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perry47117 Mar 2012 09:03Hello
We built a solid house (Ytong) with a construction franchise partner in 2007. It is a semi-detached house with a basement, ground floor, upper floor, and attic.
We ordered a finished attic with a "regular" staircase, meaning the stairwell runs continuously from the basement to the attic and is uniformly designed.
In the planning stage (factory plan), the attic floor was designed with a concrete screed, exactly as we requested. This was laid on 5cm (2 inches) of impact sound insulation, under which there was a wooden floor resting on the joists.
During the construction phase, the site manager approached me and said that, for structural reasons, they could not install a screed on the attic floor. Instead, we would get an equivalent wooden floor, and I should please acknowledge this in the protocol. I trusted this statement, and we received a floor consisting of 16mm (5/8 inch) chipboard panels, 5cm (2 inches) of polystyrene insulation, and another 16mm (5/8 inch) chipboard layer.
The building handover took place, all seemed fine at first.
After about 2–3 years, however, the attic started to produce strong creaking noises when walking. It is particularly loud and unbearable at night in the rooms below.
We filed a complaint, and after some back and forth, the floor was removed. Instead of the polystyrene, Styrodur insulation was installed, and an additional 16mm (5/8 inch) OSB panel was laid on top of the 16mm chipboard.
Now the floor consists of 16mm chipboard, 4cm (1.6 inches) Styrodur, 16mm chipboard, and 16mm OSB. The entire floor was installed more or less as a floating floor. Only the top OSB and chipboard panels were partially screwed together. (By the way, the floating floor is covered with click laminate flooring.)
This was about 1.5 years ago—and at first, there was peace.
Now the creaking has started again when walking up there. It sounds somewhat different this time; I believe it comes from the Styrodur, which is considerably harder than the earlier polystyrene.
The warranty expires at the end of the year, and I am wondering what I can or should do now?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Perry
We built a solid house (Ytong) with a construction franchise partner in 2007. It is a semi-detached house with a basement, ground floor, upper floor, and attic.
We ordered a finished attic with a "regular" staircase, meaning the stairwell runs continuously from the basement to the attic and is uniformly designed.
In the planning stage (factory plan), the attic floor was designed with a concrete screed, exactly as we requested. This was laid on 5cm (2 inches) of impact sound insulation, under which there was a wooden floor resting on the joists.
During the construction phase, the site manager approached me and said that, for structural reasons, they could not install a screed on the attic floor. Instead, we would get an equivalent wooden floor, and I should please acknowledge this in the protocol. I trusted this statement, and we received a floor consisting of 16mm (5/8 inch) chipboard panels, 5cm (2 inches) of polystyrene insulation, and another 16mm (5/8 inch) chipboard layer.
The building handover took place, all seemed fine at first.
After about 2–3 years, however, the attic started to produce strong creaking noises when walking. It is particularly loud and unbearable at night in the rooms below.
We filed a complaint, and after some back and forth, the floor was removed. Instead of the polystyrene, Styrodur insulation was installed, and an additional 16mm (5/8 inch) OSB panel was laid on top of the 16mm chipboard.
Now the floor consists of 16mm chipboard, 4cm (1.6 inches) Styrodur, 16mm chipboard, and 16mm OSB. The entire floor was installed more or less as a floating floor. Only the top OSB and chipboard panels were partially screwed together. (By the way, the floating floor is covered with click laminate flooring.)
This was about 1.5 years ago—and at first, there was peace.
Now the creaking has started again when walking up there. It sounds somewhat different this time; I believe it comes from the Styrodur, which is considerably harder than the earlier polystyrene.
The warranty expires at the end of the year, and I am wondering what I can or should do now?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Perry
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