ok so my hubby and i just bought a 6 bd 2 bath house.. only problem is the down stairs bathroom floor looked as if the sub floor was bad right by the bathtub well hubby and i pulled up all the sub floor.. well the joist i think it is called there is 3 of them going across one of them when i step on it moves just a tiny bit(im 133 lbs) the 2nd one moves up and down when i step on it and has a split in the middle the 3rd one where the bath tub was is the worse and its soft feeling on the top and feels like it could break.. i was told by a repair man that to fix this problem it would cost WELL over 1,000.. i pulled up the other sub floor in the laundry room that is right next to the bathroom and only separated by a "wall" more like paneling and them joist seem to be fine(no splits,doest move much at all)what should i do and can this be fixed for less the 1,000??thanks
I hope for now you have gotten something under those board just until you can repair them. Look like you need new ones just go look at them and see what you can learn . take notes and draw pictures if possible and a tape measure go to your local hardware store they could problably help too!
just put some blocks between the joists, blocks are usually 2x6 or 2x8 depending on the size of the joists just cut to 14.5 inches because the joists should be 16 inches from center to center. put them in between the joists the more you put the more sturdy they will become and after that is done, buy some 3/4 plywood make sure you mark where the joists are and make sure you screw them every 6 to 10 inches apart do not use nails for this i repeat do not use nails for this use 2 1/2 or 3 inch screws preferably the gold color ones you can purchase at home deport or Lowe's or any hardware store.
Floor joist do not always run in the same direction. To determine the direction you can look at the nails in the sub-floor. The nails should be in straight lines that go into the joists. If the sub-floor is not yet exposed you can use a bit of logic to make an educated guess as to the direction. Second floor joists sit on supporting walls the ends of them). The outside of your house is a given, so the direction can be determined by looking at the first floor walls. This is by no means a fool proof method but it should help. If you are install a newer engineered (snap together -floating floor) the direction makes absolutely no difference. But in the case of a floating floor the condition of the sub floor is very important (no bumps etc). If you are nailing the floor down on the tongues, then running across the joist (perpendicular to the joist) is preferred but not an absolute necessity as long as the sub floor is in good shape. If you don't have a pneumatic nailer I recommend that you rent one specially designed for installing floors they run about $500.00 to buy one so renting is the best option.
Wishing for a 2010 baby, Sounds like to me that you have a sub-floor plywood problem. Since you can see the sub-floor plywood, the labor cost is going to be cheaper now to repair it. Also sounds to me that the previous owner didn`t use a shower curtain, which caused this problem. You an your hubby might have to replace the sub-floor plywood in the bathroom only. Or at least replace the plywood up against the tub. Use sub-floor glue when replacing the plywood. This will stop any squeak's later on. And I recommend you use 2 inch drywall screws to secure the plywood to the floor joist. This will also prevent 'squeaking' later on. You might have to add some lumber(extra floor joists) just next to the tub area. Note: If tiling the floor, use concrete board over 3/4 inch thick sub-floor plywood. If not tile, then what ever size sub-floor thickness you have now will do. Another suggestion; If replacing any carpet in your new home, screw the sub-floor plywood down with 2 inch screws every 8 inches on only the floor joists before installing new carpet. I Hate squeaking floors. Good luck with your new home and your new baby/baby`s. Hoped this helped. Doing most of the work yourself will save you money. + or - $500.00 labor,$500.00 material.
