Contractor says fixing sloped floor requires raising all doors + interior step — any other options?
I’m the strata president (Canada) dealing with a construction issue on a low‑rise condo building renovation and I’m trying to understand what alternative solutions might exist before we accept a major interior change.
Here’s the situation:
- Our 3 story condo building has exterior walkways to access each unit
- All walkways are currently being replaced/retrofitted due to structural issues with some of the underlying 2x12 joists (rot, termites, etc).
- The existing walkways consist of a 1.5"-5" thick concrete topping, waterproof membrane, plywood sheathing, then 2x12 joists. The reason for the variable concrete thickness is that the underlying sheathing/joists are sloped towards the building, so for the concrete to be level, it is up to 5" thick at the building, and 1.5" thick at the rim joist. Shotty original construction it seems..
- As part of retrofitting the walkways & repairing/replacing the joists, shims are added to the tops of the joists to achieve a 1.5% slope away from the building, c/w with new sheathing on top of this, and a waterproof membrane and 2.5" thick concrete pavers.
- Because of the slope correction, the concrete pavers will be higher than the existing entrance door sills for each condo unit. The Contractor says this means all doors must be raised ~2.5 inches by cutting jack studs above the doors and rebuilding the openings.
- The current interior step-down height from the exterior walkway to inside a unit is ~2.5". After this change it would be ~5".
Their proposed solution works structurally, but it significantly affects interior usability and owners are now flagging this a concern, justifiably.
My question:
As the (volunteer) strata president, I am trying to understand what other reasonable construction or structural options might exist besides increasing the interior step height and raising all the doors?
For example:
- Is there a way to address the joist deflection from below instead?
- Would a different sistering approach (depth/material) reduce the build‑up?
- Are tapered sleepers, alternative drainage strategies, or partial re‑framing common here?
- Is shimming on top of joists the only solution, or are there other ways to achieve slope without stacking height?
I’m not looking for DIY advice — just trying to understand what options are typically considered so I can ask better questions of the structural engineer and contractor. Note neither are offering meaningful solutions that are cost effective or useful.
Thanks in advance to anyone who’s dealt with similar floor/joist corrections. I've added photos showing the detail of the existing condition and what the proposed retrofit currently entails.
