Creaking joists. Help!

[beekay22]

Hi guys

We moved in to a new house which was only built 13 years ago. It had a horrendous creaking first floor and you can hear everything when downstairs.

We are in the process of ripping out all of the chip board and replacing with ply + adding some sound insulation in the gaps.

However, having done one room, it doesn't seem like it's making a huge difference. There is some noise reduction but still a lot of creaking.

As we took up the chip board in the second room, i stood on the joists. They seem to be making a lot of noise.

Has anyone come across this? Is there a fix? There doesn't seem to be anything online - all advice points to replacing floorboards.

Thanks!

Beekay.

 

[vinn]

Is there any bounce or sway when you stand on the floor?

Chipboard is a perfectly adequate flooring material - despite what some people claim.
If its correctly screwed down, & in some cases, glued & screwed down.

Often, the creaking you describe is due to :
1. Inadequate joists - the section is too light for the span.
2. The joist bearing ends are not firmly fixed in position, and the joist is allowed to move under foot traffic pressure.
3. Lack of noggins or wedging or packing.
4. Shrinkage from heating.
5. Rubbing against abutments of some kind.
6. Fixings are often shot into the floor & can miss the joist or noggin.
There are many more possibilities unfortunately.
Plus copper pipework can be notorious for squeaking - and ticking sounds.

In a modern house the structure could be timber frame stud work, or masonry & stud partitions etc.
Lifting the flooring near the joist seating and examining the joists for any of the above possibilities might be an option?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Its very common with new houses, everything is spec'd down to the bear minimum, how did you go about fitting your new boards? T&G glued every 200mm?

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Although not a tried and tested solution, might be worth trying spraying some Pledge furniture spray as it has lubricating properties, whether it will work on reducing the creaking noise I am not sure as I have nothing creaky to test it on, it does however stop creaky hinges when you haven't got oil at hand in door hinges, and other metal to metal rubbing surfaces, I bought an Engraving table many years ago, the guy who sold it to me recommended using Pledge spray on spiralled shafts and linear bearings, and it has done an excellent job, it reduces friction drastically, I use it on door catches and so on for smooth closing and gliding, it may be worth trying on wooden joists and in the end it won't do any harm for trying even if it doesn't work, most households have a pledge furniture spray.

 

[vinn]

Spraying it on what? We dont yet know what the cause is.
There's also the possibility of any such spray staining the ceiling below.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Spraying into any gaps between joints and moving timbers, noise is caused by friction, if two surfaces were able to slide over one another with less friction, the noise would stop or in the least reduce, but like I said furniture spray which is made of wax and possibly other chemicals, might help and might not, I can't see how a small amount of spray is going to seep through to the other side of ceiling, I am just holding a can of Johnson's Pledge, its list of contents don't mention any wax, but says it contains limonene and some other uncommon products. check on internet, it warns not to use the spray near naked flames and on bath tubs, because it would make them very slippery like an ice ring. Candle wax is another very good lubricant for door bolt-catch as you just rub a few strokes of any candle on the curved surface of the bolt latch and the door would shut smoothly rather than having to bang hard to shut, these secretes passed on by old timers and it works wonders without using grease to lubricate as grease can get on your clothes but candle wax does not.

I checked on google another suggestion is using talcum powder or even graphite powder, screw in extra loggings, screwing in floor boards can also help tremendously.

 

[beekay22]

Thanks all.
No T&G on this one. We are going for 18mm ply and screwing down regularly. We are not using glue. Not sure whether that is the solution to the root cause or not.
Will do some more investigation of the joists this morning with the carpenters. I hope these guys are capable of looking at this all properly!

Thanks for all the help! Any more advice always appreciated!
Beekay

 

[HERTS P&D]

If it is not the chipboard flooring then it's the joists.

Andy

 

[beekay22]

The chipboard was crappy and cheap and not well screwed down. I'm glad we're replacing it. Also installing some rockwool 75mm RWA whilst we have everything lifted up.

As you say Andy, the challenge is whether the guys i have around can address the joists. They are doing a great job with everything else.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

I think once all the floor boards screwed down to the creaky joists, then the the whole structure becomes unitary, or as one and the noise should disappear. Hope for best.

 

[bobsuerita]

if your using ply make sure you leave a gap between joints or you will get creaking when joints rub amd remember most floor noises are mechanical ie fixings
most mordern engineered floors dont have mechanical fixing so use a d4 or mastic adeshive