Bouncy floor

callmechar

I have mentioned this before but things have changed.

We live in a 3 bed, 1960s house. We are end terrace. We notice the floor moving upstairs. We are decorating upstairs atm and my husband was sitting in the small bedroom and noticed when I walked in the larger bedroom that the floor moved in the room he was in. We notice when we walk around upstairs that the floors do seem to be a bit bouncy and make a noise.

My husband says that the joists sit on a piece of wood (timber wall plate) and they or this "moves."

The issue could be (as I understand it) that the joists are too small for the span they have to occupy. However, what can we do about this? If it is not this, what could it be? My husband thinks they joists move on the timber wall plate and are not sitting flat on it.

Please help!!

wallbash

We live in a 3 bed, 1960s house

So the floors have been in use for over 50 years, but recently you are starting to see movement, or has there always been a bit of a bounce, but you haven't taken any notice?

that the joists are too small for the span

But they have done the job for over 50 years........ not a bad record.

they joists move on the timber wall plate and are not sitting flat on it.

Why should it have changed?

Difficult to answer but my first thought, nothing has changed for many years, but now you have noticed the 'bounce/noise' you are aware of it.

callmechar

Thanks for your reply.

Well my husband has recently replaced some faulty floorboards (which were cracked) however he has made sure they are fully screwed down.

I may have just noticed it but it is really annoying and I do not think it was there before (but could have been).

There is definitely some movement in the floor in all the rooms upstairs but the noise coming from the floor when it moves is really annoying and can even be heard downstairs.

tony6403

If your house is of traditional construction it is not likely that the joists sit on a wall plate.
I would imagine that they are set into the bricks or blocks of your house wall.
It might be that the joists have been rested on mortar to level them out and that this has crumbled over the years.
You would need to lift a floorboard next to the wall to see if this has happened.

callmechar

We live in a traditional brick house. My husband says on the internal wall they sit on, which is the living room wall downstairs they sit on the wall. But they definitely move.

Norman_Castle

Joists which are fitted into holes in the wall are often levelled by putting pieces of slate or similar under the ends. If that comes out due to movement or vibration that joist will sag under weight.
Can you see any movement between the floor and skirting or between the wall and ceiling?

callmechar

We've had a look today and they appear to sit directly on the living room wall. The main issue is they move when walked on. You can here this downstairs and you can see the floor and skirting board in the adjacent bedroom move when the floor is walked on in the bedroom. The joists vary in size. They are 15 inches apart. Most are 2 inches x 7 inches. The larger ones which are one in every 4 or 5 joists are 3 x 7 inches.

sparkiedave

sounds like the mortar they were sitting on is crumbling a bit or the lower edge of some of the joists has rotted, unless you have huge rooms, those joists should be strong enough, the only way to know exactly what is going on, is to either take up a floorboard by the wall and have a look, or to have a "look and fix" session, cutting a strip off the plasterboard ceiling below to access the ends properly would be my preferred choice, sort the problem then re board the area and skim

callmechar

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but the floors upstairs are annoying me again. Does anyone else have this problem?

callmechar

When I walk in my bedroom the things on my dressing table move

jc808

well get it fixed then