Visited two house showings over the weekend and noticed floors that felt soft and clearly had give when walked on.
The first was a 1950s house with a newly drained and furnished basement. In one room, there was a laminate floor that noticeably gave way when walked on.
The second house was a single-story 1960s house with what looked like original parquet flooring in the living room floor. Here too the floor felt soft when walked on.
In both cases, there should be concrete under the "soft" floors. Is this an indication that something is wrong, or are there underlays that cause the floors to give?
The first was a 1950s house with a newly drained and furnished basement. In one room, there was a laminate floor that noticeably gave way when walked on.
The second house was a single-story 1960s house with what looked like original parquet flooring in the living room floor. Here too the floor felt soft when walked on.
In both cases, there should be concrete under the "soft" floors. Is this an indication that something is wrong, or are there underlays that cause the floors to give?
In the basement, hopefully something is built with an air gap underneath.
The living room floor is harder to answer about, but it could, for example, be lying on sand that has become uneven over the years for some reason.
The living room floor is harder to answer about, but it could, for example, be lying on sand that has become uneven over the years for some reason.
In both cases, it was probably a matter of framework constructions on top of concrete. In the basement of the 50s house, it was certainly built afterwards. Many small houses in both the 50s and 60s had cast concrete vaults over the basement with parquet floors on joists.
That's exactly how my 60s place looks.J justusandersson said:
The floor could then be a self-supporting parquet with cross-pikes that has given up at the joint. It is worth mentioning that this type of construction, with a raised floor on an uninsulated concrete slab, is a risk construction that may need to be redone. Often some form of mechanical ventilation is required. See e.g. nivell.se/
Only if it is a basement floor, not if it is an intermediate floor.
The easiest way is to keep track of the construction years. Single-story houses with slab-on-grade built after 1980 likely have an insulated slab. If it's built before 1970, the slab is usually uninsulated. For construction years between 1970 and 1980, you need to be observant. In houses with basements, the basement floor is almost always uninsulated.