I HATE wooden timber floors, should be banned

jackspade

Why are we still making dwellings with timber floors ?  

I bought a house built 1995 and come from a flat where all the floors were concrete and although the ground floor in my house is also concrete the upstairs is timber and I HATE IT SOOO MUCH. ( I own the whole house so dont have to worry about noisy neighbors upstairs thank god )

Anyway, why o why do we keep making timber floored homes. my upstairs floorboards creek so badly, they dont feel anywhere near as robust as concrete floor, I only have to stamp lightly with my heel and the whole second floor vibrates like theres an earthquake.

additionally, I have to constantly worry about rot in the joists and if theres ever a leak in my central heating pipes which are invisible thanks to them running through the floor , I wont find out about it until thousands of pounds of damage has been done.

I want to go back to a concrete floor flat, but I dont want the hassle of leasehold.

tacpot12

Money: Wood is cheaper than concrete, and better for the environment. If I was building a house I would have concrete floors upstairs. I like the Lewis Deck system.

If you want them, you will need a structural survey to see if the joists can take the extra weight. 

koalakoala

I have concrete floors in the house I’m in now, and although I love the fact there is no creaking, and no big problem if you have a leak, I hate how cold they are in the winter.

Doozergirl

I think you're exaggerating.  You don't need to worry about rot in joists above floor level. 

If you do have a leak, it will be obvious on the ceiling below.   And if your shower is leaking, again, you'll see it on the ceiling and there's usually some form of evidence over the longer term, whether it's a smell of damp or the presence of insects.  Sometimes people leave things for way too long and that probably shows in a lack of maintenance in the house as a whole.  

You can ask someone to look at your floorboards if they are creaking.  

Norman_Castle

Wooden floors are often poorly refitted after heating pipes are run under them leaving them noisy. 

TELLIT01

My current house was built in the 1930s and there is no rot in the timber.  The only boards that creak are those which have been lifted over the years to do work in the floor void.

stuart45

Concrete upper floors are quite common in some parts of Europe. In the UK Timber framed houses are getting more of the market now, so it's unlikely that developers will be looking at the Block and beam system for upper floors. I think most people here are happy with timber upper floors.

Doozergirl

stuart45 said:

Concrete upper floors are quite common in some parts of Europe. In the UK Timber framed houses are getting more of the market now, so it's unlikely that developers will be looking at the Block and beam system for upper floors. I think most people here are happy with timber upper floors.

We've got posijoists and they were an absolute dream to work with!  

Davesnave

It's called 'Character' and people pay significantly more for it the longer (in hundreds of years) that the creaking has been going on. Creaking from crappy chipboard floors doesn't even start the clock, of course.

Speaking as someone with a concrete floored bungalow, I can say  I have no underfoot  creaks, but it hasn't made me happier. Indeed, I had to install central heating here just to get  a little comforting creaking back into my life at 06.30, rain or shine. It only lasts 5 minutes or so, but it reminds me of the good times, when I was young, carefree and the proud owner of a very shoddily-built 30s semi with 10" foundations, crumbling bricks and rusty wall ties. Now, that really was something to worry about!

weeg

Environmentally timber is much better than concrete. Most new builds use either posijoists (which really are brilliant to live with) or engineered timber I joists. I cannot envision that changing.

Teapot55

Incidentally, it’s always a good idea to ensure that if floorboards need to be taken up for any reason that screws are used to put them back: much easier to take up again than if they’ve been nailed down!