Will this floor creak???

[Inchy]

I'm about to start on a self build and had an architect involved in drawing up my design. I specified that I wanted a solid 1st floor and not one that was going to creak and squeak a couple of years down the line.

In his drawings, he's designed the floor as "22 T&G flooring grade chipboard on sw joists with steel intermediate support beams where indicated and joist hangers to walls. Midspan strutting to joists".

The steel support beams are because we're spanning an internal gap of 6m, so there is a beam across the middle of each of the affected rooms cutting the joist span to 3m on each side of the beam.

There's no mention of how thick / deep the softwood joists are supposed to be, or how frequent the midspan strutting is supposed to be along the length of each joist.

What I'm wondering is are softwood joists and chipboard flooring going to lead to creaking floors in the future? Or does that depend entirely on the joist dimensions and/or amount of midspan strutting? We've had Building Regs approval for this so I don't want to do any unnecessary changes, but I also don't want to regret it a few years later when my landing squeaks with every step!

Any advice welcome!

 

[joe-90]

I've never met anyone with a chipboard floor that didn't loath the stuff after a year or two. It should be outlawed in my opinion.

 

[noseall]

if you want a creak free floor, do not, under any circumstances use t&g chipboard flooring.

as joe says, the stuff should be confined to exhibition hall floors only where it is scrapped after each show!

 

[Inchy]

if you want a creak free floor, do not, under any circumstances use t&g chipboard flooring.

as joe says, the stuff should be confined to exhibition hall floors only where it is scrapped after each show!

Thanks for the info, folks - any suggestions on a replacement that won't require a Building Regs change, or will ANY replacement mean going back to Building Regs requesting an amendment??

ps just found that the dimensions for his sw joists are 220x47mm at 600mm intervals

 

[JohnD]

I've got some chipboard floors. they're awful. I've replaced one bit with WBP ply which is certainly better. You could ask your architect if he can amend the spec to flooring ply which is available in the same sizes as chipboard.

Chipboard falls apart if damp e.g. from splashes and drips in bathroom and kitchen, or a tap left running by mistake.

I quite like the idea of floorboards.

The chipboard cracked first at the bottom of stairs where people tend to jump off or land heavily, then in the kitchen in front of the sink (not because of damp but because it is stood on a lot) and under the heaviest appliances in the kitchen. It also broke where boards met at a T&G but were not supported by a joist which I think is poor construction but is quite common.

 

[noseall]

t&g pine flooring is very versatile and portable. i would not consider using anything else.
ply takes some beating as far as resilience is concerned but is not as portable as pine t&g planks.

ask any plumber or electrician which flooring material they would rather work with.

 

[JohnD]

Every professional carries a few simple tools to help open floorboards and notch joists

 

[Inchy]

t&g pine flooring is very versatile and portable. i would not consider using anything else.
ply takes some beating as far as resilience is concerned but is not as portable as pine t&g planks.

ask any plumber or electrician which flooring material they would rather work with.

Hi noseall -

Why would you want you floor to be portable? Isn't that taking the phrase "mobile home" to the extreme?

Seriously though, I assume you mean that as ply presumably comes in sheets it's more difficult to carry / lay etc?

Regardless of that, do you think that ply would be squeak free as flooring? We're also looking at wet UFH with this too, so would that have any effect on using ply as flooring do you think???

 

[JohnD]

if you need to run a pipe or cable under the floor, it's much easier to take up a pine plank 100mm wide than a sheet 1440mm wide

Easiest of all is square-edged boards as used in houses prior to (about) the 1960's. Fitted carpets and laminate flooring turns an easy little job into such a dreadful pain that people often say things like "it's impossible to run a proper cooker circuit" or "it's impossible to main-bond the water pipe"

Where I've put ply down it doesn't squeak, I don't know how much that's due to my superior fitting skills or at least I use screws not nails, and don't leave any unsupported joins. It also seems to make less noise from footfalls I think.

 

[FiscoKing]

Sorry to hijack this thred, but I also am thinking of using pine t&g instead of caberfloor chipboard.

My question is, is the strength of the pine t&g equivalent or better than the same thickness of P5 chipboard T&G?

I have 18mm chipboard down at the moment. To keep all the floors level (I will not be replacing all the chipboard floors), I would need (I assume) the same thickness of pine T&G.

If i have to go for thicker pine to get a rigid floor, then there will be a step where the pine meets the chipboard.

Thanks.

 

[bananaspark]

inchy, you paid and 'architect' who recomended chipboard??!

ask him if he got his degree online for 50 quid.

either that or it's yet another reason why I dont trust the 'professionals'



b/

 

[noseall]

Sorry to hijack this thred, but I also am thinking of using pine t&g instead of caberfloor chipboard.

My question is, is the strength of the pine t&g equivalent or better than the same thickness of P5 chipboard T&G?

I have 18mm chipboard down at the moment. To keep all the floors level (I will not be replacing all the chipboard floors), I would need (I assume) the same thickness of pine T&G.

If i have to go for thicker pine to get a rigid floor, then there will be a step where the pine meets the chipboard.

Thanks.

regular 18mm t&g pine flooring will beat chipboard hands down. any thicker is a bonus.

 

[mattysupra]

plywood is the best. Chipboard should be banned. Square edge floorboards are also good. Only problem with plywood is running cables , pipes etc. But if fitted well and screwed not nailed , there isn't really any problems taken it back up. Just got to know what your doing when uplifting and putting it back down.