Levelling a very uneven wooden subfloor

[rcs]

Hi
Having read mattysupra's very useful sticky, I was wondering what is considered 'very uneven'. I'm looking at tiling the bathroom floor but the house has had settlement and the floor has a drop of 25mm over 2 metres to level. It's not a visible drop as the room is small but when you're standing at the sink, you can feel the lean.
I'm aware that you can level with compound upto 10mm but as the rest of the house isn't level, I don't really want a bubble flat floor, just a less 'unlevel' one. Its a joisted T&G first floor so was thinking of long tapered packers on the joists but sounds too time consuming and difficult to get right.
Any ideas anyone? Would appreciate your help.
rcs

 

[Jasonb]

The tapered packers of" Firings" as they are called is the best way. You will need to reinforce the floor with ply anyway so the best way is to take up the T&G, do any plumbing work, fit firings, lay 22-25mm WBP ply screwed at 200mm centers right down into the joists then tile straight onto the ply.

Jason

 

[rcs]

Cheers Jason
These 'Firings', do you have to make them or can you buy them?
Cheers
rcs

 

[rcs]

Do you mean 'furring' strips?
rcs

 

[Jasonb]

yes, you will probably have to make them yourself to suit the slope of the joists.

Jason

 

[mattysupra]

you can still get perfect if you want. build up with plywood of different thickness or a couple of pieces on top of each other. Feather out ridges/joints with sutible compound and then full ply over top or better still fibre bond over top as in my sticky.

 

[PilotPete]

If you are going to lift the existing flooring, why not just put 4x2 timbers either side of the existing joists but attach them so the tops are level? If you look at //www.diynot.com/forums/viewto...&start=0&sid=714a6065312893d1cb8ef819c044b9d7 I actually 'boxed' out between all the joists to really stiffen and level my bathroom floor. One of the pictures shows a close up of the battening which you can see is proud of the existing joists. The floor is as solid as a rock with 18mm WPB ply down with lots and lots of screws!

If you use a couple of big clamps, a tube of Gripfill and some long screws you can securely attach the battens making sure the tops are completely level and then your floor will be ideal for taking tiles. Don't forget to prime the WPB ply.

At the far end of my shower room I used the other method; using packers. I bought these from my local engineering shop and a big bag of them cost less than a fiver, all sizes from 1mm to 6mm. I had battened out to strengthen, but needed the finished ply surface a couple of mm higher. The packers worked fine, but remember if you use a packer in one area and raise your finished floor surface there, you will need to fiddle around elsewhere with various sizes of packers to ensure your ply is supported all over. I personally think the battening method is better as it gives 100% support all along the betten length and thus less possibility of flex, which you don't want if you are putting tiles down.....

PP

 

[rcs]

Hi PP
I didn't need to follow your link as I remember seeing your post before and thinking how impressive it was!!
The flooring that has had to be replaced has matched the existing within 5mm, albeit thinner, but I plan to lay hardboard to level to the existing floorboards, then fit furring strips and ply, all screwed through into the joists.
With a name like PilotPete, are you actually a pilot?
rcs

 

[PilotPete]

Yep, on these

 

[gcol]

Well can you tell me why pilots today land their aeroplanes like they're dropping a sack of spuds? A few years back the flights seemed to have much smoother landings. Is there a reason for this? (Obviously, I can only vouch for the planes I've been on, but I've not had a decent landing in years.)

 

[rcs]

Oh, very nice! I worked on those for Air New Zealand at Christchurch, now back in sunny Brum!!
rcs

 

[PilotPete]

Bit off topic (well a lot actualy!), but gcol you will find there are many, many reasons why an aeroplane is landed firmly. Your perception of a 'good' landing, like most passengers, is that the smoother it is the better it is. However, if you ask Mr Boeing what constitutes a 'good' landing he will tell you it is one where the aeroplane touches down exactly 1000ft into the runway, and on the firm side of smooth. To get a lovely smooth landing all you do is hold the nose off and leave a bit of power on, trouble is runway passes under you at an alarming rate when you are doing 160mph and if you are landing on a short runway it doesn't take a rocket scientist (or professional tiler ) to work out that is not the best situation to be in!

It could also be that overall experience levels have dropped compared to 20 years ago due to the huge increase in flights today. Another factor is the pilot just being cr@p of course!

 

[gcol]

As a passenger, I can only give my perception of a good landing as being smooth.
Most recent landings I've been subjected to, involved the plane almost being dumped onto the tarmac and then the brakes being applied. We then taxi on the runway (in a straight line) for what feels like miles - you don't need to be a rocket scientist or a professional tiler (I am not a professional tiler by the way) to recognise that these pilots panic that they're gonna run out of runway.
Are aeroplanes not fitted with impact sensors? Surely this would give a good indication of the abuse that passengers are subjected to? Airlines could then identify the rough pilots and give em a good rodgering.

 

[PilotPete]

'G' loading is recorded for landings and any 'G' limit exceedance will be followed up. You would be amazed at just how hard a landing can be before any 'G' limit is exceeded....he builds em well that Mr. B!

As for 'passenger abuse', well what you may consider 'abuse', the pilot may consider (and more importantly his employer and the regualtory authority) to be SAFE.

these pilots panic that they're gonna run out of runway

Maybe, maybe not, too many variables to have a meaningful discussion here and it's not really the place so I will leave it at that. (The professional tiler reference was with reference to this forum)

Safe landings!

PP

One final thought, a SAFE landing is one you can walk away from. A good landing is one where they can use the aeroplane again!

 

[gcol]

Fairy muff