Is the Flooring Level after Foundation Repairs and New Beams

Is the flooring level after our foundation repairs and new beams were put in by the contractors? We wondered about this over and over.

We were excited as the contractors have been excavating and working to repair the pier and beam foundation and we were going to have a whole new foundation! Yet, we had this looming feeling that somehow the floors were not quite level like they should be or how we expected.

Proverbs 24:3

Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.

FIXER UPPER WALKTHROUGH AFTER EXCAVATION AND FOUNDATION REPAIRS

Now it was time for another walkthrough in our fixer upper after the contractors left for the day. We went to our house in the evening when it was dark to check it out. They did a lot of work for sure! The contractors really did a big job excavating all the dirt and there were lots of shovels everywhere.  

Nate was excited as he walked around on the floors. It felt really good to finally have floors, even though they were just plywood for now. 

The first thing I noticed was that the whole house was filled with the smell of fresh wood. We could also see the new beams all over and how deep they actually dug in the ground. Ahh, home sweet home!

As we inspected the foundation repairs and new beams, Nate explained to me that the greenish wood is new and that’s how you know it’s treated wood by the green color. We were not sure if they would replace all the wood beams that were still in good condition or just leave them. 

He also mentioned that they still have to dig 12 inches below the bottom beam so that we can crawl underneath it. Perhaps some more excavation to still work on. Maybe another day or two.

The contractors placed the dirt from excavating our foundation into our yard. We planned to allow the dirt to just naturally settle into the backyard.

GETTING RID OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS – WE TRIED TO REUSE AS MUCH AS WE COULD!

Since the contractors worked on the foundation and put down the flooring, there was a lot of trash that needed to be taken out. It consisted of all the construction materials that just needed to go. They provided a huge truck for us to put the materials into and removed them for us. 

Nate helped one of the contractors load their truck with construction materials that we needed to get rid of. We’ve tried our best to reuse as much as we could, but sometimes there is just old and gross stuff you have to get rid of and start new.

FOUNDATION BEAMS AND PLYWOOD FLOORING

The contractors made some progress with the foundation beams. We now have several new beams that have replaced the old and rotted ones. But, was the flooring really level though, after their work on the foundation repairs and replacement of new beams? We continue to process that one.

Once the joist and beams were repaired and replaced with new ones, they covered them with plywood. When they either repair or replace the wood beams in the foundation, they place the plywood flooring on top as a way to indicate the completion of their work. It was great to have floors to walk on! Later, we will place our hardwood flooring on top of the plywood as the final flooring. 

Nate tried to salvage as much of our old original hardwood flooring as possible, so we may be able to reuse some of them. We haven’t gotten to that point yet and not sure how much we have and which rooms we plan to use them in. A lot of the them were so badly rotted though that we could not save them. 

DRYWALL DEMO AND REPAIRS

Nate started to pull down the drywall in the office closet and a lot of the drywall in there had been broken up. He was also planning to remove the nasty insulation as well.

In the beginning of our demo projects, I literally knew nothing about drywall and since the walls were all busted up, I was worried that Nate wasn’t going to be able to put it all back together. I thought that was something you hired someone to do, not do yourself! Boy, have I learned a lot especially with what Nate has been able to accomplish on his own. 

He was so confident about replacing the drywall and I was impressed by his knowledge and skills! It’s nice to have a handy man around the house – especially a fixer upper!

IS THE FLOORING LEVEL? STILL FEELS UNEVEN!

We had some hesitancy about how level the floors would turn out. Was the flooring level with the foundation repairs and new beams put in? That was a question we repeated over and over.

Are the contractors doing what they should be? How would we know as we are inexperienced with all these reno and demo projects. We did our best to figure it out. 

We were not really sure if the contractors were done with the foundation as some parts were still a bit uneven yet they placed plywood on top of it. So we kept wondering if they would come back to level the foundation better or if they were done.

CRACKS IN THE WALLS

Nate said there are a lot of cracks in the walls, which is proof they have adjusted the levels of the foundation. We look around to find all the different cracks throughout the house. There were even cracks in the ceiling!

The proof is in the pudding I guess, or cracks in our case. Regardless, we are seeing a lot of progress happening around here in only about a month since we first bought the house! Not bad for newbies, I suppose!

Another form of proof is that when Nate went to shut the front door, it wouldn’t close properly because of the foundation work. It changed the levels of our flooring, which possibly caused the door to shift.

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic home mostly on our own. Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead!

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

You can also watch a video about this here.

To see more adventures on our tiny fixer upper journey, click on the links below.

MORE BATHROOM DEMO ON SMALL AND MINIMAL 1930’S COTTAGE + ORIGINAL SHIPLAP!

SURPRISING WALKTHROUGH AFTER EXCAVATION AND FOUNDATION REPAIRS | TINY FIXER UPPER