How To Make A Slope In A Wood Floor

When installing a floor drain on most indoor floor surfaces it is important to slope the floor slightly so that water will flow toward the drain efficiently.

How to make a slope in a wood floor.

Mark this outer height mark along the wall with a pencil. This will be the height of your pre slope at the walls. Except for that slope the floor itself might be flat. A slant slope situation might be one where over the course of 15 or 20 horizontal feet the floor slopes down one or two inches.

Another tip to take you from diy to pro is to staple 15lb contractor paper felt tar paper to the sub floor before laying the planks to eliminate squeaking. Failure to achieve adequate slope will result in standing water problems. For example a floor that extends 4 feet away from the drain should have 1 inch of overall slope. Some even space every row when using diy plank or plywood.

So if we make the pre slope 3 4 thick at the drain it needs to be a total of 1 1 2 inch thick at all your walls. Too much slope will create a poor feel to the floor and cause the unsettling sensation of the room being crooked. In many cases fixing a sloping floor is an expensive and lengthy operation. I try to make my pre slope the correct thickness at the drain so it will be 1 1 2 at the walls.

Another is to lay the planking perpendicular to the floor joists to prevent cupping bowing. For rooms that have a general slope the issue may be foundation problems that require the assistance of a foundation repair company or a general contractor. Foundation issues deteriorating wood supports especially sills which rest on the foundation footer improperly installed joists or sub floors and other issues can all cause a floor to slope or sag.