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Many houses of older builds come with the good-old problem of uneven floors. And while the occasional teetering table or wobbly chair does have its own charm, it’s an entirely different story to have this be your everyday.
What’s more, even if you do get accustomed enough to the imbalances of your furniture, any guests you have over most certainly will not. A badly timed wobble and a plate full of food could go flying from your guest’s hand.
And then, there’s also the minute matter of safety. Not only is unbalanced furniture a jarring experience, it can also be quite dangerous.
The more your furniture wobbles, the less stable it will become over time. A loose enough screw in the odd chair, and your guest might even make too close an acquaintance of your flooring.
While it is the floor that is at fault here, fixing this issue by essentially disemboweling your current floor construction is not practical unless you have the time and resources to commit to such a large project.
A far easier solution is to fix the instability in your future and create an appearance of level flooring.
Read on to learn more about how to level furniture on uneven floor.
Tips and Tricks to Level Your Furniture on Uneven Floor
While there are several casual tricks in the books of temporary furniture leveling (think beer caps nailed to the bottom of your bookrack or cardboard wadded under that stubby sofa leg), they don’t really make for a welcoming home atmosphere.
You don’t just want simple make-do fixes to your problems, you want proper solutions that can be adapted to your specific issues — and that’s where we can help.
Try out these next four solutions and you just might have all your questions of how to level furniture on uneven floors answered.
1. Adjustments at the Fixtures
The very first thing you should be checking your furniture for is adjustable features.
One of the many wondrous things that have come with modern designs is customization.
A large number of furniture brands leave leeway for personalization. This comes in the form of adjustable parts, quite often in legs and shelves.
Your table or desk may come with legs that can be individually adjusted. This is by far the easiest solution to your problem.
Not only can your furniture’s instability be addressed in a manner specific to the exact unevenness of the floor, but the constant ability to change your furniture leg length also means that you can shift your furniture around when you feel like it. You won’t have to replan a system for the unevenness of your floors.
2. Furniture Coasters
You may be in an environment where you frequently move your furniture. Or maybe you don’t want to commit to any major changes in your furniture layout.
Rubber furniture coasters could be the best solution for you.
They require absolutely nothing to be installed and are just as easy to remove.
At their essence, they are a glorified version of the folded-up cardboard trick, however, the rubber padding does come with certain benefits.
The rubber has a better adhesive grip than cardboard which helps keep the furniture from slipping off. This also extends to slippage on the floor as well.
The only issue with furniture coasters is that they’re not designed for long-term usage and the rubber wears out easier than other alternatives.
This just means that the coasters have to be reinstalled multiple times over the life of the furniture.
3. Shim-my It Even
If you’re looking for something a bit more durable than rubber coasters, look no further than furniture shims.
They work along with the same principle as rubber coasters but are shaped like wedges rather than pads.
This allows for a bit more control over the exact degree of leveling on the furniture.
Just like with furniture coasters, the installation and removal process for shims is very simple.
Shims, because of the wedge-like shape, tend to stick out a bit and can easily cause someone to trip if placed closer to the center of the room.
Thus, the most common system of installation is to just put the shim at the back end of the side you want to raise.
This system can involve a bit of trial and error on account of the shim’s slope. It’s best when used for light to moderately heavy furniture.
If you try to use furniture shims for, say, a heavy oak bookrack, the leveling isn’t impossible but it will involve multiple shifts forward and back to make sure everything is properly matched.
The back pain that will ensue after this ‘exercise’ is best left to the imagination.
One neat trick to overcome this is to directly glue the shim onto the bottom of the furniture, wherever you’d originally wanted it placed.
While this does solve the issue of multiple shifts for the correct level, it also has the downside of adhesive residue marring your furniture.
Only use this trick for furniture that you don’t mind getting dirty or stained.
4. Furniture Levelers
You may have already settled into your house and have no plans of moving for a long time coming. In this case, more permanent fixes like furniture levelers might be for you.
Furniture levels are akin to a set of circular pads with different thicknesses. They can be drilled into the bottom of your furniture’s legs so that its final appearance is of being level.
Aside from helping with instability, the levelers essentially allow your furniture to hover over the ground.
Furniture levelers are often adjustable, so you can always find the perfect level.
They help avoid the many scratches and scrapes that normally ensue when you try to move the furniture.
Because the levelers have to drill into the furniture, this trick is advisable only for furniture that doesn’t mind getting a couple of scratches on.
Any delicate or antique furniture you might have around the house is better off being leveled with a furniture shim. Using a leveler may face the risk of a scrape at the veneer or a crack in a leg.
How Do You Cover an Uneven Floor?
Even if you do know how to level furniture on uneven floor, the aesthetic aspect of an uneven floor is not something that can be fixed with a leveler or a shim.
At the end of the day, it is almost as important that your furniture be beautiful as it is for it to be safe.
Some easy ways to remedy this are by playing with either the flooring itself or with the illusion of uniformity.
One of the most effective tricks of taking your guests’ attention off your uneven flooring is to distract their eyes with a carpet or a rug.
If you’re using a shim or a rubber coaster to level your furniture, place a carpet over the shim/coaster. Then place the piece of furniture correctly oriented over the carpet.
The rug hides away the potential disruption of your home’s aesthetic from these leveling devices. It also gives the illusion of an even floor.
Another trick is to play with the levels visible to your guests. Unevenness is more pronounced when you try and match all your furniture to the same level.
If you make it a point to incorporate varying levels into your décor, especially within your furniture, the unevenness of the furniture from the floor will be less pronounced.
Even if someone does pick up on it, they will attribute it to the room’s aesthetic than to your uneven flooring.
Takeaway – Level Furniture. Level Head.
Well, this is it! Having read this article, you’re now in the loop on how to level furniture on uneven floor.
Use any of the above-listed tools to make sure your furniture is stable and safe for your family and guests to use.
Now that your head isn’t going to be rocked back and forth by that wobbly chair, you can finally get back to focusing on your other priorities.
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