Leveling an upstairs floor.

AceCobra

Hello,

I'll do my best to make this clear, apologies if it isnt!

In our new home the bedroom upstairs has sheets of board as aposed to floorboards. Where these boards meet some are not quite level, others dip if u stand near the join!

What would be the best way to get these level before we lay carpet? I had thought of laying more board on top of these but at 90 degrees?

Any advice welcome.

Martin.

woodbutcher_2

What sort of boards are they?Is it something thin laid over the floorboards or are they the actual flooring itself i.e. tongue and grooved chipboard.

John_3:16

Sounds like you may have chipboard flooring? As to why the joints are not level is strange. You will find chipboard can give a little this may be why you are getting a little bounce.

As you say you may be better to re board on top. Over time if you a staying in the house a few years? It could be wise to rip the boards up and re lay the floor.

There is no easy way really apart from covering with thin ply of hardboard.

AceCobra

I think its plywood or chipboard as you say. I'm not familar with the terminology so excuse me. From what I can see the boards are nailed down onto what would be rafters if there was no upstairs? Some of the joins dont have any support and thats where they dip if you stand on them. I dare say we'll be in the house a few years, no more than 5 though I would have thought.

I now know why the laminate in the other bedroom creaks a little

Martin.

woodbutcher_2

They shouldn't dip if they have been laid right.Chipboard floors are tongue and grooved together like any kind of flooring should be.If it is plywood then i doubt it will have tongue and grooves unless it is a proprietary plywood flooring.If it cannot be cured by using more fixings into the joists then cross bonding with another layer of thin ply may be the only solution.If you go down this route then make sure you put in plenty of fixings and watch the length of said fixings as you dont want to go through a pipe or wire under the floor.Carpeting with thick underlay and carpet should take care of the rest.

AceCobra

It most certainly doesnt have any tongue/grove. All the boards are seperate from each other. When u step on the edge of one and it dips, you can see the side of the other etc. Some of them are slightly lower than the others at the join so theres little steps, it looked/felt really ugly on the old carpet that was there when we moved in. To be honest I think its just a poor job all over.

So in conclusion a thin layer of board layed the other way should sort this for the time being? I just hope theres not enough of a raise/dop in some to render this solution unappropriate.

Martin.

John_3:16

If as you state that the boards are not supported then laying a thin board on top will only help a little. It will still be possible to get some bounce. If the boards are not T&G then I wonder if the floor was laid right in the first place.
How long will you be living ther?

AceCobra

Well its our first house, I'd think we'll have moved on in 2-3 years. The Bounce doesnt annoy me, its the obvious level differences that could be seen under the old carpet. Now the boards are exposed most of them seem ok, but its the few that dont seem to have the support of a joist at the joining of a board that concern me, I walked on one and it dipped until I could see under the board it was adjacent to, I cant see that being safe. I just want to get a level surface to lay a carpet/laminate floor onto

Martin.

John_3:16

How many joints are there.

It is possible to set a saw to depth of the board cut along the centre of a joist line if you can find the centres and replace a part of the board between 2 joist centres.

AceCobra

I suppose a picture tells 1000 words, alas I'm in work at the moment. I can actually see some of the joists in the thin gap between boards and like I say most seem secure and fixed to these. There is only the odd one that doesnt seem to have support where the boards join and no joist is visible below this. For the most part (4/5 of the room) there are big boards, im not sure of the exact size but they cover an area of about 15*11 at the widest and 15*5 at the smallest. There is then one section that has small boards, (2*1 FTi(sh)) there is about 8 of these. The problem with some not having support is not really the main issue, I assume there was a reason there is no support at the join the main problem is the level difference. At some of the joins the boards seem to be lower than each other. I dont know if this is wear/lots of weight at that point but its frustrating none the less.

A layer of ply over these I guess will make things a little better but mathematically all thats doing is creating rounder angles for the level difference. Could I lift the boards and pack something between the joists/boards that have the difference? or maybe I just need to replace them all. Gah I dont know how u diy types do it... I'm not made to be manual.

Martin.

Little_John

What ever you do fit it properly, leaving edges and changes in levels will damage the carpet or whatever you lay over a period of time the parts where the boards bounce could cause the carpet to split.

You have a few options
cheap fix it proberbly wont be that cheap actually
lay a layer of fibreboard over the top still be joints in other places but it will smooth things out the areas where ther eis no support under the current boards will still bounce but again not so much.

Almost free option, lift all the problem boards and re lay them, ensuring that each board ends on a joist so it wont move when you step on it, to do this may require you to cut some of the boards to the correct size.

another option, lift the bouncy board, screw a peice of 2x2 to the existing joist making it wider then when you put the board down again it will have somthing supporting the board.

Best option as it sounds a bit dodgy would be to relace the floor with some nice boards that you could if you decided to varnish and leave as the floor saving on laying carpet.

I reciently replaced a carpet that had worn unevenley due to an un level floor it had split where 2 boards were different heights and where there was a gap. before I put the new carpet down I fixed all the problems so the carpet should last a bit longer this time.