Help with noisy floors - builder calling NHBC in.

Geoggy · 26th April 2007, 13:18

Hi,

I've been unhappy with the level of noise from my first floor floors since moving in.

On the last visit of the builder (Charter Homes), I was told that they could do nothing else as all the boards were screwed down.

I complained to the maintenance guy that the noise out of them was still unnacceptable, and he said he would speak to the site manager who worked on the site (but was now long gone form the site).

Anyway, 4 months pass and I hear nothing, so I wrote to CHarter this week and they have replied saying I was told in December this had been rectified, (utter nonesense) and that they will be calling to make an appointment to bring the NHBC in.

Having browsed the forums on this I am not confident of getting anywhere.

Can anyone give some advice about this? I dont think I am being unreasonable. It is my second new home I have moved in from new, but the noise in this house from creaking floors far surpasses anything I have heard.

Further, 3 of my neighbours are unhappy with their floors and are pursuing a fix.

HELP!

Thanks

Geoggy.

PS the builder hate me because I used the sangging.org checklist ;o)

Tony · 2nd May 2007, 22:24

Hi Geoggy,

Sorry to hear this, no pun intended. I would wait and see what the NHBC inspector says before taking further action - make sure he knows about the three neighbours.

Screwing down is the usual fix, perhaps they just need more screws or tighten them.

Keep us posted

Tony

willyj · 7th June 2007, 09:20

It will speed things up considerably if you contact NHBC directly. Even more weight would be thrown behind your complaint if your neighbours also contact them, rather than waiting for the Builders to do this, if, indeed, they even have.

squid · 10th June 2007, 11:21

Is this sort of problem covered by the NHBC?
The most common cause of creaky floors in new dwellings is drying out especially if the joists were allowed to get rained upon during the build. The boards are screwed and glued in place and the drying process shrinks the timber and breaks the bond. Usual fix is to put more screws in... pretty simple but the carpets have to be lifted.
There could be a more serious cause such as under-sizing of the joists or insufficient bracing in long spands causing the floor to bounce thereby breaking the bond... then I suppose the NHBC should get involved.

squid · 10th June 2007, 11:22

oh yes... I am assuming that the required acoustic quilt has been installed within the floor zone.

willyj · 11th June 2007, 18:55

Take it from me, I know, the NHBC get [ul]a lot[/ul] of complaits about squeaky floors and revised their standards a few years ago because of it.

Bugbait · 7th November 2007, 19:52

How about squeaky frames? I've been fighting with our builder (Nicholas King) for over a year regarding our squeaking frames. Yes, we've had NHBC out but the inspector clearly failed high school with the rubbish he was trying to feed me. Does anyone have any positive storeis about NHBC?

Colin Jack · 8th November 2007, 13:09

Remember the NHBC are an insurance company set up by the house builders to protect the house builders from the customers, but paid for by the customers?!?!?!?!

The vast majority of NHBC inspectors have no engineering training whatsoever and none will be able to enlighten you on the theory behind their copy of the building regulations (the NHBC standards - which are guidance only so can't really be described as 'standards')

In Scotland there is no-one from the NHBC who is authorised to make any comment on building matters.

Only advice would be to have a witness present, preferably your solicitor, when the builder and the NHBC come calling. As my witness reported 'It appeared that the NHBC displayed a united front against the owner and did not seem interested in resolving the dispute'.

Here are some quotes from Simon Barrett (NHBC Engineering Manager)
'The NHBC are the builder's insurer'
'If the NHBC set their standards too high, builders will get their insurance somewhere else'
Says it all!

The NHBC, their 'standards' (which are no better than the building regulations i.e. the minimum standards you are entitled to receive anyway with or without the NHBC) and their resolution service must be treated with extreme caution. It is set up to protect the builder and the NHBC's profits, not to help you out in a dispute.

It is all another great big British Con!

Bugbait · 9th November 2007, 19:19

Colin Jack wrote:

Quote:

The vast majority of NHBC inspectors have no engineering training whatsoever and none will be able to enlighten you on the theory behind their copy of the building regulations (the NHBC standards - which are guidance only so can't really be described as 'standards')

I have to fully agree with you there. Although I only studied Engineering for one year at University before transferring to Commerce (I find finance and legal matters more interesting) I still found myself far more knowledgeable than the NHBC 'inspector'. Some of the things he tried to 'sell' went against basic physics, not to mention logic.