New bathroom floor creaking near tub

8/24/2022 at 2:50:43 AM

Floor Creak or squeak can be wood rubbing against itself or another material, like even the Styrofoam used underneath tubs.

Based on your description there are a lot of factors to determine what is happening, What tub was installed, what is the substrate, what is the floor, method of install and so on.

USUALLY a sound comes from a nail in the substrate (Most substrates are plywood or chip board but the age of your house could mean its something else like plank boards+ modern plywood.

Nevertheless if the substrate was not screwed down properly to the joist post demo or pre flooring install then it would most likely be one stubborn nail moving ever so slightly rubbing against wood.

We have solved this issue best in your ciscumstance (all finishes complete) by opening up the ceiling and gluing and screwing (with the exact right size and type screw) the area of concern.

Best of luck

8/24/2022 at 2:53:20 AM

1 - no

2 - NO

3- yes

4- NO

8/24/2022 at 3:36:39 AM

I agree totally with Peter.It could be a nail that may have slightly missed the floor joist and the subfloor is slightly insecure and it flexes which weight.

It could also be that the underpayment was placed tight to the tub base which will also squeak.

Access from the ceiling below is the proper method of repair.

Do not reassemble the ceiling until absolutely sure it's repaired.

Spray foam will not do anything for you in my opinion. For the cost of it you could try it. Prob best to save your $25.

8/24/2022 at 1:58:08 PM

Thanks all. How much roughly would it cost to open the ceiling and do the repair as you all suggest? An estimate would be helpful because if the contractor does not address it, I will deduct that amount to get it fixed.

8/24/2022 at 10:05:23 AM

That Depends on the ceiling area and how large it is, typically if you do a drywall patch the entire wall area or ceiling area needs to be painted to properly blend and bring everything together or you will be able to tell where the hole and patch was done.

The size of the ceiling area is crucial to naming a price. the actual repair should be more than $50 in material and 2-3 hours of time

Patching the drywall take 3 coats to be skimmed perfectly.

then you need to paint

this process would happen over a minimum of 3-4 days.

8/24/2022 at 4:55:22 PM

1st determine if creak is floor or the tub?...tubs are very cheaply made these days and even with the bases they install still not great, especially if "heavy" people use it. A trick I learned years ago is pour a blob of mortar in middle of floor under the tub before placing it on final install, cover it with some poly so it does not glue tub to floor and then set the tub and then anchor the tub...it is "rock solid" after this..In 20 years I get 0 call backs. If they move at all on bottom or where he screwed the lip into walls it will squeak. Also if you have acrylic surrounds and they are moving a little they can also squeak. If it is the floor then you can either live with it or take it apart top or bottom to re-enforce. A squeak is not a safety hazard, just an annoyance. It is not really the contractors issue unless he did something to floors or walls...tub installs seem fine at 1st but even a little house shift can cause these problems, hence the trick I use.