Creaking Ceilings - Getting Nowhere with NHBC

New Build Inspections

mkfc1981

New Member
To give everyone an update on our situation. Strata homes have taken every ceiling out in the house and fit resilient bars across the joists. They have also layed fibreglass covering across the resilient bars. They have attached the plasterboard to the resilient bars and it has 100% cured the issue. The reason why it has cured the issue is that when they took the ceiling out you can see a slight bit of movement in the TJI joists when you knocked them gently. The resilient bars have clearly held the joists together more tightly which has solved the issues! Don't back down people, get your builders to fit resilient bars the way ours have! It worked![View attachment 367

How did you manage to get them to fix it. I'm at a loss, been fighting for 6 months now.
 

New Build Inspector

snagging inspections 01788 494400
resilient bars ....required to fix floor problems

i have several clients going through the same process and all report better success with the under-boarding in addition to the resilient bars being fitted

it seems to be the way to go

linden homes took the ceilings down and the joists out at their their rye hill development , and completely began from scratch
 

jayprice1985

New Member
I would severely take to social media and kick off. Builders don't like negative comments. I had to do with Strata due to their soppy way or solving stuff. They was on TV last week for floor issues.

Has NHBC been involved? What's their opinion?
 

Trapped in hell

New Member
We first reported our floor issues in 2015. The NHBC upheld our claim something was wrong with the floor and it was unacceptable. We then had to have manufacturer meetings but they did not all get invited.First meeting was a whitewash as we had some pictures from a few holes which showed no glue in many places and a defective red streaked ijoist. They all spent time looking at this ijoist and then all concurred it was sacrificial!! Which it is not!! We also then found out that the supplier/ designer that had attended was contracted to start work for the builder! We then had another meeting with the floorboard manufacturer and we had 13 investigation holes on this visit and over 200 pictures showing a whole litany of defects and the services not installed to building regs/ NHBc standards. Resilient bars will not solve this alone and is sometimes only a temporary solution for floors not installed properly. You need pictures and an expert. The NHBc abandoned us after the second meeting accepting an email from the builder saying there was now, by magic, nothing wrong with our floor. We were then told we would only be communicated to by lawyers on this matter.2 years the NHBC admit they can see substantial defects after the NHBC were contacted by our MP. After we have incurred colossal legal expenses the NHBC have re opened the resolution process!!!
We have many more defects no insulation in upstairs internal walls, downstairs cloaks, on correctly built structural buttress wall , air vents below ground, ground level with internal floor of house, severe waterlogging and more less serious we have had no use of kitchen sink since last August! The NHBC said we had to prove the existence and extent of the defects but both builder and NHBc try to hinder and prevent you doing this.At the outset they both said they did not know what type of floor we had! We had to take the bath panels off and found a name on the boards and then found the system. We were prevented from having our public access rights in 2015 to the building control records , this has been granted in 2017 and we now know the floor is not installed to the approved design.You end up on a nightmare from which there is no escape.
 
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mkfc1981

New Member
I would severely take to social media and kick off. Builders don't like negative comments. I had to do with Strata due to their soppy way or solving stuff. They was on TV last week for floor issues.

Has NHBC been involved? What's their opinion?

NHBC says noise levels deemed acceptable, excusing it by saying the building is settling. The noise level were not measured it's just his personal opinion by listening. He seemed very chummy with the Barratt person attending the site visit. In fact Barratt did open the floor a few weeks back and spent 3 days attempting to silence the floor. They did half a room and the contractors said they'd have to do the same to the other half. Suddenly they claim they never promised that.

Horrible human beings. How do I get the press involved, i am not letting them get away with taking our money for a substandard home. In my opinion by doing work on the floor surely that is admittance of an issue/fault! In fact I believe the NHBC even gave them an excuse to stop helping.

I would get an independent surveyor involved but a) they aint cheap, and b) this could potentially void our warranty with Barratt and or the NHBC?
 
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mkfc1981

New Member
I have the same issue as you "trapped in hell", the floors and the stairs creak loudly, only for the NHBC to rule it was "acceptable level of noise". It's a new build there should be no noise. I have also requested the files on my Plot, and they have yet to provide me the information. I'm convinced that in these papers they would have admitted to some sort of wrongdoing/issue since they have already sent in contractors on numerous occasion to rectify this.

Does anyone else have issues with their floors/ceilings, maybe we should work together to get the word out about Barratt and their questionable quality assurance.
 

mkfc1981

New Member
I would severely take to social media and kick off. Builders don't like negative comments. I had to do with Strata due to their soppy way or solving stuff. They was on TV last week for floor issues.

Has NHBC been involved? What's their opinion?


How does one go about this. I contemplated a banner on the roof to stop them from selling the remaining few houses on the development.
 

MFH76

New Member
I have the same problem with cracking ceilings on a house we have built recently and am looking to resolve it as neatly and cleanly as possible. Can you help/advise? Thanks.
 

New Build Inspector

snagging inspections 01788 494400
need some more info first

ceilings to ground floor i.e i section joists or upper floors the bottom of the trusses
how wide are the cracks , are they at the edges or do they follow the boards
have you boarded out the loft do you use the loft for storage
do you have attic trusses

some photos would be useful also to best advise
 

Algeron

New Member
Resillent bars can help but not the solution as they drop your ceiling height by 2 inches and make the room look very odd and ceiling very low if allready at the minimun height. Could be the upstairs wall plates moving and read that studies have been done and the glue from plaster board fitting or dabs have seaped into the the gap between I frame joist and the external walls and its in fact the PVA glue cracking near the wall plates. Expect its combination as happens when I walk near an internall wall in the bedroom upstairs. Also the PVA glue under the walls in floor boards join on I joists is cracking so needs noise resilient sealent added to damp down movement in floor as PVA cracking were their is movement. Resilient bars move the sound further away so you belive it is quiter but its still there. I know this as had them fitted and made sound further away when downstairs but still had the cracking upstairs in bedrooms. I believe a simple fix is to lift carpets and remove glue under wall plates.
 

Algeron

New Member
To give everyone an update on our situation. Strata homes have taken every ceiling out in the house and fit resilient bars across the joists. They have also layed fibreglass covering across the resilient bars. They have attached the plasterboard to the resilient bars and it has 100% cured the issue. The reason why it has cured the issue is that when they took the ceiling out you can see a slight bit of movement in the TJI joists when you knocked them gently. The resilient bars have clearly held the joists together more tightly which has solved the issues! Don't back down people, get your builders to fit resilient bars the way ours have! It worked![View attachment 367
Helps to make the cracking sound further away and makes floor more solid but doesn't resolve the cracking sound upstairs completely and the draw back we found is drops an already low celling in a new build to a ridiculous height which then means adjusting all your curtain poles. If your ceilings are high then a good option and can be done in a few days. We had a lot of problems with the new ceiling not being square in the corners as bars can be bent so see a wave effect.
 

Algeron

New Member
We cant use the resilient bars as our walls are standard height and dropping ceilings by 2 inches would mean adjusting light fittings, curtain poles and would make the room feel very odd with a low ceiling. Best floors are taken up in bedrooms and then strengthen floor with noggins to stop movement and reduce the glue cracking on the joists as we walk across the floor. The problem is the glue is causing the cracking sound when olderr floors were stronger and never glued. We then screw floor boards back down. Add sound insulations in floor voids to help keep floor sounds further away. The problem is with new builds they don't use big timbers like old houses and now causing cracking with the PVA glue used to strengthen floors. Best floor is not stuck down as they never did this in older properties and relied on the bigger timbers and left the floors to float.
 

Darren Kennedy

New Member
Basically the joists have a deflection rate of, something like, 12mm but the plasterboard only has a deflection rate of 4mm and so because the two materials deflect at different rates the plasterboard (a more flexible material) cracks.
I have done loads of these and the least invasive way is to pull the bedroom or landing carpet up, cut out every other floorboard, run a bead of D4 glue along the corner of the hoist and plasterboard, glue D4 to 2x1PAR timber to the hoist and plasterboard and nail that timber to the joist (D4 glue expands to a foam and holds everything together). Then noggins in to take the floorboards, screw floorboards down and then relay carpet.
Believe it or not, 2 chippys can do a 4 bed house in 2 days. And it works.
No need to remove plasterboard and so therefore no need for plasterboard dust to get everywhere, no need for drying time for filler, no need to sand and then paint.
 

New Build Inspector

snagging inspections 01788 494400
Gauging the deflection on floors is difficult.. Impossible when carpeted and furnished

Typically the builder will say.. Its not an issue.. Or leave it abd see what happens

While your furniture moves every time you walk across the room
 

matiz2808

New Member
Hello All - has anyone had any recent success stories with the creaking celling issue? We just had the NHBC inspection where they deemed that this is within acceptable level (purely based on opinion) and developer is now reinforced that there is nothing else that they can do (as noise is acceptable). A bit lost on next steps to progress with this so any suggestions will be more than welcome.
 
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