First of all, I bought one of those little gizmos (Squeeeek No More) that help you fix floor squeaks without removing the carpeting. Those puppies work like a charm. I'd highly recommend one to anyone. So, I had a few floor squeaks in the upstairs master bedroom and set out to repair them last Saturday. Pretty simple process: You find a floor joist, use the tool to drill in the special screw, measure 16" to the next joist, run twine between screws along the same joists, then secure screws every 10" or so down along each joists where the squeaks are. No problem. However, upon finding the first joist, then measuring 16", I screwed in the second screw....and nothing. No joist that I could tell. So, after a few more tries and nothing, I used a stud finder, then laid pennies down where the nails were found. Guess what? The floor joists are 24" on-center, not 16" as I "thought" code was supposed to be. Needless to say, I was ticked! No WONDER I had some squeaks! We're talking a 2000-built, relatively decent here. I'm coming that close to calling the builder. I'm sure there's nothing legally I can do, though. I guess I just have to chalk it up to cost-cutting, shabby construction. UGH!!! Isn't 16" on-center supposed to be code, though? Is it a state thing? Is there any code at all?? Oh, and once I established where the joists were, the rest of the project went along without a hitch. No more squeaks! Wifey-poo is a happy camper......
You will have no recourse with your builder. Contractors in most states are only required to warranty labor and workmanship for 1 year. Before we closed our business we replaced $27,000 worth of vinyl siding in a home that was only five years old. It had a lifetime warranty that was voided by the manufacturer due to improper installation. The builder only guaranteed his work for a year. And the homeowner ended up being stuck for repair costs.
If it's a code violation the builder could be held liable both for damages and criminally by the state which I assume is Georgia. Contact your State Board of Contractors. They'll tell you the codes for your state, how to file a complaint, and possible avenues of recourse. If it's Oregon here's their website: http://www.ccb.state.or.us/ If it's to code, but just a sloppy job, I assume he's been paid already so you can't withhold payment, but you can still file complaints with the board which will pop up every time someone checks him out on the website (in Oregon anyway). It's kept me from hiring a couple of contractors for jobs in the past when they had complaints, so it is a form of financial revenge for you at least. If you bought the home new from a company I would approach them with your complaint also. Nowadays they need all the good will and word-of-mouth advertising they can get. In Oregon, if the seller of the home and/or the Realtor KNEW it was not to code they can be held liable and prosecuted for fraud. One more reason to accept the assistance of a Realtor when buying a home.
Thanks for that. I did call the state/local governing bodies and found that there are so many factors involved regarding the distance between floor joists (i.e. span of joists, width of joists, thickness of sub-floor, etc.). However, one of the state guys suggested that I reach out to the builder and see what they say about the matter, So, I did. As it turns out, the builder of our home was actually bought out by another larger builder. I called them and they indicated that our home has a 10-year warranty (the home was built in 2000) and to contact this company to file a claim: http://www.rwcwarranty.com/ I have a call in to them, so we'll see where this goes. Thanks again, ABM
Codes vary by state. It could be that they had the choice of installing dimensional lumber or engineered lumber. EL is stronger than DL and can accept greater spans. The best thing to do is to call your local zoning board and discover the zoning codes.
I don't know what the codes are in your particular area, but 24" could well be allowable. Most residential building codes are fairly standardized these days, and it's pretty unlikely your house isn't build to code. The goal of joists is to ensure the floor can support a maximum load of weight. For residential construction, that's generally 40psf (pounds per square foot) of pressure. Doing this depends on 1. The type of wood being used. Some wood is stronger than others. 2. The distance the joists are spanning. The bigger the room, of course, the more support you need. 3. The size of the joists themselves. 4. The distance between the joists. So basically, for a given size room, you could achieve the same standard by either using 24" spaced joists that are larger and/or stronger than 16" spaced joists that are smaller and/or weaker. The problem you're running into is that building codes are, generally speaking, minimum requirements. It'd be nice if everyone overbuilt, and you'd get nice, non-squeaky floors, but it'd also be a fair amount more expensive.
Thanks. Well, it went nowhere. They returend my call today and told me that only stucture-bearing defects are still covered under the warranty. Squeaky floors don't qualify. Whatever. The GOOD news, though, is that we received a lease (buy option) contract on the house today, anyway! I was able to fix most of the squeaks, so I feel good about that aspect of it all. Thanks for your feedback all the same.
But it isnt really about the squeaks. The squeaks are only the reason you were able to find out about the structure-bearing defects...right? Im assuming in the links you found out that it is supposed to be 16" and cost cutting by doing it at 24" isnt allowed by law...or am I wrong on that?
They said squeaks are generally a result of the contractor using nails, as oposed to screws or screws and glue. No coded against doing that. The 24" o/c portion is dependent on a number of factors (listed a few, above), and I'm not willing to do an all-out search to determine what types of span and/or materials were used. At this point, I'm just glad that I got most of the squeaks taken care of, and that we have it leased. Thanks.
