hollow sounding floor

[Chin85]

hi all

just moved into a new property and the living room is now what used to be the garage (conversion).
the floor throughout the rest of the property is original and sounds solid, however the floor in the living room sounds totally hollow and rubbish.

i havent properly lifted the carpets yet (too many boxes) but i'm assuming from the sound it's a suspended floor above the concrete foundations with a layer of chip board or something similar and cheap screwed into the joists.

does anyone have any tips on how i can make this sound less hollow? to give an idea, when you kick your toe into the floor it sounds like a plaster boarded wall.

would replacing the chipboard with a thicker ply help this issue? i'm also not sure if there is any insulation between the joists, i'll check this out too - but in the meantime wondering / hoping there's something i can lay down to make it sound less cheap!

thanks

 

[vinn]

Until the room and floor are cleared of boxes and coverings you dont really know what you've got.
There are a range of possibilities causing the "hollow sounds" - so clear the room and post photos of the whole floor and details of the floor on here please.
I would probably advise to unscrew and lift a convenient floor panel that abuts on a wall, and examine the construction below the surface.

 

[Chin85]

Thanks
Here's a pic of what's going on
Joists look good. Clearly there's no insulation but it seems like there's some cheap chipboard (could be wrong) just nailed in.

What do you think? Any other material I could use to make it sound less hollow and cheap?

Thanks

 

[vinn]

Is the black material stapled to the joist tail DPC material?
Has the joist tail been notched as it enters a "wall pocket"?
How much depth is there below, between the joist and the garage floor slab?
The eadge of the chipboard appears to be missing the top bearing edge of the joist - what section joist is that?
All chipboard (any sub-floor) should be screwed to the joists.
The chipboard you show is square edged - this is wrong. All sub-floor panels should be T&G. Unless that raw edge is where you have sawed the panel loose?

Chipboard is fit for purpose - pretty soon there will only be composite panels available.

 

[Chin85]

Thanks.
There's about 1ft between the sub floor and the concrete.
No insulation at all and the chip board is a mother f*#cker to get up. Whoever put it down has used flat head nails with a screw thread. I don't know how to get them up!!

There is no tonge and groove. Just straight edges all over. I'd like to lift it all to insulate and then replace with some better sub floor that is T&G and less hollow sounding!

Any thoughts? Thanks for help so far.

 

[vinn]

Have you probed the joist tail where it enters the wall?
Are joists on 400mm centres?
All panel edges must land on joists.
Panels can be glued down with construction glue.
If the joists are not wedged firmly into wall pockets they can flex.
A cheap nail puller will lift any nail or fixing eg. De Walt claw bar at screwfix.