Upstairs internal wall built on 12mm floorboards

[Hardeep]

Hello folks

I've got a house I'm renovating that was built in the 60's. The floor boards aren't in great condition so I started ripping some out and then found a partition between the bathroom and main bedroom has been built upon the 12mm floorboards. They run continously through it end to end
If I remove the boards under it the likely scenerio is the block wall will collapse.
Any help and suggestions would be most apprieciated.

 

[KenGMac]

Hardeep, good evening.

A few questions? are the floor joists running parallel with the wall or are the Joists at 90 degrees to the wall?

Also suggest you stop ripping up the floors until you get some answers from the forum.

Do you know what type of block the wall is made from, and finally, is the block wall resting on a timber bearer and the bearer resting on the flooring? if so, what is the size of the bearer?

What was considered OK back in the day, was that the block wall was built of the flooring, but there was a pair of joists running the full length of the wall, directly below the flooring and hence the block wall.

Sorry for more questions than answers that you are looking for, but?

Ken.

 

[chappers]

If I remove the boards under it the likely scenerio is the block wall will collapse.
Any help and suggestions would be most apprieciated.

It is possible yes, as Ken says the wall should have been built over a doubled set of joists but this isn't always the case.

First just take up a couple of boards back flush to the wall so that you can see under the wall to see if it is supported or not. Then report back

 

[Hardeep]

Thanks for the responses folks.
There are two walls that run parallel with the joist. Looks like the builders were half drunk that day as the walls aren't resting on top of the joists, one wall is about 50mm away from the joist the other wall is built smack bank in the middle of two joists. I only took a few boards up so hopefully no issues, they're only breeze block walls so they should be pretty light and enough for the existing floorboards to take.

 

[chappers]

yep but don't cut out all the boards or it will collapse, take them out from the next joist away.

 

[xdrive]

Just a quick question related to this. Can you build stud wall on floorboard between joists that run parallel. I have a onsuite to build. Cheers

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Yes, but what you need to do is as a minimum is to lift the floorboards where the wall will go and fix timber crosspieces (technically noggins) every 400mm between the two joists which run adjacent to the line of the new wall so that you form a sort of ladder frame. If your joists are, say, 7 x 2s you should aim for the noggins to be at least 6 x 2 cross section. Use 2 to 3 screws skewed in either side at each end or if using a nailer toe nail the noggins in place. In an ideal world you'd really want to sister the joists either side of the line of the new wall as well, but for a lightweight stud wall this method should work providing the existing floor isn't too weak/bouncy

 

[Aduca]

Hi! I have the same problem. How dis you solve the problem? Thanks a lot, Andrei

 

[foxhole]

Hi! I have the same problem. How dis you solve the problem? Thanks a lot, Andrei

No problem mentioned here, what's yours?

 

[Aduca]

Thanks for replying. I have the same problem as @Hardeep. I am planning to change my floorboards in my 1950s house the I have noticed that the dividing wall between the master bedroom and small bedroom sits directly on top of 18mm old floorboards. I have looked underneath and there is nothing to support the weight of the wall. I’ve looked at the wall and it looks like is made from concrete blocks. I’m really worried and I have seen other people reporting the same kind of problem but no solution. Or the other question to ask is: Is this a serious problem? If I start to remove my old floorboards how can I ensure that the wall will not collapse? Thanks a lot and any suggestions will be very much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The significant question to answer is, "do the floor boards run at right angles to the block wall, or not?"

 

[Aduca]

Thanks @JobAndKnock. The floorboards run perpendicular to the wall. I am not an expert and I would like to know what the DIY community say. Thanks

 

[Dereekoo]

So your walls are supported off floorboards and you want to remove the floorboards and support them on air?

 

[Aduca]

Yes! The solid wall sits on the floor board perpendicular and I would like to change them. Any options you guys suggest? Thanks

 

[xdrive]

@Aduca if you remove a couple of boards then use a few acrow props under neath.

Maybe you can add noggins between the 2 joists under so the wall is supported by noggins.

Yes! The solid wall sits on the floor board perpendicular and I would like to change them. Any options you guys suggest? Thanks

Im assuming it's a single wall. Is it supporting anything above? Are any joists sitting on top of it?