Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Jan 07, 2013 7:52 am Hi I am new to the forum and hopefully I have posted this in the right thread. I have a question regarding my mums place which I believe was built in the 40's or 50's (don't quote me on that). Lately when you walk over certain sections of the floor in the hallway and part of the lounge room there are creaking sounds that appear to more excessive than just floorboards rubbing together. It appears to be more noisy in the morning than in the afternoon, but this could be that there is more outside noise on the street outside (she lives on a major road). I think the entire house was restumped with concrete stumps around twenty years ago when my dad renovated the kitchen and there are no major cracks in the plaster except for a few hairline ones in some rooms. The floors and widow frames still appear to be mostly level although I am only using a old spirit level to measure. IDoes this sound like a major problem? Re: Creaking floors question? 2Jan 07, 2013 8:22 am No , it's probably just creaking floorboards. Pretty easy to fix. Roll the carpet back and walk over the area in question. Put a few extra nails in the affected boards. Another thing is to sprinkle some talcum powder over the floor - use a broom to distribute it by brushing 90º to the direction of the floorboards. Being very fine it will gradually trickle down into the grooves and stop any minor creaks. Stewie Re: Creaking floors question? 3Jan 08, 2013 11:48 am Sometimes you need to add extra cross braces under the floor if it is more than boards rubbing together. There was something about it on one of the reno shows a few weeks ago. Google it and you'll find info on it. Re: Creaking floors question? 4Jan 10, 2013 3:05 pm Just an idea. Talcum powder is said to be good. I remember an older place we had. I'd search out the spot that creaked - have my wife stand there while I went under the house - then - after she'd walked on the offending beam/board - put in these little metal wedge things I'd bought at the hardware shop. With a hammer. Seemed to work OK. Re: Creaking floors question? 5Jan 15, 2013 4:27 pm Creaking tongue-and-groove chipboard floors are common in houses built since the Eighties. In my opinion, chipboard is not suitable for domestic flooring, because it is an inherently unstable material which is bound to sag under its own weight. This causes the joints between adjacent boards to open up, and it is the edges rubbing against each other that cause the creaking. The only fool-proof solution would be to remove the chipboard and replace it with proper timber. This will be difficult in places where timber stud walls have been built directly on top of the chipboard. This is just one of the reasons why I have always advised readers not to buy new developer-built homes. Re: Creaking floors question? 7Jan 16, 2013 9:37 am landscapingcont Creaking tongue-and-groove chipboard floors are common in houses built since the Eighties. In my opinion, chipboard is not suitable for domestic flooring, because it is an inherently unstable material which is bound to sag under its own weight. This causes the joints between adjacent boards to open up, and it is the edges rubbing against each other that cause the creaking. The only fool-proof solution would be to remove the chipboard and replace it with proper timber. This will be difficult in places where timber stud walls have been built directly on top of the chipboard. This is just one of the reasons why I have always advised readers not to buy new developer-built homes. Or go cement slab. Is this simialr in some ways to the ceiling issues we heard about recently ? Re: Creaking floors question? 8Jan 16, 2013 11:00 am Excessive dampness in sub floor area can cause floor board cupping and hence creaking as it rolls when you step on it. Check sub floor for leaks and poor ventilation. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Creaking floors question? 9Jan 31, 2013 2:40 pm building-expert Excessive dampness in sub floor area can cause floor board cupping and hence creaking as it rolls when you step on it. Check sub floor for leaks and poor ventilation. The floor boards were layed 70 years ago, Im assuming if dampness was a problem the boards would have come up 50 years ago. Re: Creaking floors question? 10Jan 31, 2013 3:03 pm Robbie1950 building-expert Excessive dampness in sub floor area can cause floor board cupping and hence creaking as it rolls when you step on it. Check sub floor for leaks and poor ventilation. The floor boards were layed 70 years ago, Im assuming if dampness was a problem the boards would have come up 50 years ago. You have not considered possibility of a new leak/source of dampness. Buildings are not like vine they don't get better with age. Trees grow, root systems block drains, subsequent additions and modifications could be the problem, it could be any number of reasons that's why I recommended checking. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Creaking floors question? 11Feb 05, 2013 5:15 am Most of those houses had kiln dried hardwood strip flooring. Likely something has happened to bearers and joists. I agree more creaking with particleboard and I am taking a close look at Hardie cement composite internal flooring. Anyone had any experience with this product? Ain't that the truth! We used to have a tile roof and had it replaced with colorbond and suddenly everything throughout the entire house sounds louder! 4 6698 2 4684 3 5593 |