why has my floor sunk?

[matty0908]

Hi,

I had a double storey extension built over a year ago. The floor used for the 1st floor is 18mm or 25mm chipboard (ok, its cr@p), this is nailed to very large joists supported by an RSJ one side and hangers the other. This was all approved by the building regs inspector.

The 1st floor floor is now approx 1/4" lower than when it was built!!!!! There are 1/4" gaps under the architrave. The bathroom tiles not longer touch the tiles bathroom floor by 1/4". The new floor is now 1/4" lower that the old floor!!!!

There are no cracks either upstatirs or downstiars!!!

I'm gonna get the builder back, but any ideas what is going on here??

Cheers,

Matt.

 

[FredFlintstone]

Just a thought, and I doubt it could account for a 1/4" drop, but could it be because the "very large" joists hadn't been dried properly before being installed and as such, have now dried fully and shrunk, hence the lower level of floor?

Regards

Fred

 

[Softus]

Has it sunk by 1/4" all round. i.e. is there a 1/4" gap under the skirting board on all walls, uniformly?

 

[^woody^]

1/4 inch is nothing in shrinkage terms after a year. I would say acceptable.

In any case, skirting and architrave should not touch the floor, and neither should wall tiles.

If I was the builder, I would say it is natural shrinkage, and I could not be reasponsible for your heating patterns or lifestyle - which would have affected the humidity in the property.

 

[The-brickie]

In any case, skirting and architrave should not touch the floor, and neither should wall tiles.

So when a carpenter stands/kneels a bit of cut off skirting to make it follow the floor I should say "your not supposed to let the skirting touch the floor "^woody^" from diynot told me" and I wont look a tit?

7mm is not a massive amount of settlement, cant you (or get the builder) seal it with a 10mm bead of flexible sealant?

 

[matty0908]

Thanks for the responses!!

What is this amount of settlement due to then? as only the 1st storey is affected? Is it the wooden joists? as it it was the foundations, bricks, etc......then i woud have seen cracks all over?

This still leaves me with a really bad squeaky 18mm chipboard floor!!! Ive added extra screws with no joy, i.m gonna rip it up.......whats best to replace with and whats the cost (18m^2)........?

Sure i can add a 10 mm flex sealant, and thats OK in the en-suite as its fully tiled. The sink pedestal is now not in contact with the wall mounted basin due to the shrinkage!!

Also, i prefer my architrave to touch the floor!!!!!

 

[Robert too]

Make sure you have doubled joists , bolted togethor , under the partitions and also under any bath .

Check also that there are solid blocking pieces between the joists , depending on the span , 2 rows may be needed ..

As for creaking floor boards , a chippie i was with last week is now instructed , ( by a major house builder ) to lay new boards on a seam of gripfill and then screw them down to stop creaking .

God help anyone having to get them up att a later date

 

[Softus]

So when a carpenter stands/kneels a bit of cut off skirting to make it follow the floor I should say "your not supposed to let the skirting touch the floor "^woody^" from diynot told me" and I wont look a tit?

You're already on the journey to Tittown with that remark. Why not just ask ^woody^ for his reasoning?

7mm is not a massive amount of settlement, cant you (or get the builder) seal it with a 10mm bead of flexible sealant?

Here's an example. I could just imply that you're wrong by suggesting that I'd look a tit if I told someone else that 7mm is normal, or I could ask you where you expect 7mm of settlement to occur.

Where do you expect 7mm of settlement to occur?

 

[Nige F]

As for creaking floor boards , a chippie i was with last week is now instructed , ( by a major house builder ) to lay new boards on a seam of gripfill and then screw them down to stop creaking .

God help anyone having to get them up att a later date

Why would anyone want to take them up ...there`s an old song about houses being "little boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same" that`s what we`ve all got .......and the death of the Detatched is written on the wall too..........look around @ the garden grabbers and detatched houses being replaced with double the number of semis.......all because a garden is "brownfield"

 

[matty0908]

some good replys amoungst the "tit" comments!! thansk guys!!!

i have checked the pics i took during the build & all looks in order, ie doubled up and bolted through joists under the stud walls, 2 rows of noggins (at least) across a 4m span.

so what is moving 1/4" in a 2 storey build with no cracks anywhere!!??

 

[Robert too]

out of interest , what size joists are in there ?

 

[matty0908]

atleast 2" Wide, 8" deep!

 

[The-brickie]

You're already on the journey to Tittown with that remark. Why not just ask ^woody^ for his reasoning?

He didnt say "I think" or "I prefer" he said that they SHOULD NOT TOUCH THE FLOOR, which by my reckoning is a way of saying that what he said was the right way of doing it.

I have never left a gap, nor has any chippie that has ever worked for me, always tight to the floor.

As to the reason why its dropped I couldn't say without seeing it, could be any number of reasons.

125mm x 22mm (or similar) t&g pine floor boards screwed down.

 

[Softus]

That's some pretty nifty back-pedalling you've done there.

Can you do it on this?

 

[The-brickie]

Back peddling no, disagreeing with what woody said yes.

Not sure what your on about with the bike but yes being that the front wheel is direct drive you can go back and forth.

You are probably from the same school of "I'm right and know everything" that woody went too.

Your question 'Where do you expect 7mm of settlement to occur?'

My answer is I dont know because I havent seen it, we could all give our thoughts on why and we could all be wrong.

Heres a question for you, why is your head stuck so far up your own ar5e?