Replacing chipboard sheet floors

SallyG

My 60s house has chipboard sheet floors; quite a few areas dip and flex when stepped on- yesterday part of a small board that had been cut to fit a small area and nailed to the joists, cracked across when someone stepped on it - foot and carpet went into the hole - luckily unhurt.
Obviously I have to get the floor sorted out - thing is - it looks as though the sheets were laid and then the stud partition walls were built on top of them so sheets of chipboard run beneath walls.
I'm wondering if this is/was normal building practice.
I can't imagine how these boards can be replaced without removing the walls first -.......
Will replacing the boards be really expensive and will my insurer call it wear and tear and not pay for it?

DVardysShadow

Get a recommended carpenter in. If you are replacing whole floors, it should be possible to slide small sections of chipboard out from under the walls and replace with new floorboards. A bit of a fiddly job - it may require new skirting board - perhaps some plastering if it is necessary to get inside the wall. But in the main, the walls should be able to stay. But it needs a skilled tradesman to work out how he would tackle the job according to what he finds in your house.

chrisw

I had a 1980's house built the same. Really difficult to install cables, etc. I would have thought it too expensive to replace the whole floor, but it can probably be patched by cutting along the midpoint of the joists if you can find them.