Sagging porch repair costs and cause?

Question

Hi I'm looking into purchasing a property and was wondering how much it would cost to repair a sagging porch. This is in a historical district so I have to restore the porch to original standards.

See below for a picture of the house front:

Any thoughts on how much this would take and what is causing the sag?

Nick C. · Answer

Costs are different depending on your area, so I won't comment on that. When we see that sagging down here it's generally termites, the roof leaked and wood rotted, or a combination of both.

John Hickey · Answer

@Jack Lee this inline was close to 9k.  I got an estimate from another contractor for 12k but I did it with a crew of guys I was working with at the time.  I pay those guys 200-240 a day.

If it were me I would grab a framer and open it up to see what you have.  Just to fix the structure is usually not so bad.  It's putting it back together to look finished is were it gets pricey.

We did PVC, cultured stone, tree.  We could have some it done it for around 5k if we hadn't gone so crazy.

John Hickey · Answer

Here's one for you.  I'll look for the photos before we ripped out the structure.  This one wasn't salvageable.  Similar to yours there was and 8" sag over 24'

Account Closed · Answer

My guess is that there is a rubber membrane on top of the roof that has failed that has allowed water to enter and cause rot and possibly termites. My guess is that the entire porch roof will have to be replaced rather than having to piece together a fix. Some of the porch that isn't rotted might be able to be reused. I won't speculate upon repair costs because I don't have a clue about the quantity and quality of materials as well as your local labor rates.

James Skelton · Answer

I agree with the guys that said between $4-6000, the more you do yourself the cheaper it will be. You have to keep with the existing architecture. Don't forget to take several pics first! Good Luck with your deal. P.S. If you are going to reuse the rail, I would burn off all the old paint and re-sand it real good before you put it back on, then a new oil based primer and 2 finish coats.

Mike Nelson · Answer

In addition to the rotted beam, verify that the long beam across the front is of sufficient depth and width to carry the load.  To reduce the load, sometimes a new column can be placed at the half-way point complete with a new footing,  but that probably would not work in this case.

Jack Lee · Answer

Wow that's a beautiful property. Thanks for the color on cost.

Sagging porch repair costs and cause?

Most Popular Reply