creaky floors in new house

s8n

Folks,

Looking for peoples opinions here on what to do ?

Long story short.....

Moved into a brand new 3 bed semi D last July.
House was snagged by engineer and any probs sorted out.

However, since around mid Nov or so the heating (gas) has been out a lot more with the onset of winter. As a result the floors (building grade chipboard) upstairs have started to creak and move underneath your feet as I presume they are drying out. This is now getting worse. you can't move upstairs but it sounds like you will go through the floors. I have carpet down on all the rooms upstairs and don't really want to pull it up but it's getting unbearable.

What do people suggest, is the builder liable (I suspect some parts have'nt been nailed properly as you can feel boards squeak and move) or will I have to live with it / fix it myself ??

ifah

Best thing to do would be to take up your carpets and screw the chipboard to the joists using 50mm chip screws at about 10 inch centres - no more creaks - I did it on our new house before we put down the floors and it's the biz!

s8n

Thought about that but not keen on taking carpet up (never seems to go back down ok).

Can anyone see any liability on the builders side ??

Arcadian

Your not going to know if the liablity lies with the builder until you take up the carpets and see what the problem is.

CJhaughey

I would order X-ray specs first. That will give you a good indication of the problem without removing the carpet.
If upon close inspection with the X-ray specs you find that the floors are loose than Ifahs suggestion is the best way to fix the problem.

s8n

CJhaughey wrote:

I would order X-ray specs first. That will give you a good indication of the problem without removing the carpet.
If upon close inspection with the X-ray specs you find that the floors are loose than Ifahs suggestion is the best way to fix the problem.

Very helpful