Problem with creaky floorboards.

RobbieHawkins

Hi Looking for some advice if possible,

Bought a new house 6 months ago and in fairness builders completed most of the snag (Bar touching up the paintjob as blotchy in places) however 2 issues have since cropped up which I did not have on snag.

There is excessive creaking coming from the first floor when someone is walking around. I expect some noise but it really is excessive and obvious when downstairs. As far as I know builder put down two sheets of Plywood but they must not be sitting on the joycing properly or not enough screws put in (Only a guess I know very little about construction).

A second problem when we flush the upstairs toilet the noise coming down the pipes in the sitting groom is very loud. I think the pipe is coming down a dummy wall.

I brought this to builders attention but they have not come out to the house as promised.

3 question's:

- Can these issues be fixed?
- If so are the builders obliged to fix them?
- if not how much would it cost to get these issues fixed.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post.

Yellow_Fern

There are quite a lot that can be done soundproofing wise. Contractors could probably install a special sound damping plasterboard on that wall you mention with a acoustic rockwool too.
Apparently in the old days these pipes were made with ceramic or cast iron and these are silent but no one uses these materials anymore. Everything is a bout using the cheapest material. I am not sure if a builder could get a cast iron soil pipe but worth checking.
I have no idea if the builder has to do these fixes for you but there are regulations now on sound pollution so check if you houses meets them. I suspect your house does but I have no idea really.
Ask the developer for the house plans. These often show where the soil pipe goes.

Yellow_Fern

There are special thick wall PVC piping that performs like cast iron (e.g. System 15® PVC in Canada) but installing any new piping is going to be an unpleasant job.

RobbieHawkins

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely wouldn't go changing the pipes and to be honest the creaky floorboards is a much bigger problem than the pipe.

Any ideas on what could be done with the floorboards?

Cyrus

RobbieHawkins wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely wouldn't go changing the pipes and to be honest the creaky floorboards is a much bigger problem than the pipe.

Any ideas on what could be done with the floorboards?

Lay wooden floors over them or cheaper option is use a layer of ply to cross reinforce the osb

The noise is the osb boards rubbing

landcrzr

There are probably too few fixings in the plywood. Check what's there. Ideally screws should be no more than 300 mm centers, even better at 200 mm. Assuming a 20 m ply, I'd go with 4.5 X 50 or 60.
You need to be careful though, plumber or electrician should have their pipes and cables about half the depth of the joists. If you really want to be sure of service location, you can hire a scope to pass through a small hole in the ply floor.

pablo128

That's if the floor is even ply. It could be chipboard.

Yellow_Fern

pablo128 wrote: »

That's if the floor is even ply. It could be chipboard.

Mostly OSB these days or even entirely?

landcrzr

Still needs to be well screwed down regardless.