Floor and Wall Gaps

You may be tempted, when first confronted with a gap between your floor and your wall, to see if the problem won’t solve itself a few weeks or months down the line. This train of thought is understandable. Gaps between your floor and wall may not prove to be all that threatening at first. If you’re concerned about the cost of repairs, it may seem easier to let the problem go while you save what money you might need to fix it. 

Unfortunately, waiting to fix a gap between your floor and wall can have serious consequences. The longer you let a problem like this fester, the more likely it is you’ll have to deal with more significant damage later down the line. For example, if you leave a gap between your floor and wall open during a season of heavy rain, you may find yourself dealing with an unwanted leak and its affiliated consequences in addition to the gap itself. Alternatively, if you discover you have a pest problem in the area, that gap between your floor and wall might accidentally become a home for a critter that you’d rather have outdoors. 

Working with Professionals 

It is better to reach out to a local contractor and let them know there’s a gap between your floor and wall than it is to wait for the problem to solve itself. This way, you can start exploring the most budget-friendly solutions that can help you get ahead of any additional damage that might lower the overall value of your home. 

The good news is that most contractors will be able to help you choose from an extensive list of gap repair solutions in addition to what waterproofing measures you may be interested in after repairs are complete. 

Some of the best ways professionals go about repairing a gap between your floor and wall include:  

• Marrying your floor joints together 
• Replacing your floor joints entirely 
• Repairing damage done to your foundation

If you’re concerned about the cost of repairing a gap between your floor and wall, you may be interested in trying to figure out a solution on your own time. While in theory, trying your hand at a DIY floor and wall gap solution can seem like a viable option, it’s less workable in practice. 

Missing Tools and Materials 

Trying to repair a gap between your floor and wall without professional guidance can have a myriad of drawbacks. For example, you may not have the materials you need to fill your gap successfully on hand. Not only will you have to go out and purchase those materials, but you may not know how to use them effectively. In the same vein, if you use some of these materials inappropriately, you’ll have to both remove that first attempt on your own and replace those materials you may have damaged. 

You also may not have access to the tools you need to repair a gap between your floor and wall. If you do want to try and DIY a solution on your own time, you may find yourself spending more money than you anticipated to bring those tools home with you. 

Concerns Regarding Cost 

Finally, beyond cost and time, there is always a chance that you’ll make the gap between your floor and wall worse if you implement a DIY solution. On one hand, you may fill the gap on a superficial level but still have the leak itself to contend with. On the other, you may break one of your structural supports or even widen the gap with your attempted solution. In both of these circumstances, you’ll come away from your DIY experience worse for wear. After all, should you reach out to a professional later down the line for additional repairs, that party will first have to remove your DIY solution from the wall before implementing a fix of their own. 

It is in your best interest to reach out to a professional in your area before attempting to fix a gap between the floor and the wall on your own. This way, you can save money and keep your experience with this kind of damage as low-stress as possible.

It’s confusing to see your floor actually separating from the wall. What causes these gaps? In general, it’s caused by your home settling unevenly. This exerts pressure on the home in different ways, which may show up as a gap between the wall and the floor. These are just a few reasons you may be experiencing settling in your home. 

Soil Expanding When Wet

Underneath your foundation, your home rests on soil. Although the construction company should have packed the soil down firmly before constructing your home, the soil may have settled since then, or the company may not have packed it down as firmly as it should have.

When the soil gets wet, whether because of rain, plumbing issues or groundwater, it expands and mixes into mud. The wet soil pushes up because there’s nowhere else for it to go. That puts pressure on the foundation, which can force the walls in and even lead to walls collapsing. 

Soil Shrinking When Dry

When the soil gets wet, it can force pressure on the foundation. However, what happens when it dries afterward? Unfortunately, the repeating process of the soil becoming wet and then drying can be a big factor in your home’s uneven settling.

Drying soil shrinks and contracts. As the water evaporates, the soil under your home will start to shrink and pull away from the foundation. That leaves a gap between the soil and the foundation, allowing the home to then settle outward. This in-and-out movement leads to uneven settling and pressure on the foundation. 

Sagging Floor Joists

This problem may happen if the construction company that built your home placed the support pillars underneath too far apart. Your home needs even support across the entire foundation, and uneven spacing of support pillars overloads the floor joists, causing them to bend and sag.

If you’ve started to hear squeaking and cracking noises from your floorboards, especially when you walk around, sagging floor joists may be the problem. Sagging floor joists can also cause a hardwood floor separating from the baseboard. These problems require quick intervention to save the whole home.