Hardwood floor separating, collapsing.

paulcam

Hi,
I have a hardwood (oak) floor in my hallway.  It's been there since I bought the house.  However firstly it has been installed for aesthetics over function and the boards run WITH the beams, not across them.  So I have no idea how it's being held up.

However the issue I have is that the boards are separating.  One side of the floor moves under the skirting board by up to half an inch (noted by the line of paint from when the skirting was painted.  This causes one or more boards to separate to the point the tongue-n-grove departs contact and the board starts flexing, bending, sagging, squeaking cracking loudly when walked on.  I'm genuinely worried, due to the amount the board flex when separated that they are NOT actually held up properly and relying solely on the tongue and grove to prevent collapse of a board.

I have been shifting the boards back together with two screwdrivers.  This is damaging the boards, but I don't care as I hate this floor.  It's cold, crap and squeaky and I would rather have a carpetted floor for warmth and insulation.

It's got so bad that it only takes 2 or 3 days for it to start slipping again and needing readjusted with the screwdrivers.
With us all being in lockdown now is not the time to try and get a joiner out to fix or replace it.
Are there any quick fixes I can try with stuff I can order on Amazon?  Would PVA wood glue down the seams before I reposition it help any?

Alter_ego

Take boards up and re-lay correctly. 

neilmcl

Is it a floating floor laid on the original floorboards?

paulcam

It's not laid on the original floor, the boards are way too thick, there are spare boards and they are nearly an inch thick.  When the boards separate enough you can see straight down in the dead space under the floor.  

"Take the boards up and lay properly."
This is really helpful, thank you, but I'm a software engineer, not a joiner.  I wouldn't even know where to begin to lift them as they don't even appear to be nailed down.  I expect the skirting and door jams would need to come out too.  I also have no idea how one lays a floor "with" the joists rather than across them.

grumbler

paulcam said:

"Take the boards up and lay properly."
This is really helpful, thank you, but I'm a software engineer, not a joiner. 

DIY is a term used not for professionals.

I wouldn't even know where to begin to lift them as they don't even appear to be nailed down.

Some nails can be hidden in grooves.

  I also have no idea how one lays a floor "with" the joists rather than across them.

Neither do I, but I think the advice was to relay across.

FreeBear

grumbler said:

  I also have no idea how one lays a floor "with" the joists rather than across them.

Neither do I, but I think the advice was to relay across.

Unless noggins had been fitted at regular intervals, you simply can not lay boards "with the joists". They will drop down in to the gap, and even with T&G joins, be very, very bouncy. I would suspect that the OP has some joists that have rotted and dropped, thus giving rise to movement of the boards. It would certainly pay to lift a few of the boards just to see what is going on.

DIY is like software, it is a case of breaking a task down in to simple steps and using the correct tools. Dig out the command line interface and get your hands dirty.

paulcam

"correct tools". 
While I wouldn't expect a joiner to know the difference between an IDE and a compiler I wouldn't know what the correct tools where.
I'm fairly sure to lift any of these I will need to pull the skirting boards off, I don't have a pry bar, so that would need to be a claw peen or a screwdriver.  Then I have to pull the door jams and figure out how i pry the boards up.
Without the ability to call in help right now and having a toddler I don't want to break the floor.

Also I do know which way my joists run and these boards run in the same direction.  With the boards T&G correctly slotted the floor is a bit squeaky, but when they separate the board that loses it's T&G becomes bouncy and bends up at the ends and sags a good centimeter in the middle.

beaker141

Can you get underneath the floor to get a full picture of whats holding it up? In my house there is a 2ft crawl space. 
I'd be tempted to screw any I could do secure them - if as you say they run lengthways with the joists, then some of the boards must sit on joists for their full lengths - if you screwed them, then they couldnt move widthways any more, so you could set the spacing you are happy with and fix it, still allowing a bit of room for expansion so it doesnt buckle upwards?

paulcam

I'm just looking for a temporary fix or to at least stop it getting worse until i can get someone to remove it.
Currently I have a screwdriver rammed under the skirting to try and stop the boards slipping under it.  I could bang a nail in there to do the same.
I can't get under the floor anywhere without lifting the living room boards and even then that might not gain me access.
Excuse the mess, but it's between boards (counted from the radiator) 2 and 3 the boards separate as the boards creep under the radiator.

neilmcl

I don't think you have much choice but to lift the boards and see exactly how they're fitted, and then remedy the situation.

paulcam

Thing are going from bad to worse as my dishwasher just failed