Imagine walking across your living room and feeling a slight bounce under your feet, almost like treading on a trampoline rather than solid ground.
It’s an eerie and unexpected experience, but more importantly, it’s a warning sign. That unsettling springiness is your home’s SOS – a signal of a moisture problem lurking beneath your home in your crawl space.
What are Bouncy Floors?
Bouncy floors, quite literally, bounce back when you step on them. It’s like your floorboards echo your footsteps, giving way slightly and bouncing back up.
This unusual phenomenon is not a quirky house feature but a symptom of a more pressing, hidden issue. In the image, you can see a floor joist bending under someone’s weight—this is what happens every time you step on a bouncy floor.
Why Bouncy Floors are a Problem
Apart from turning your walk to the kitchen into an unexpected gymnastic feat, bouncy floors indicate a serious issue. This unnatural springiness often points to underlying structural damage, typically linked to moisture-related problems in your crawl space.
Over time, persistently high humidity can weaken wooden beams and floor joists, leading to sagging, bouncy floors. Moreover, such moist conditions can lead to mold growth, compromising the air quality in your home and posing potential health risks.
What Should I be Looking for in My Home?
Identifying bouncy floors isn’t always as straightforward as expecting a spring in your step. Often, it’s subtler. You might notice certain areas of your floor give way slightly under pressure or a creaking sound accompanying your footsteps.
More severe cases may involve visible sagging or a bouncing sensation when crossing the room. You might even see mold near the affected areas of the floor—just another sign that moisture is causing the problem.
What Causes Bouncy Floors in My Home?
The culprit behind bouncy floors is almost always related to humidity and excess moisture in your crawl space. Inadequate sealing, open crawl space vents, and poor insulation in this area allow dampness to creep in.
Over time, this excessive moisture weakens the wooden structures supporting your floor, leading to sagging floors and that dreaded bounciness.
How Can Basement Authority of West Virginia Fix Bouncy Floors in My Home?
Introducing the SettleStop IntelliJack Crawl Space Support System, the ultimate solution for sagging, bouncy, or uneven floors. Made of galvanized steel, these supports are designed to strengthen sagging beams and undersized joists, restoring the stability and support of your home’s floors.
The SettleStop IntelliJack Crawl Space Support System
With an impressive load capacity of over 24,000 pounds per support jack, the IntelliJack system is rigorously tested and certified to meet the highest industry standards. It provides a reliable and durable solution for your sagging floor woes.
One standout feature of the IntelliJack system is its adjustability. Our team of crawl space repair experts will carefully measure and determine the height of your floor joists and adjust the support posts as needed for the perfect fit.
Once installed, these supports can continue be adjusted to make sure floor joists always stay supported. This unique adjustability ensures that your home remains adequately supported in the long run, providing peace of mind and preventing further damage.
Don’t let sagging floors bring down the beauty and safety of your home. Trust Basement Authority of West Virginia’s IntelliJack system to provide a reliable, adjustable, and long-lasting solution to your floor support needs.
Why Should You Trust Basement Authority of West Virginia?
With a wealth of expertise in crawl space repair, BAWV stands as an authority on the subject. Since 2003, our commitment to homeowners has always been to deliver lasting solutions; tools built to ensure your home remains safe and comfortable.
Don’t let bouncy floors keep you on your toes. Trust BAWV to restore the stability your home deserves. Contact us today and step into a safer, more comfortable living space.
FAQ: Bouncy Floors
Several systems that keep your home running well are in your crawl space. When water gets into your crawl space, these systems will break down over time. If you don’t take care of even one of these systems, it can affect the rest of your home quickly. If your home’s foundation gets weak from repeated flooding and standing water, other parts of your home will have to be fixed. It’s important to keep your crawl space in good shape.
Mold, which thrives in high humidity and standing water conditions, can pose a severe health risk, especially in summer, due to ideal growing conditions. It’s essential to inspect your home for mold signs such as discoloration, textural changes, or musty odors, particularly in dark, humid, and infrequently used areas. Black mold is of utmost concern due to its potential severe and even deadly health effects, including infections, respiratory issues, and convulsions, warranting immediate remediation upon detection.
It all has to do with relative humidity, which determines how much water the air in a particular environment can hold. Warm air can hold more water than cool air. During the summer in West Virginia, the air is warm and sometimes muggy. When the muggy air enters your crawl space, it mixes with the cooler air below your home (since your crawl space is covered from the sun). Since cold air cannot hold as much water, condensation forms within your crawl space while humidity simultaneously rises.
