Floor Panels Squeeking / Subsiding

L

lemeister

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I moved into a new house 2.5 years ago. After about 6 months in the house, the floor panels upstairs (T&G Plywood I think) started to squeek a little in some places, but nothing too bad.

Over the last 6 months, the problem has gotten really bad and they make an awful racket when walking on frequently used areas - the hall, around the beds & the bathroom (which is tiled). There are also a coupe of spots were one panel seems to have sank below another panel.

What I'm wondering is whether I have any recourse with the builder for this as it's going to be an awful lot of hassle and expense to get it corrected properly? Would this be covered by homebond?
 
This is probably just normal drying out and shrinkage- although 2.5 years is a long time for a house to be drying out. You could get up to 1-2mm of a difference in levels where panels meet- depending on the joist bearing etc. Additional screws should sort out any squeaking.
 
10 years on and the marine plywood flooring in our bathroom and extending part of the way into the adjoining main bedroom is still all over the place - creaking really badly, not level between sheets, bouncy in parts and definitely not level with the chipboard flooring board in the bedroom (I think the marine plywood is a lot thinner than the chipboard) and several attempts over the years to rectify at least some of the problems using additional screws have failed. (If you're going to attempt this then make sure that you screw into the joints and not into pipes!). For the moment we are just putting up with it with the intention being to eventually get a proper job done whatever that might entail. Suggestions welcome!
 
Well I thought the creaking during the first 6 months was down to drying out and shrinkage all right, but not 2.5 years later with it getting worse all the time. Some of the gaps in the panels are also more in the region of 6-8mm rather than 1-2mm.

I guess the simple answer is I'm going to have to roll up the sleeves myself, although I think I'll get the professionals in for the tiled areas in the bathroom.

Is there any fools guide to finding a joist to screw into rather than a pipe?:eek: There are no screws at all in the panels at the moment as I think the builders just slotted the T&G together without securing them.
 
Surely if the boards are not screwed down they are bound to be noisy?
 
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