Do you always fix floor settling?

Question

I have quite a few rehabs under my belt and have fixed / leveled several houses that had some uneven floors.  I just bought a house (built in 1900) that has some uneven floors / settling issues.  Not too bad but noticeable.  I plan on rehabbing then renting this out.  If I fix all of it, I am probably looking at quite a bit of sheet rock cracking and having to repair most of the doors and cracking tile/grout.   I am considering leaving the floors the way they are and wanted to see opinions from other rehabbers on what you would do?

Tristan Scott Zell · Answer

@Dave Charron

I am having the same problem with my property right now with the floors, though with mine you feel like you are walking uphill in some parts. If the slope/uneven floors aren't too bad I wouldn't mess with it, just make sure the joists are good and that they haven't been cut or broken, if there has been normal shrinking/settling thats common . Like some people have mentioned in this thread, if the class of the property and the rents aren't where they should be to make it make sense to redo everything then I wouldn't. You still want to provide good housing but if the project is too indepth you won't be able to get that unit out there in the market.

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Dave Charron, I do not always fixed settling floors and have a rental with a very noticeable hump in middle of house where main support beam is, then slopes down toward exterior walls.  It is noticeable, but not moving anymore.  I have owned property for over 10 years now, and floors have not changed at all, and the house was built in 1923, in a neighborhood of old houses.  All old houses have settled floors.  As there are not active foundation issues that will worsen the issue, let it ride.  It gives the house character.

Zambricki Li · Answer

Depends how bad. If you put a marble on it does the marble roll quickly away like it's skiing  down a mountain? Is it noticeable to someone who doesn't know construction? If not, for a long term rental, I'd consider leaving it as is. Could be a can of worms. You can always go back once you have a few years of cashflow rolling.

Dave Charron · Answer

Thanks for the input Karl

Karl B. · Answer

I think it depends on the market and how big of a rehab you're doing. I recently bought a small portfolio of properties and fixed one of the places up but didn't put all new flooring in - I put new luxury vinyl flooring in the bathroom and kitchen because the previous flooring was damaged.

There's a droop in the family room but it's carpeted. Sometime in the future I'll install more luxury vinyl flooring and at that time when the carpet is removed I'll have the drooping floor repaired.

This is a C-class property. But personally, if it was getting me more rent/was an A-class or B-class I would repair the floor properly from the start.