Slanting House

[Austin023]

For the OP: what kind of foundation does this house have? (I presume you have a full or half basement) but what is it made of (stone, brick, concrete)? Any obvious signs of repairs or alterations?
Are there signs of water intrusion or cracks in the walls? Are any of the major beams or joists propped with jacks or additional piers?

I would certainly get a licensed structural engineer in there pronto to see what it going on--what the cause is and how it might be remedied or treated. With old houses, some things will need to be lived with, though with badly slanted floors, there could be a number of causes.

[Mr. Maryland]

Broken floor joists? Any fireplaces? They can drag an old house down. What is the ground like in the area? Has it settled?

Rip out some plaster (or drywall) and take a look. Take up some floor and see what you can see.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Originally Posted by smlksmth

What can I do to determine the problem? What kind of solutions/costs am I looking at?

IT'S OLD!
Consider it character. Besides, who's to say it wasn't built straight and level to begin with?

Unless the house has historical significance or is in a registry I probably wouldn't put a significant amount of money into a "restoration".

Preservation is a better mindset-
Do a lot of measuring- wall angle (out of plumb), floor level, squareness, etc. if you have active moment of a two to three year period that is greater than a 1/4" then having a structural engineer assess the home maybe in order. Otherwise, let the "grand lady" age gracefully and preserve.

[Austin023]

Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr

IT'S OLD!
Consider it character. Besides, who's to say it wasn't built straight and level to begin with?

Unless the house has historical significance or is in a registry I probably wouldn't put a significant amount of money into a "restoration".

Preservation is a better mindset-
Do a lot of measuring- wall angle (out of plumb), floor level, squareness, etc. if you have active moment of a two to three year period that is greater than a 1/4" then having a structural engineer assess the home maybe in order. Otherwise, let the "grand lady" age gracefully and preserve.

From what the OP is describing, it sounds like there could well be a significant structural issue present--and age need not be the predominant determining factor.
The upper floor with the cracks in the drywall and doors/windows which do not fit properly into their jams is more indicative of some structural problem...sure, many older houses were not always built entirely plumb and level, but this is clearly something that has occurred due to perhaps settling--but it is unlikely to e the result of not being built straight and level originally.... I think OP should get an engineer in there and see what is going on.

Sure, many older houses have slanting floors, etc and many times that is just something that has to be lived with, but this is likely to be something that will get worse with time if there is settling going on or some other structural problem due to deterioration or improper alterations of some kind.