Hardwood floor separating, collapsing.

paulcam

So I went and inspected.  I found if I lift the door carpet grip thing I can unlock the two small boards in the living room door area.
It turns out they are mounted on the original boards underneath (Sorry!).  That means they have lifted all the skirtings up and I can see where they have notched all the door frames.

The dodgy separating bit that sags must have something wrong with it underneath, like a missing or broken board.

Also of interest the boards are about 3/4 inch thick and T&G on the ends too, making it a bit of a puzzle of how to lift them to get to the dodgy area - they will all need to come up probably.  The end at my kitchen floor seems glued down and prying it with a screw driver will crack my kitchen floor tiles

chris_n

Surely the boards are usually laid with the joists, i.e. at 90 degrees to the floorboards!
Maybe to help with your immediate problem buy a pry bar, no nails and some cork tiles (B&Q etc are open and fill the gap at the edge of the floor with cork. This will help stop the boards separating but still allow expansion. Don't overthink things if you are a software engineer you should be used to breaking things down into small logical steps. If the boards are running with the floorboards then you need to find out why the subfloor is moving.

Norman_Castle

If the floor is supportive enough when the t&g joint is together gluing the boards together might work or a few screws or nails close to the skirting would prevent the boards separating. In Oak I'd drill through the board rather than trying to screw through it both to make it far easier and to check there is something underneath to screw into. Avoid the heating pipes. Another solution would be to screw a few small angle brackets into the floor pressing against the skirting to prevent the outer boards from moving.

FreeBear

paulcam said: Also of interest the boards are about 3/4 inch thick and T&G on the ends too, making it a bit of a puzzle of how to lift them to get to the dodgy area - they will all need to come up probably.  The end at my kitchen floor seems glued down and prying it with a screw driver will crack my kitchen floor tiles

The skirting boards were probably taken off to put the oak boards down and then reattached to the walls. To remove a particular section of the flooring will usually require some or all of the skirting board to be removed.

The alternative is to use a multitool with a suitable blade to cut through the tongues and use double sided sticky tape when putting it back.

paulcam

So this was more of a "Help" due to current situation post than a DIY post.  The objective was to stop my floor collapsing and me not have to screwdriver the floor back together every few days to prevent that.  With a side of, "I want to get rid of it."
I was wrong about a lot of things with this floor.  For a while I really thought there was nothing under it.  But you guys grilling me made me properly inspect it and learn a few things about my house.

Still objectives achieved.
1.  The screwdriver stuck under the skirting board is in fact stopping the boards slipping so fast.
2.  I figure it's much less likely to collapse on me anyway.
3.  I can glue the boards together as a more elegant fix.
4.  To get rid, I can just lift it all and phone a carpet fitter who doesn't mind lowering the skirting down again.  (It's possibly worth something on Ebay)

Thanks to those who helped.