Hello,
We live in a house built in 1958 and have long been concerned that in certain rooms upstairs, every step makes a massive thumping sound throughout the house. Now, we've had to open up one of the floors due to a minor water damage, and this is what we see (the sawdust has been removed where it's open, but you can see how it looks under the floor):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xpai7w4j4gdsef4/2018-06-01 19.28.55.jpg?dl=0
The joists are some form of longitudinal masonite-sandwich construction. There is no subfloor; the pine flooring is laid directly on the masonite boxes. Later, someone laid a floor on top that was laid correctly.
I have two questions I hope someone can help me with:
1. What type of joists are these? Do they have a name?
2. Is there anything (big or small) I can do to reduce the resonance in the floor?
Thankful for answers,
Anders
We live in a house built in 1958 and have long been concerned that in certain rooms upstairs, every step makes a massive thumping sound throughout the house. Now, we've had to open up one of the floors due to a minor water damage, and this is what we see (the sawdust has been removed where it's open, but you can see how it looks under the floor):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xpai7w4j4gdsef4/2018-06-01 19.28.55.jpg?dl=0
The joists are some form of longitudinal masonite-sandwich construction. There is no subfloor; the pine flooring is laid directly on the masonite boxes. Later, someone laid a floor on top that was laid correctly.
I have two questions I hope someone can help me with:
1. What type of joists are these? Do they have a name?
2. Is there anything (big or small) I can do to reduce the resonance in the floor?
Thankful for answers,
Anders
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Best answer
Hi Anders! Could it be a prefab house from Mockfjärd? You sometimes see such houses in the building forums. So you can definitely search for historical facts in older forum threads. Based on the picture and general knowledge of carpentry, I would say the floor looks unusually intact after all these years. And that the sawdust hasn't settled. Possibly the floorboards have detached from the beams. My guess is that the thumps come from the floorboards. They may need to be glued down in that case. But there will surely be more posts with better advice. The easiest thing might be to try gluing down one of the boards you’ve removed. And see if it's gone quiet.
That is a prefabricated house. There is a risk that the load-bearing capacity of the floor will be compromised if you make any alterations to it. Be careful with how you proceed!
It's hard to say what's making the noise, I live in a prefabricated house myself and haven't had problems with any "noise" in the joists.
It's hard to say what's making the noise, I live in a prefabricated house myself and haven't had problems with any "noise" in the joists.
Thank you for the response! After searching a bit on the forum, it definitely seems to be an elementhus, interesting!
Now I had to open a little because of moisture, but the best solution seems to be to restore and glue/screw down the floor gypsum and then lay new flooring on top of it.
Now I had to open a little because of moisture, but the best solution seems to be to restore and glue/screw down the floor gypsum and then lay new flooring on top of it.
It looks like even the floorboards are part of the load-bearing structure here. The Masonite seems to have been glued in grooves in the plaqnkorna.
Correct, as I interpret it, the whole house is built from these elements. Each element consists of two sides with planks and two sides with masonite, and the element is filled with sawdust. An element is typically 3-4 meters long. The entire house, including inner and outer walls, is built together like Lego from these elements. This means that everything and nothing is load-bearing in the house. Common house from the 1950s up to the 1980s.
This forum is a goldmine. In an hour, I've learned more about my house than any blueprint or inspector could have.
This forum is a goldmine. In an hour, I've learned more about my house than any blueprint or inspector could have.
And I can now, after further googling, conclude that the noise is due to someone having torn down a wall under the floor with noise and made a kitchen out of what must have been a small kitchen and a small dining room. By placing a beam in the ceiling, I should get rid of the problem.
Found a blog about an exactly similar house that had the exact same problem:
http://www.westlings.nu/?page=34
Found a blog about an exactly similar house that had the exact same problem:
http://www.westlings.nu/?page=34
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