Faulty Flooring - bit of advice please

cb

Our house was built approx 4 and half years ago. Over the past few weeks I have noticed an increasing number of squeaks throughout the whole of upstairs. Now worryingly I am noticing up and down movements in every room, almost a slight "bounce" in some places. To remove all the furniture and pull up the carpets is going to be a mammoth task so I am just wondering if this is just one of those things but not particularly serious or should I be worried

mad m

id say stuff like that happens in relatively new houses...i moved from a new house but during my 3 years in it,what i noticed was floor boards do creak and bounce after a short time,frames being to open out etc...its all to do with the heating during winter and expanding everything and in summer it contracts.....but your problem is just the few brad nails are slightly coming loose from the expansion....or maybe some are not there at all....One part of my house there was a couple of Brad nails missing due to the fact that where they should of hammered home a nail there was a heating pipe just below so they left it....so be careful if you decide to take up carpet and bang or drill a nail or screw in

i noticed in my old(new)house was the skirtings they were so tight to the floor boards when i moved in and after a year or so you could of slid a coin under it....seems the house settles also....

Id say your ok but i know how a creaky floorboard can get on your nerves so pull up carpet and get a cordless drill with couple of screws and screw it down into joist....making sure you drill into the joist now and not into any pipes...


goodluck

Victor

It might be that you are aware of the creak and are now being sensative. Potentially, you can lift the flooring and add some extra screws.

cb

Thanks, I think I have just been getting more aware of it. I took up the bathroom vinyl as that seems to be one of the worst rooms and when I pushed down on the board with my hand I could see it go up and down. When we are sat downstairs with kids running round above us you would almost be afraid the ceiling is about to come down but overall it doesn't seem too serious, more of an annoyance.

RicardoSmith

Fresh timber always drys out a bit after a few months/years in a house. So they shrink a bit and leave gaps. They should be clamped very tightly when they are put down, to counter this. But if they weren't clamped that tightly you might see wider gaps than usual. Add a nail or screw here and there and you should notice an improvement.

Hagar

A light dusting of talcum powder between squeeking boards is helpful in cutting down the noise. It provides a little dry lubrication. Try it, its cheap and it works.

cb

Thanks all. the heel test was interesting as there was less "bounce" than from normal walking around, and the bouncing is pinpointed to a few spots where I suspect the nail has worked very loose.

Guess what our weekend in going to consist of

Hagar

Ah nails..... the great waterpipe detectors of our age.