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Bouncy upstairs wooden floors?!

2 replies

Dearohdear4 · 22/07/2019 17:34

Does anyone have or have had bouncy floors upstairs?

Have you investigated and solved the issue causing the bounce?

I would really appreciate any words of advice/wisdom as I am absolutely panicking about it, and have got to a point where I don’t like going upstairs.

At first I thought the bounce and vibration in our 1970s house first floor was caused by having no underlay underneath the ancient carpets, but nothing has changed since having new carpets and underlay laid. (Probably very very naive of me!) Objects move slightly on top of furniture, or slightly loose furniture doors etc move as anyone walks past.

I’m guessing a structural engineer is the best way forward?

Having a quick google, and identifying the size/span of our floor joists, it appears that we may have joists that are only just large enough, if that, especially considering that there have been two lots of notches done in various places now to facilitate the original heating system, and then the latest updated one.

There are hairline cracks in the ceilings downstairs that mostly follow the edges of the plasterboard.

I have spoken to a neighbour who says that they too had cracks in their plastered ceilings, (they’ve lived in the house for 30+ years) and had artex put on the ceilings to hide them. They didn’t say anything about shifting objects though when walking past etc thpugh.

In my head the logical part of me concludes that the structure has been here for a while now, and catastrophic failure is unlikely. But we’ve already found several unexpected issues while renovating this house and have nowhere else to stay if any major work does need doing.

Thanks everyone, and sorry - I know it’s a very first world problem!

OP posts:
fedupandlookingforchange · 22/07/2019 17:37

Yes I did in a very very old cottage. Beams were not really thick enough. Didn’t alter them as it had been fine for a few hundred years and would continue to be fine.

Pipandmum · 22/07/2019 17:40

It’s the joists. It’s one thing to say the house has been standing for decades but you say the joists have been cut into, weakening an already barely adequate support structure. The fix won’t be cheap, but I’d get it done.

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