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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Building Questions >> Fixing chipboard floors https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1426796741 Message started by JudeP on Mar 19^th, 2015, 8:25pm

Title: Fixing chipboard floors
Post by JudeP on Mar 19^th, 2015, 8:25pm

Hi there

I wonder if anyone can give me some advice. We recently a bought a house built in the late eighties. It is well proportioned but some of the essentials and finishing are simply not of the best quality… One particular problem we have is that the upstairs flooring is made of chipboard, which is ill-fitted. When anyone walks on it upstairs, the creaking, groaning and thumping is significant! Not knowing otherwise I tried to mask this with the thickest underlay and the thickest carpet. However, as you would know, this has not ultimately worked. I should have fixed the floors first…

My question is: what would be a recommended course of action? Should I lift everything and how best would the floors be fixed? What is the chipboard runs under the plasterboard walls and is this likely? Any other recommendations?

I would be so grateful for your advice! Many thanks!

Title: Re: Fixing chipboard floors
Post by woodsmith on Mar 20^th, 2015, 8:08am

This is a common problem and is caused when the joists shrink as they dry out leaving a gap between the chipboard and the joists. There are mastics available now which are applied to the top of the joists and the chipboard is bonded rather than nailed to the joist but this would be a massive job to retrofit.

The best way to fix this problem is to screw the chipboard down with special flooring screws, you can get them from Screwfix or Toolstation, (Floor-Tite is one option). Ordinary screws can jack the floor up and make the problem worse so it's worth using a specialist screw.

The big worry then is to make sure you don't hit a cable or pipe under the floor. Unlike with traditional floorboards you probably won't have any indication where the services are so the safest bet is to pull out the nails and replace them with a screw. This may not be possible especially if the nails are rusted in in which case, once you have determined the direction the joists run, put a screw close to the existing nail (about 20-25mm away).

Title: Re: Fixing chipboard floors
Post by JudeP on Mar 22^nd, 2015, 7:22pm

Many thanks for your thoughts and reply - greatly appreciated.