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Snagging and defects / Re: Snapping/Cracking Noises Heard In Room Below
« Last Post by lukey on June 15, 2023, 04:01:15 pm »Also builder is Wates, never buy a house from them
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"In this house type, there is a load bearing blockwork wall between the living room and kitchen / dining room which continues between the stairwell and utility room. This wall position is under the landing and the corridor between the wardrobes of bedroom 1.
The first-floor structure is made up of joists and chipboard flooring. Engineered joists have been used which is typical for around 20 years now rather than solid timber joists and software from the manufacturer of the engineered joists was used by the supplier to us, to design a layout. The design has a change of direction in the joists, which occurs under the landing and in the bedroom corridor which can be seen highlighted in the excerpt below. Joists over the lounge and hall run parallel to the load bearing wall that joists over the kitchen / dining room that are laid perpendicular to the internal load bearing wall.
Timber is affected by thermal movement and moisture and as it dries it can twist and crack and loose shape. Moisture can swell timber and it can dry with the swelled dimensions. Engineered joists are the answer to solving most of the movement that can occur with timber and it also enables far greater spans to be achieved, although we are not looking at extremities of span distance here. However, all joists spanning distances will deflect, with allowable regulated tolerances this can be as much as 12mm. The joist running parallel to the kitchen / dining wall might not have been dead straight to begin with due to the movements of timber, and now have loading within it causing deflection. The joists perpendicular was measured 2 to 3mm bigger than design height as well. So, we have culminated in differences in heights that have left a step.
The proposal is to apply a levelling compound to the top of the chipboard flooring on the lower side to lose the step in the floor. This is a recognised solution which has been tried and tested, and is designed to address issues such as these when they arise. We can confirm that we will replace the carpet in the master bedroom, landing and stairs."