Creaky brand new floor above joist hangers?
Our new flooring has been installed and we have loud creaking. Videos here for your viewing pleasure if you dare, you only need to watch the first one to get the idea: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-BHxIUOC__2rN8tk4fatrV74zjMbc7MV
It strikes me that the noise is only where we have structural connections like joist hangers rather than the rest of the house or the upstairs level where it is just joists spanning straight across and subfloor fastened to them.
The middle location had infill framing added, this opening was created for an architectural element that was deleted (a column that came up through the basement into main level so they had to design the joists around this. You will notice in the photo that the framing inside this opening was notched to fit the duct, why even have the pieces of wood there at that point? Unfortunately now the basement ceiling is covered with drywall so we can’t investigate.
I recognize it is probably impossible to diagnose this over the internet. I am mainly wondering if we are even going to be able to fix this. There is no way we could live with that noise, it sounds worse than a 100 yr old house!
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Squeaking is caused by wooden pieces moving. The fix is to find whatever piece is moving and secure it so it can't move. With the framing open like that you can have one person stand on a stepladder underneath while another walks on the floor above to see if you can figure out what's moving.
Hey again DC! Unfortunately these are old photos, the basement ceiling now has drywall. I recall someone on this forum recommending not putting drywall on the ceiling in the basement as it will make it tricky if there are issues. Not wrong! Our project manager suggested we just do the drywall while doing the rest of the house.
Perhaps it would be easier to open the basement ceiling rather than touch the new flooring?
You won’t fix it from above. Like dc said it’s whatever supporting joist moving and just adding screws from above will almost certainly do nothing.
It's a lot easier to replace drywall than flooring. There are various contraptions available for sale that are made for exactly this purpose, but you're lucky that with open-web joists, you only have to screw up through the top flange into the floor sheathing. Squeeze some polyurethane construction adhesive or expanding foam between the top flange and floor sheathing if you can, before setting the screws.
Much appreciated! It is a relief we won’t have to remove the new flooring. I’m sure the drywall sub won’t be thrilled to return to fix the basement ceiling but at least it can (hopefully) get fixed. The noise was so loud it would be pretty unbearable to live with.
I wonder who pays for this fix 🙃 I assume creaky floors are covered in a builder warranty.
Don't know if its the volume on the videos, but the first two sound like there is something more going on that just a gap between the subfloor and truss joist. It does sound bad. I would cut an inspection hole underneath and see what is going on. Ceiling can be patched.
Yeah, I think those 2 videos pretty accurately show what we observed in person. Keep in mind the other areas were silent… I described it as a loud ‘metal hingeing’ kind of sound. It does not sound like a high pitched squeak or like wood is rubbing. It’s a deep metal sound that transfers over some area.
I am a bit worried about trusting our project manager to thoroughly inspect this and remedy it. Would it be wise to insist we can be present during investigation so I can take my own photos and clearly document whatever is going on in those spots once we identify them more precisely?
I am slightly worried because there are details that differ from our structural plan which I was never told about. We are paying a lot of $ for a supposedly really good builder but I didn’t think they could just deviate as they see fit without telling us. For example, they used dimensional lumber to frame above window/door openings but you will see on the structural plan it shows LVL. The basement sliding door is shown in my photos and that drawing so you can see the difference. I would assume they know what they are doing and our PM used to be a structural engineer… but now I am starting to wonder how much they decided to deviate from the plans, why, and if there are going to be issues as a result of this. Hopefully the creaky floor is just a superficial issue but it does not sound good. Go figure.
Because of the location of the noise...
Fabricated joist shorter than pocket of hanger?
Subfloor trying to span the gap
Joist not nailed into hanger?
Especially if combined with the above
Thanks, it seems humidity related. Apparently the sound is mostly gone now that the house is down to 38% RH with the dehumid running! Looks like we are just going to complete construction and monitor it to see if the sound comes back.