Uneven floors in older homes

[Timothy Carey]

I’ve noticed that a common issue with many of the older homes I see is that the floors seem to be wavey and uneven. I assume it’s largely due in part to the foundation settling. I would get an inspection prior to buying, but is this a red flag or a manageable issue? 

Thanks in advance for your input! 

[Jim Stout]

Obviously it could be a problem and I agree don't purchase without an inspection. In two older properties with wood beam floors on crawl space that I remodeld in the past we made sure the beams were still structurally intact and only sagging in areas. You can attempt to jack the beams and reset the posts, but we chose a less expensive route that has held up for years in both properties. We sealed up the subfloor with caulk and filler boards and the poured a nice coat of "floor leveler". It dries perfectly level. Once cured we put down a solid wood floor on one and a laminate plank on the other. We were done in 3 days. Recently I suggested this to a friend of mine rehabbing a Duplex built in 1910. He decided to rip up the floors and splice new beams (level) to the old sagging beams. Unfortunately for him he ended up spending a fortune and it took him over 3 months to finally have finished floors again. So to answer the question my experience has been good as long as the integrity of the floor is intact.