Floor Joists

6/3/2012 at 6:31:44 PM

You will have house shifting , that will cause noise from the Floor joists. Unless they are silent I beams joists. 2x10 you will always hear the movement of the house .

If you are worried, Just look at the basement joists, see if any is out of place, Or loose, but my thoughts are, you are hearing the shifting of the house. It is normal .

6/3/2012 at 8:48:39 PM

This happens allot in older homes especially with wood flooring the ones that are thin wood peices, anyways a quick fix for bad areas providing this is on the main floor and you can get to it from basement.

Get a tube of PL get someone upstairs to pick a sqeaky spot find roughly which area it is then lay a fat bead of Pl where floor meets joists. Leave for 24hr then try. I would try this in area as an experiment then take it from there, what type of flooring is there?

6/3/2012 at 9:42:22 PM

By noises I assume you mean creaking and squeaking. For one thing, while the house was being built it was totally exposed to rain or snow.

It took time to dry out. I'm not saying it took 32 years to dry out, but when the wood dries it shrinks. It wouldn't surprise me that over time the fasteners (probably nails) have come loose here and there. I would monitor the humidity levels in your house and try to keep it as even as possible over the seasons. don't allow too low humidity in winter (below 30% RH) and 50 or so in summer. But, everything moves depending on heat and humidity so the noises are likely nothing of real concern. More of an annoyance.

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Craig A. Mouldey

Face Lift Floors

6/3/2012 at 9:54:12 PM

Hi Joe,

I disagree with Joe for the simple fact that a floor joist itself doesn't make any sounds. It doesn't matter if it is a 2x10 or a I-joist. You will have mature issues if your house is shifting because it wouldn't be safe to live in there and you would need a speciality company to secure your house. I assume that you heard about the appartment building in Fort McMurray which was shifting and everybody got evacuated (this happened about a year ago).

The only noise which a floor joist itself could make is a cracking sound and that means that you overloaded it.

I assume that you hear more of a squeeky noise which is usually due to the fasteners (typically nails which rub against the lumber, a typical subfloor issue). There are a few options to fix this issue depending on where the squeeking is.

Another option could be that you installed a new flooring e.g. hardwood where the staples/cleats could cause the noise.

That said, it is tough to say what the issue is without more information on the noise.

Please provide more information on the noises, such as:

Is it a squeeky or a cracking noise?

Is it only in certain areas?

Did you get a new floor installed?

If yes, what kind?

Did you have any work done on the floor or below the floor?

That would be just a few questions to narrow it down.

The "PL-methode" might work but it isn't guaranteed because there are to many variables to consider.

I hope that helped a bit.

Ronny

6/4/2012 at 11:42:21 AM

Most of the time there is no problem with such noises and is not serious situation! Also would be affected with the season of the year (temperature).

6/4/2012 at 4:22:24 PM

Quite possible the noise your hearing is coming from your floor boards, back then the floor covering

was nailed to the joist whereas today they're screwed or nailed and glued. Mush less chance of

working loose.

Don

6/5/2012 at 1:21:42 PM

A noisey floor is the result of two components of your floor rubbing against each other. Those two items likely started making a noise at this time because of the lumber drying and shrinking over the last 32 years. Unless of course you have done something to your structure to alter the original work.

Subfloor applied with nails only will eventually squeak, glue and nails less likely, glue and screws are your best bet. Any fastener that does not hit the joist fully may create noise and even a screw just off to the edge of the joist may squeak. Nails through the interior partitions will squeak if glue was not applied to the floor before the partition was placed. This is really common with walls parralell to the joist.If you have accerss to any of these areas you can easily spot errant nails of screws. Joist moving in joist hangers make noise and the connections of the joist to the top of the beams will cause noise by nails that were toe-nailed down and or in some cases nailed to each other. If you have access to the joists you can clinch nails and pull nails as needed. sometimes glue and shimms work.

Check for any other possable means of friction like tight plumbing holes. Eyes and ears. Without access and depending how widespread the problem is you might try spreading carpet fibers and screwing through the nap in your carpet.Anthing more will have to wait till you are ready for new flooring.

6/13/2012 at 11:58:50 PM

Without more description on the type of noise you are hearing it is hard to say. Generally speaking though I don't think that there is too much to worry about if its just a squeaky floor. If your joists are actually cracking then there is some serious issues and you need to have it handles as soon as possible.

Good luck and we hope its nothing serious.

Thank you,

Sherri & Dustin Depatie

Seamless Finishing Inc.

Office : 780-760-3852

Sherri : 780-297-0986

Dustin : 780-885-2231