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?
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?