The most creaking, cracking floorboards ever? What's wrong?

[charliebean]

My house was newly built in 2007. Since then the floorboards in the house have got worse and worse to the point where they are very very bad in a couple of rooms in particular. I took a video to show you how bad they are in the worst room which is the second bedroom. On the other side of the wall you see is the en-suite to the master bedroom.

The floorboards seem to move around quite a bit. I also think the floor is slightly bent in that room toward the centre. It isn't terribly well supported from below as directly below is the lounge which is even larger than the bedroom. Could that be why? The noises are almost as bad in the en-suite. Someone walking in the en-suite makes a racket in the bedroom and vise versa. Is he joining wall involved in some way?

I believe the house is still covered by its ten year warranty. Would appreciate any advice on how to fix this/get it fixed.

thank you

 

[dazlight]

Are you sure it's floorboards. That age property it will be chipboard I'd say.

 

[charliebean]

Are you sure it's floorboards. That age property it will be chipboard I'd say.

indeed, it is chipboard. I said floorboards without really thinking about the importance of the right terms, but you're right it is chipboard. I could lift the carpet and look at what make/type they are if that would help (assuming there is some identifying mark printed on them)?

 

[Burnerman]

Lift the carpet and tell us how the chipboard is fixed down, I think.....but you cant start bashing nails or screws in just now because you don't know whats down there in the way of pipes or cables etc.
John

 

[RigidRaider]

Absoluitely typical of chipboard, which has tongue & groove edges to lock the boards together. They are the Devil's own invention and a damned nuisance. After time they shrink, wear and begin to move against each other and up and down on the joists. Screwing them down works well but you've got to be sure you aren't going through a pipe or a cable. You might be lucky and find that the builder took the trouble to mark the pipe runs as ours did but I've still had one disaster....

 

[charliebean]

Lift the carpet and tell us how the chipboard is fixed down, I think.....but you cant start bashing nails or screws in just now because you don't know whats down there in the way of pipes or cables etc.
John

Lifted a section where worst and not a single screw or nail.

 

[Burnerman]

Hence the creaking!
To be safe, you'll need to be aware of whats under there......pipes, cables etc will probably be in joist notches - no one knows, unfortunately.
John

 

[charliebean]

There's no markings that I can see, so what on earth do I do? I can't bare it any longer, you can't even roll over in bed without a racket. But I don't want to put a whole in the central heating pipes or an electric cable or whatever.

 

[Burnerman]

No easy answer I'm afraid......if it was mine, I'd lift one of those boards (they will be laid across the joists) and then look into the void.....you should be able to see the length of the room. If there are no cables or pipes, mark the centre of the joists with a pencil and a long straight length of timber so you'll know where to put the screws.
A typical screw size would be 50x5, and the chipboard sheets could be 2' x 8' but we can't guarantee that, and they are likely to be tongue and grooved together. You'll need a jigsaw to cut through to lift them.
Do you want to continue?
John

 

[Echo the husky]

Good luck! I'm in the same situation, with solid joists and copper pipes notched into the tops of the joists. House 10 years old.

Absoluitely typical of chipboard, which has tongue & groove edges to lock the boards together...

If it is typical, why is this method of construction still permitted when it is clearly unsatisfactory? Or have these floors been installed incorrectly? Is there a method of installing chipboard floors that won't creak after a few years? Creaking floors are so annoying!

 

[Burnerman]

It's not really the chipboard mate, it's how it's laid......after all, the sheets are fairly big, they are nice and flat ( great for laminate etc), don't cup like traditional floorboards and so on. Shrinkage isn't an issue.
So long as it doesn't get wet, it's absolutely fine and has been used for years.
If I'm using it, I fix it with screws and keep the joins over a joist or put a noggin in.
John

 

[Echo the husky]

Thanks, do you glue your joins and or the tops of the joists or just use screws?

 

[Burnerman]

Just screws really - but hefty ones, such as 50x5. I may use some glue to help out if there's an awkward situation, but thats only sheet to sheet - not onto the joist as the sheet will tear if it is ever lifted up again.
The 'standard' chipboard is 18 or 22mm thick, but there's a more recent creation which is 22mm thick but has a plastic finish on one side....tough as hell it is, too! Good for bathrooms, that one - but drenching is still a no-no.
John

 

[charliebean]

thanks for the advice. I am going to need to think how best to tackle this in the New Year.

 

[RigidRaider]

You have my sympathy. If the builder used ring-shank nails you've got a real battle on your hands because the board will break before the nail pulls out.

If it's really driving you nuts, the ony solution is to take them all up, mark out and photograph the pipes and cables then screw them down again properly. At least this allows you to set things up for lifting the boards in the future; where they may need to be lifted you can cut off the tongue and lay them end to end and fit noggins or screw and glue a batten to the underneath of one then screw the other down onto it, creating hatches for access.

Like I wrote above they are the Devil's invention. Even worse is when they get wet and turn into something that looks like Weetabix and smells like my mother-in-law.