Suspended timber floor question

[Trose99]

Hi

My house has a suspended timber floor and under the floor is alot of space roughly 6 foot

Now the floor is weak and I have had some small repairs done by a handyman but it is still weak as this house made in the 40s I was wondering if it makes more sense to get the ground floor main timber joist replaced with a steel beam rsj

Would this be easy to replace or would it be a pricey and long job?

Any advice is great

Thanks in advance

 

[KenGMac]

Trose99, good evening.

Sorry I am confused?

You mention "Weak" do you mean the floor [or Floors???] are bouncing? how many floors??

What repairs did the handyman undertake?

Any chance of finding out the dimensions of the floor joists and the clear span of the joists?

Ken.

 

[bobasd]

Typically, no steel is needed in residential floors - unless its a major Remedial repair.

 

[VDubDan]

If they've never been replaced then it's likey you need to replace the joists. Our house is only a bit older than yours (30's) and both suspended floors were completely shot. We replaced like for like, with slightly bigger timbers and they're rock solid now. Took the opportunity to insulate, too.

It's not a complex job, but I imaging very disruptive in a finished house (we did ours as part of the renovation). Obviously going to mean new floorboards, new flooring, new skirting board and likely a chunk of making good (i.e., plastering)

 

[^woody^]

You don't want steel beams in an underfloor humid environment.

Use timber and make sure its nogged and it will be stiff enough

 

[Trose99]

@KenGMac Its just the ground floor and you can hear it sound weak and crunch as you walk ontop of the floor on certain sections. also a small jump will make the bookshelf rock.

there is just 1 long joist that seems to span the length of the house with a wall under the house keeping it up roughly in the middle

it does seem steel is the wrong choice

@VDubDan would it be possible to just replace the long timber that spans the length of the house? and ive never done anything like it did you do it yourself or pay somebody?

Thanks in advance

 

[KenGMac]

Trose99, good evening again.

OK Sorry to be "pedantic" but I am still confused? [not all that unusual for me?]

What is the front to back distance?
What is the left to right distance?

Is the "1 long joist that seems to span the length, Etc, Etc, Etc" does this joist support other joists ???

What are the dimensions of all of the joists??

Ken

 

[Trose99]

@KenGMac

Hi,

sorry the the delay.

the the front to back distance is roughly 7.6 metres long.
the left to right distance ins roughly 5 metres wide.

yes 1 long joist does support all the other joist above it. there does seem to be certain areas of the ground floor that is weake (By weak i mean the floor can move when being walked on and can be seen a small bounce)

i am no carpenter but i would give anything a try if that makes sense i am concerned it could cost a lot to pay a carpenter to do it for me

any advice would be great

Thanks in advance

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Joist dimensions?
Sounds as if due to the depth to subfloor the builders used a big chunk of timber front to back instead of a dwarf wall (which would be more normal)
Presumably you have access to this space- apart from general movement, are the joists in good order (no major splits, no rot)? You say the floor moves- is it just the floorboards flexing or is it the joists? (Lucky you you can get under there with a tape measure and measure the distance from joist to subfloor with and without weight on the floor)
If you're not planning on using that space and the timbers are good then 2 or 3 triangular frames (4 x 2) supporting that spine beam would stiffen the job up, along with noggins between the joists.
If the timbers are poor then yes they can be replaced but long spans make for big timbers which will cost. Not rocket science to do and carpenter not required, general builder job that