That sounds the best idea yet. Is rockwool a reasonable compromise for sound deadening? I'm sure sand would be too heavy.
How do I cut the firring strips? Can they be only about 35mm wide? In which case I suppose a jigsaw might be feasible. I do not trust myself with a circular saw, I've needed stitches using a jigsaw, I don't want limb reattachment, it never works very well and hurts a lot.
It was built as labourers cottages when labourers spent daylight outside, slept in a mezzanine structure, and had animals downstairs. Probably.
It's not so much "trying for" as the default unless we dry line and make vertical the walls and strip out the whole first floor floor and replace it with a modern structure. Or strip it out and call it a bungalow.
Its better than nothing... it gives some reduction, in that it will suppress the higher frequency sound transmission a bit. I does not really have enough mass to do much more. (Sheep's wool might do a bit better in that respect).
However the extra wood, and more importantly the fact that the new floor will mean that the ceiling below is not longer being directly walked on, should reduce the transmission of foot fall noise. The extra stiffness will reduce the creaking a bit.
Depending on what floor covering you go for, you may be able to get a bit more attenuation.
2" wide should be no problem with a jigsaw, and that will be easier to hit when screwing the new floor down.I would start by the strip on the floor in the approx location, and propping up the low end so that the top surface is now level. Now use a pair of compasses or a scribing block to trace the floor height onto the side of the new timber.
e.g.:
Before you start actually cutting them in, mark a level around the room (pencil or laser![1]), so you can check that your height setting on the first one is not going to cause you to run out of space on a later one.
[1] A rotating laser spot is good here - you can spin it round the room, but also pickup the level with a tape measure anywhere in the room, and measure down to the floor.So say you think you can accept a 4" rise from the lowest bit of floor, that tells you you need to buy 4x2 timber. Once its all scribed in, the shallowest bits might be only 2" tall, and the deepest the full 4"
Depending on how bent the floor is, you may need non straight cuts, and that's better suited to a jigsaw anyway.
Rockwool is the worst option for sound deadening, but it beats nothing.
sure.
You could use a jig, but they're awful tools relative to a circular saw. I wouldn't consider using anything other than a circular saw or tablesaw. Your job will take far longer, it'll eat through blades, and you'll get miscut wood at times. Circulars have no difficulty with gradual mild changes in direction.
If your max depth of firring strip is eg 4", you only need use whatever x4 for the bits where depth exceeds the next size down. So you can use a mix of 2x4, 2x2 etc. Free reclaimed junk wood would be an option here.
NT
Each has its place, but it does really depend on the quality of the jigsaw IME... I would be quite content doing this type of job with a decent jigsaw with pendulum action and a nice aggressive blade. If it turns out that each firing needs a relatively straight tapered cut, then yup I personally would choose the circular saw as a first preference, but if its not a straight ish cut, or like the OP, I was wary of using a circular saw; then a jigsaw will do the job.
Yup that's fine, although I would want each strip to be a single bit of wood rather than segments, since the extra added stiffness is also desirable in this application.
It occurs to me an electric plane might help. It allows fine tuning much more easily than a saw and so takes the pressure of the accuracy of the initial cut. I'm still using an ancient B&D one but I'd have thought almost anything would do for this job.
While nothing is risk free, an electric plane can't take of whole limbs at a time. And if used with work gloves the appearance of a draught on your fingers is a clue that there's a problem :)
I am probably a pessimist:-)
There is rather a lot happening under the en-suite section: basin waste, bath waste, pipework and waste to bidet, main route for bedroom ring main and kitchen below. Burglar alarm cables.
As you say, glued T+G is going to be scrapped but, to avoid creaks, it also needs gluing to the joists which then take an age to clean.
I think my worst power tool injury to date was with a powered plane :-) (although it was a large thickness planer rather than a hand held one. BTW its bad practice to sweep shaving out from under the cutter head with your hand!)
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