MICRO CRACKING

Micro’ cracking is a term used within the industry to describe a defect within the flooring/ceiling construction that when floors are walked across the plasterboard ceiling ‘cracks’ and ‘creaks’ below.

This can be extreme and has been described as “when my partner walks around upstairs, it sounds like the ceiling is going to fall in”…

View of a room under renovation with the floor partially removed, exposing plumbing and a rectangular hole. Tools such as a saw, measuring tape, and a piece of cardboard are on the floor. There is a staircase with a rolled-up carpet and a retaining wall on the right side, leading to a lower level. In the background, a doorway reveals another room with chairs, a stuffed animal, and various household items.

HOW WE DO IT

2 Carpenters work on one room to lift up the existing carpet and underlay, set aside and cut access panels in the chipboard flooring along the full length of the room going against the run of the joists to enable the installation of ‘3-inch x 2 inch’ timbers alongside the bottom of each of the joists at the plasterboard/timber junction within the floor void. This is glued with D4 wood glue. Floor panels are then fitted with again, D4 glued and screwed timber noggins to ensure that these panels in turn do not cause any creaks.

The results can be staggering each room can be completed in 1 day so that the homeowner is not inconvenienced for long period.

View of an unfinished basement or crawl space showing electrical wiring and plumbing pipes installed along the wooden framing and plywood floor.

With our workforce predominantly coming from new home remedial backgrounds, our combined years of experience in diagnosing and resolving creaks, squeaks, ticking heating pipes and unique noises found within homes is extremely vast.

​With experience we learn that each issue has its own distinctive characteristics and that is the same when it comes to "Micro Cracking".

​For example, a creaking floor will predominantly produce a much louder noise when you are within the room of which the floorboard is lay rather than if you were to be downstairs and someone be walking on the floor above.

​A squeaking stud wall, predominantly a sole plate, again will be heard louder in the room of which that wall/material is located.

​A ticking heating pipe noise can echo within boxing's and cavities making it harder to pinpoint the route cause location.

 Micro Cracking however is distinctively heard from within the room below someone is walking above. This is because it is in fact the ground floor ceiling "Plasterboard" that is creating the noise, to which you will find it harder to hear from within a room of which that material is not based i.e the bedroom that person number two is walking whilst you remain downstairs. This is due to the sound having to penetrate the floorboard and floor covering for example carpets and underlay.

A room under renovation with a floor made of wooden planks, partially covered with construction material, and a white radiator mounted on the wall, with a power outlet nearby.

A VIDEO OF COMMON MICROCRACKING SOUNDS CAN BE HEARD ON OUR SEVICES PAGE AT THE TOP.