New build flooring.

[lucas121]

Excuse the naivety, I have never worked on new builds.

The other week we had a job on a house that was roughly 2 years old to move an upstairs rad. I wanted to keep the job neat so tried to keep all pipe work under the floor. I cut the section of floor I wanted to lift, however, once I'd finished cutting I couldn't actually lift the floor at all!

My boss then joined me (who has not worked on new build for a long time) and said that he heard that new build floors are completely different. They come in as sections and are glued to metal trusses and that the pipe work is fed from below before the ceiling goes up.

This can't be true can it? It will be a nightmare in the future. Are we missing something here?

 

[Meady]

You have wooden joists that all the pipes are fed through. The top of the joists can't be notched, they have to go through the middle section.

The floor boards come in big sheets and are normally glued to the joists now as all the pipework and cables are fitted from below before the ceilings go up.

 

[hammers4spanner]

New build houses are at an all time low in quality IMHO , last site I worked on flooring was all glued which for future maintenance is an horrific idea .

 

[Chalked]

Yes they are all glued theses days. It's a while since I've had to do the joist tightrope.

It's still easy to take up a trap. Just don't cut on top of the joist ad the boards are glued. You will need to fit noggins underneath to support the board when replacing.

 

[stevetheplumber]

there is a system where you can rout out a circle and you fit a frame which supports the piece youve removed

 

[stevetheplumber]

there is a system where you can rout out a circle and you fit a frame which supports the piece youve removed

 

[snowhead]

Armeg Plug Caps for 111mm Solid Board Cutter Pack of 10 : Tooled-Up.com

 

[lucas121]

I'm not looking forward to when these new builds we require maintenance or want their bath room re doing then! Going to be forced to use plastic as well I'm assuming.

 

[Rckape]

there is a system where you can rout out a circle and you fit a frame which supports the piece youve removed

These are called the Routabout by Trend. The plastic inserts are a bit costly but it makes a good job. I've been using them for years.

 

[sheff paul]

Yes they are all glued theses days. It's a while since I've had to do the joist tightrope.

It's still easy to take up a trap. Just don't cut on top of the joist ad the boards are glued. You will need to fit noggins underneath to support the board when replacing.

all the span flooring has been stuck down since the late 90's,stops it creaking in summer when it expands,if we buggered up a pipe,or one got nailed it was cheaper to bash in the ceiling and get the plasterer to patch pre paint.

 

[AWheating]

there are normally 3 types of joist used on new builds today, standard joists, Finnjoists (i beam) and metal web joists.Each has a certain advantage depending on costs, strength, space for services etc.....

the flooring is normally chipboard which is glued and nail gunned down, Some builders may have a ply layer under the chipboarding depending on how it was constructed.

Timber framed / factory build houses offten have the joists and flooring made in the factory in sections which is then dropped in when built on site this is quicker of course.

the problem with the chipboard is once glued it does not come up well, you need to cut your access hatch along the edge of the joists and nogging it back down on all sides of the hatch. The glue used is not easy to remove and the tops of the joists can get damaged when trying to lift the chipboard.

one thing to remember is that only normal wooden joists can be notched which makes copper/gas pipework hard to fit, im expecting to hear about diyers notching joists in the future and costing themselves thousands to have joists repaired.

 

[gassafe]

there is a system where you can rout out a circle and you fit a frame which supports the piece youve removed

That sounds good, but surely a little round hole does not give us much room to work in, plus you'd be lucky to even find the pipe lol!!

 

[quality]

There is a new estate near me and we put a rad in the converted garage. Same issue I pulled the whole board up and replaced it. I have used the hole cutter method but not great for 3m of copper pipe

 

[paulusgg]

But on the plus side with this type of floor you can use your jigsaw, recipsaw or circular saw in the safe knowledge that you won't be cutting through a pipe that's just notched through the top of the joist!

Had a job a few years back where some of the floors were 18mm and some 22mm, set the saw to 22mm cut the hatch and the flow and return pipes.......I'd found an area of 18mm flooring with the pipes literally touching the underside of the decking. Still, saved on draining down:rolleyes2: