span - but just barely. Knowing that we would have a potential problem when we went to sell and the fact it was bothering us to no end, we took the jacks down and doubled up the joists to increase it's strength and put cross braces in. It did make a difference.

For the living room, we had a grand piano in it. If you're going to have a pianos of that weight most likely should have had stronger joists to begin with. As soon as we got that weight off the floor, it was fine.

For the family room, it wasn't that noticeable. We noticed it and it drove me nuts, but the average person wouldn't. It made a difference when DH and my father added those cross braces/doubling.

When we built the next house, we had the builder double every third joist. That house was rock solid.

More recently built homes are using engineered beams and those are super strong. This particular house didn't have those and was only 14 years old at the time (about 6 years ago).

Thanks!! You have been a great help. Now I know. My house is 25 years old, and there are so many things I have found wrong with it. My inspector was not going to tell me everything as I can now see in the report he wrote up. It was our first time buying a home so...................

 

[mickeysgal]

Thanks!! You have been a great help. Now I know. My house is 25 years old, and there are so many things I have found wrong with it. My inspector was not going to tell me everything as I can now see in the report he wrote up. It was our first time buying a home so...................

Good luck! I know that inspectors may or may not find everything wrong with a house. Some inspectors just aren't good enough. Our current house, my DH was the only one here with the inspector and they both missed broken window seals. How hard is that to see? I wasn't happy to say the least, and now we have windows that need to be replaced.

Funny, ever since that house, each time we look at a house, I have DH jump on the floors for me to see if they shake.

If you ever think of finishing your basement, you may want to decide to cross brace the floors above before you close off the ceiling below. We did that in this house as well....just to be sure.

 

[minniecarousel]

....only during earthquakes.

 

[mickeyboat]

Our very very old house did - in the living room. You should have seen that baby shake when I tried to do step aerobics!

When we renovated, DH fized it. He added reinforcement to the floor and two extra columns in the basement. It's solid as a rock, now.

But I won't dare try aerobics again!

Denae

 

[live4christp1]

Have you ever been in a hospital or other big building even a store and felt the floor shake when a piece of heavy equipment is rolled over it? I have many times and it get me nervous.

I have also been driving on a bridge that seems to bounce when a semi comes along. I do think some larger structures have a "bounce factor" built into them. I hope so anyway.

The scariest place I've ever been though is at the top of the Washington Monument and feel the sway up there (they said it sways about 8 inches) Let me down now!!!!!!

Sorry to be off topic. Back to your regularly scheduled discussion.