Creaky floorboards.

DirectDebacle

As you haven't bought the house yet then for peace of mind you should be having a survey done if your offer is accepted. At the time the survey is done request special attention is paid to the upstairs floors. The creaks may be caused by the joists twisting. Cross bracing was used to prevent this and over time can start to fail. Creaking floors can be caused by more serious issues.

I don't wish to alarm you or put you off a house you like, but you are right to be cautious. Creaking boards are usually because they have been lifted and not re-fixed properly, but not always.

Errata

27col wrote: »

Been there, done that!

ah ..... memories, memories ! Memories of having to dash down to the garage and rummage around for a circlip whilst OH kept his thumb jammed on the hole

ormus

stairs are different.
usually you see wedges that just need adjustment.
you can also add blocks if required.

muckybutt

Sunnyday wrote: »

When i had this problem in our living room i found a board with a nail missing, this was the culprit, i put a screw into the empty nail hole and went straight through the water pipe for the central heating :eek:

Me too, I did it when I was a teenager. Had a squeaky banging floorboard in my bedroom, when the folks were out one day decided to nail it down. Shortly after bashing a 4" nail into it there was a hissing noise and my bedroom developed a hot fountain in it about 12" high, quickly ripped the floor board back up and sat for three hours with my finger on the hole till the folks got back. :rotfl::rotfl:

Sunnyday

muckybutt wrote: »

Me too, I did it when I was a teenager. Had a squeaky banging floorboard in my bedroom, when the folks were out one day decided to nail it down. Shortly after bashing a 4" nail into it there was a hissing noise and my bedroom developed a hot fountain in it about 12" high, quickly ripped the floor board back up and sat for three hours with my finger on the hole till the folks got back. :rotfl::rotfl:

:rotfl: I emptied the contents of 9 radiators and more into the foundations beneath the house

SD

27col

I have just come in after an interesting afternoon. My son rang to say that he is having new carpets fitted tomorrow, and was trying to fix some creaking on the landing. He had put in numerous screws but this had no effect on the creaking. I went round and discovered that he had mistaken some pencil marks on the floor as indicating where the joists were running. Consequently, he had not put any screws where they were actually needed. The marks actually indicated where the pipes were, and he had managed to put a screw through the CH main. When we removed the screw there was a jet of water above and below the floor. We managed to contain it and I had to carefully cut out an area of floor to expose the leak. I finally managed to cut out the affected section of pipe and replace it with some push-fit fittings. Now all I have to do is to find a small piece of 18mm chipboard to replace the piece that I had to cut into bits to remove.
As I said, an interesting afternoon.