Upstairs floorboards causing ceiling cracks?

JenniferI

Hi, I wonder if anyone can give any suggestions. Moved into a ground floor maisonette about 5/6 months ago. The entire property was originally a house built in the mid 50s then separated into two flats.

I believe upstairs has floorboards however no insulation has been put in as you constantly hear the neighbour upstairs moving about. (I even hear him flush his toilet and washing machine vibrates into our ceiling).

More recently, cracks in our ceiling that my dad filled in before we moved in have reappeared. They are vertical. 2 run across our hallway ceiling and another across the length of our kitchen ceiling and another coming out from the middle of that line and running to the coaving.

I'm not sure what to do. Is this something to be concerned about or is it just cosmetic? The individual living upstairs does not own the property but would it be wise to speak to them first and voice our concerns rather than going straight to the landlord?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks

troffasky

It's difficult to say without pictures [upload them to somewhere else like Picpaste first]. Do the cracks look like they could be joins between plaster boards?

keith969

Probably joins between plasterboard opening up and causing the ceiling plaster to crack. If the floor joists flex a little this could happen, in which case I doubt there is a lot that can be done short of replacing the joists (and hence your ceiling and his floor).

JenniferI

Possibly. They are faint because it's white ceilings but they run all the way along the ceiling. The cracks were filled in when we decorated, just a bit disappointed that the cracks have appeared so quickly since the previous owner lived here about 18 years they said. But maybe they just didn't do anything about it. As long as it's just cosmetic and not going to affect the integrity of our ceiling then I will just put up with it for now.

Thank you for your response

JenniferI

Thank you for your response. The cracks are faint however they run the length of the room that's why I was a bit concerned. The cracks were filled in the ceilings before we moved in and like you said it's from movement upstairs and because there's no insulation between upstairs floor and my ceiling, any movement they make just causes vibration which would cause the cracks I suppose. For example their washing machine is directly above our kitchen so probably over time that would create the cracks. As long as it's cosmetic and not going to affect the integrity of our ceiling then it's all good

couriervanman

Probably due to floorboards only being nailed down.....they work loose over the years.best solution is to screw them down
Not a problem in a house but getting the person in upstairs flat to agree to work wil be a problem

ed110220

It's unlikely to be anything to do with floorboards in my opinion. Your ceiling won't (hopefully!) be attached directly to the floorboards of the flat above. In between will be a load bearing structure, usually wooden joists. If they flex slightly it could cause the ceiling to crack, especially if the joints between the ceiling boards weren't properly done. Probably a cosmetic problem.