Cracked floor board. Is this a concern?

[Coles]

Many months ago on the forum I posted about our upstairs landing being extended, supported by a stud wall as part of flat conversion in the 1980s,

The stud wall was removed and consequently the landing was restored to how it was originally.

But today I noticed a floorboard appears to have split in half in this area. This is something new.

I'm worried about what would cause this.

 

[Spyder]

Can you remove the damaged floorboard from see what is going on underneath?

 

[Coles]

Can you remove the damaged floorboard from see what is going on underneath?

I will have to take it up. One side goes into my daughters room under sound proofing and carpet, so will pull up the other side in the morning.

Is there anything in particular that might not be overly obvious I should look for?

These pics show how it looked after we removed the stud wall, then the part with the new floorboards beyond the blue line was removed. This area was really messed about with when the house was converted to flats.

 

[Flyfisher]

Is it possible that someone attempted to lift that floorboard and snapped it at a weak point?
Or perhaps there is inadequate support and someone has stepped on it and snapped it?

It really doesn't look like something due to simple subsidence after removing the stud wall because that would surely have affected the adjacent boards.

 

[Cubist]

It's not terribly clear but that board seems to span a joist directly below what is most definitely a structural weakness in the board itself. Even a slight variation in the height of the joist there could have caused the board to break if even a small weight were to be applied at a less supported point adjacent to the door on the right. Sadly the board needs to be replaced as it will pose a short term trip hazard and/or damage any coverings over it.

 

[Gothichome]

Just my thoughts, the cantilevered landing has sagged a bit, the undamaged boards were able to flex with the sag, this board obvious not. This might be due to a grain flaw or just too brittle now to flex with the deviation. My first step would be to place a strait edge parallel to the boards and see if it has developed a camber. Remades can be contemplated at this time.

 

[Coles]

Is it possible that someone attempted to lift that floorboard and snapped it at a weak point?
Or perhaps there is inadequate support and someone has stepped on it and snapped it?

It really doesn't look like something due to simple subsidence after removing the stud wall because that would surely have affected the adjacent boards.

Thank you. The board was fine a week or so ago as I checked them to work out if I needed any more than the ones I purchased for downstairs.

But they may well have been pulled up in the past. I can see several in that area have been cut in two and put back down.

I have not taken it up yet as it's outside my child's room, so will get a replacement first.

It's not terribly clear but that board seems to span a joist directly below what is most definitely a structural weakness in the board itself. Even a slight variation in the height of the joist there could have caused the board to break if even a small weight were to be applied at a less supported point adjacent to the door on the right. Sadly the board needs to be replaced as it will pose a short term trip hazard and/or damage any coverings over it.

I can see the joists underneath and where the crack is that joist ends.

The blue lines represent the joists. I will see more when I take it up. But don't wish to leave a hole there.



So could it purely be the lack of support there caused the crack?

 

[Coles]

Just my thoughts, the cantilevered landing has sagged a bit, the undamaged boards were able to flex with the sag, this board obvious not. This might be due to a grain flaw or just too brittle now to flex with the deviation. My first step would be to place a strait edge parallel to the boards and see if it has developed a camber. Remades can be contemplated at this time.

Thanks. Now you say that I can see another board has come up along that same line, which can been seen in the pic, I didn't pay much attention to it as it was cut in half but can now see it's popped upwards. That whole area is a bit of a mess and I can see all the pipework underneath, so clearly it was all pulled up at some point.

I put a straight edge on that part but it;s so uneven it's hard to tell, the part of the landing not shown in the pic (to the left where the stairs meets it) is fine. It's just that area that is the problem.

 

[Gothichome]

I bet you will find a rather large chunk of the joists has been cut out for the plumbing, this has caused your weak spot.

 

[Cubist]

Thanks for these latest pictures they have reminded me of your earlier posts regarding this 'flying/floating gallery' and some its history and the recent work upon it to reduce its length out above the hallway below. Clearly the damaged board and its neighbours are parts of the original structure of the house - the flying gallery being a later addition to provide access to the radiator. As such the joists over which those boards currently lie will ostensibly be the flying ends of those supporting the floors in the bedrooms immediately beyond the landing and consequently unlikely to have moved or been moved in recent times. However, in re-establishing the return from the stair newel post to the bedroom door opening, the floorboards may have been disturbed or even fully removed to accommodate the restoration of the balustrade to its original location. That is, I feel, the most likely cause of that boards initial fracture and this, exacerbated by foot traffic immediately above it, has served to loosen the nails and thus allowing it to lift free on the one side.

My guess is that you could hammer down the nails beyond the break and towards the balustrade to see if the break closes appreciably. Nevertheless that board will ultimately have to be replaced.

 

[Coles]

Thanks for these latest pictures they have reminded me of your earlier posts regarding this 'flying/floating gallery' and some its history and the recent work upon it to reduce its length out above the hallway below. Clearly the damaged board and its neighbours are parts of the original structure of the house - the flying gallery being a later addition to provide access to the radiator. As such the joists over which those boards currently lie will ostensibly be the flying ends of those supporting the floors in the bedrooms immediately beyond the landing and consequently unlikely to have moved or been moved in recent times. However, in re-establishing the return from the stair newel post to the bedroom door opening, the floorboards may have been disturbed or even fully removed to accommodate the restoration of the balustrade to its original location. That is, I feel, the most likely cause of that boards initial fracture and this, exacerbated by foot traffic immediately above it, has served to loosen the nails and thus allowing it to lift free on the one side.

My guess is that you could hammer down the nails beyond the break and towards the balustrade to see if the break closes appreciably. Nevertheless that board will ultimately have to be replaced.

Thank you. They didn't lift the boards, as I was all over this. You may recall that they left the new part hanging without support and it was only my own investigation and help on here that highlighted it was an addition. Those boards were also covered with hardboard and then sound proofing and more more hardboard.

I will knock back the nails as you advise and replace the board. I do have one left over but I will need to cut the width

But if part of the joist has been cut away then I gather it needs fixing. Would a joist just end like that?

I bet you will find a rather large chunk of the joists has been cut out for the plumbing, this has caused your weak spot.

I did wonder this but I can see the pipework and they come either side. There doesn't appear to be any going through the gap. But it does look like something weird as the cracked board is partly sitting on a piece of thinner newer wood (about a cm) that appears to have been hammered into the original joist.

 

[Cubist]

Would a joist just end like that?

No. Joist ends would normally be seated in a pocket in supporting brickwork or would meet and be joined to another joist or beam running at 90 degrees or some other angle to it.