Question about joists

[vampyr]

Morning all,

I live in an end-terrace house built in 1970 and I have a question about joists. In a couple of weeks time I'll be having cavity wall insulation extracted from the gable end due to damp coming through the walls on the ground floor level.

As I'm paranoid about the damage the damp has done, I wanted to ask about my ceiling joists. My upstairs landing creaks a little bit in a few areas - nothing major but these are high traffic areas so I don't know if this will affect it.

The problem is, the landing/stairs and bathroom all run adjacent to the gable-end wall (the one I'm having issues with damp on). Like I say, I'm paranoid about this and worry that my joists might be rotting out and that this is the cause of the creaky floorboards.

One other thing of note is that the floor (at the top of the stairs) isn't creaky right next to the skirting board on the gable-end wall and that the creaks only occur further away into the house. Part of me wants to pull the carpet up and have a look underneath the floorboards but part of me feels this is extreme.

What I'm trying to get to the bottom of, is how much chance is there of damp from the outside (gable-end) wall likely to cause or threaten the joist ends to rot? I don't really know too much about how they are installed and that lack of knowledge is causing me to worry. I don't have any signs of penetrating damp upstairs and the only place this is current affecting the house is downstairs (concrete floor).

If I did need to take a look at the joists, who would be best to call? I.e, a builder? carpenter or a surveyor/structural engineer?

 

[blup]

It's not extreme to pull up a floorboard, but your DIY knowledge means you should research basic house construction before you attempt this. Go to your local library rather than simply research DIYNOT because the advice given here is by it's nature specific rather than broad based.

Blup

 

[tony1851]

The creaking is unlikely to be caused by any dampness affecting the ends of the joists (that's not to say you haven't got a damp-joist problem).

 

[vampyr]

Thanks for your replies. I think I'll leave it to the experts and get someone in to check for me. I don't have any reason to believe that the joists are rotting out - I only think this as I have a tendancy to think of the worst case scenario - and then worry about it. If the joists were rotting, are there options to remedy this? Or will I potentially be looking at a complete removal and refit? I think the question I would like to have answered the most is; are joists 'keyed' into the wall itself or are there things like metal brackets that leave a small space between the wall and the wooden joists? I only ask as someone briefly mentioned there would be 'a small gap' between these but I can't remember anything more than that.

 

[^woody^]

A joist problem would show itself as cracked ceilings before creaky floors.

 

[blup]

Either built into the wall or sat on joist hangars.

The remedy depends on how advanced the rot is (if there is rot) but individual joists can be repaired or replaced

As you say best to get an expert in.

Blup