Hardwood gives on second floor

[Dotrie]

New construction home, settled last July. Noticed that the second level hardwoods in an area that joins a bedroom which is carpeted, there is some play in the wood and give. Not much but when you walk on it you can feel it and know that it’s movement. The contractor says cannot do anything because ductwork is under there which I don’t know if that’s true. This builders subcontractor did not follow the electrical plans so I’m not sure the HVAC subs followed any plans either. Our model has a variety of different electrical outlets in various places. No consistency. I just don’t think they want to pull up the hardwoods to stabilize the subfloor. Worst case scenario there is ductwork, is this doable. there’s always going to be carpet or a hardwood on a subfloor and they’ve already nailed the hardwoods into the subfloor so why would it be a problem now to stabilize the floor.

[Marilyn Manson]

Even if there is ductwork under the area, the floor should still be supported properly. No floor in a 1 YO home should move. That little movement now can become worse later. Noisy, etc. Trust me, it's not going to get better, only worse. Not to mention the sheer annoyance of having a floor that moves every time you walk on it.

Has it moved since day 1? If so, not sure why you are bringing this up a year later. If the movement is recent, then it proves my point that an improperly supported floor will worsen over time.

What's the warranty? If the builder screwed up by not hiring quality contractors, including contractors that don't follow then plans, this is on him to fix. Does your town have building inspectors? Assuming the builders don't have the inspectors in their pocket, you might want to consider contacting them and finding out what they say. I can't imagine that an properly supported floor - especially one that moves - would pass code.

[Dotrie]

Thank you. We are not in this house full time yet. We visit several times a year. It is a retirement home and when we are there, the second floor is not used. It is used when our kids and grandkids visit twice a year. So it is something We never noticed due to our not living there full time.

Believe me, I know this movement/flexion will not improve over time and that’s what I’ve told the builder. I’m going back to the builder and I am going to pursue this. We have a one year warranty. And this is one of many items in the home that needs to be remedied. It’s a well-known builder in a coastal community but you’re only as good as your trades and they have very poor trades. But I won’t go there. That’s another story. It’s disheartening to put your hard earned money into your retirement home and then have to fight with the builder to fix things. They’ve been good about some things but these big issues they’re giving us every excuse in the book. I might add, we did have two inspections during the building process. But this issue with the hardwoods and the ductwork is throwing me because I don’t think that that would prevent them from re-screwing the joists to prevent the flexion.

[Randy Patzkowski]

A decent handyman should be able to find the problem by drilling a few 1/4" holes in your ceiling and inspecting the floor structure with a smartphone borescope attachment.

Once you find the problem and document with pictures, maybe the contractor will be more willing to fix it...but I suspect what you'll really need here is a lawyer.

[Dotria]

Thx. Trying to be optimistic. If I have a handyman or someone drill a hole in the ceiling below, and something is found, I don’t think they would fight me OR they could say, “oh this is code…. or this meets the tolerance,”which is what they love to say.