The three most common causes in Lincoln
Where the floor slopes tells you a lot about why.
1. Sinking basement posts or a sagging beam. Most Lincoln homes have a full basement. A steel or wood beam runs down the middle, held up by posts. In some homes, those posts stand on a thin basement floor with no real footing under them. Over time they push down into the soil, and the middle of the house drops. A slope toward the center of the house is the classic sign.
2. Joists that are cracked, cut or worn. Joists are the boards that hold up the floor. Old plumbing and heating jobs sometimes cut big notches in them. Water from a leak can rot the ends. Any of these can make one room sag or bounce.
3. A corner of the foundation that settled. Most Lincoln homes sit on loess with clay below. USDA rates the clay subsoil of Wymore, the most common soil in Lancaster County, in the highest shrink-swell class. When soil under one corner dries out more than the rest, that corner drops. A slope toward one outside wall, with cracks in the brick or basement wall at that spot, points here.
Crawl spaces and add-ons. Many Lincoln houses have a basement under the main part and a crawl space under a back porch, sunroom or kitchen bump-out. That add-on often sits on shallower footings. A step down or a slope where the old house meets the addition is common.
