New floor in loft conversion "cracks"

[bonnieg]

We had a loft conversion done in the summer and we've noticed that since the cold weather really kicked in, going up into the loft and walking across the floor first thing in the morning (before the heating has been on) the floor "cracks". It's not a creak... it's what can only be described as a cracking sound. It happens once, and if you pace around the room taking care to step on every board, that's it. There are no more creaks, no more cracks.

The floor is chipboard and we're going to be carpeting it. Do you think the underlay and carpet will stop this from happening? It's very noisy first thing in the morning!

 

[JohnD]

chipboard is not a very good material Ply is far stronger and more rigid.

See if, when you are walking on it, it cracks at the nails/screws. I had something similar where the joists were not perfectly flat, the boards seemed to rise up the screws a fraction, and walking on them pushed them back down. Tightening the screws, or replacing them with bigger ones, has mostly fixed it.

Do you know what size the joists were? If they were designed fore a loft (not a floor) they will have been undersized and liable to flex.

It will not get better on its own, it will get worse.

If you use additional screws, you need to know where pipes and cables are so you can avoid them. Careful workers pencil pipe-runs on the boards as they are being laid.

 

[bonnieg]

They certainly weren't careful workers - it has taken us months to put right their various mistakes. Everything they did was a bit of a bodged job, to be quite honest. It has taken us four months (since completion) just to get the work signed off by building control.

I don't know off the top of my head what size the joists were as I'd have to check the plans, which are in the bottom of a box somewhere in storage.

It's a shame the problem has only become evident in the past few weeks, now we're ready for our carpets to go in.

I'll tighten the existing screws tonight and see how it is first thing tomorrow morning. Thanks!

 

[JohnD]

countersunk screw heads tend to sink into chipboard when you tighten them, so consider a larger screw if this happens.