Sub-floor repairs Sydney, bearers and joist

New solid timber flooring installations are usually laid over flat surfaces like concrete slabs, plywood, particle boards, tiles, or existing boards. Another method of installation is utilizing existing timber joists and bearers. Many older homes in the Eastern and Inner Western suburbs of Sydney were built with the two components’ floor frame system. Floor joists and bearers.

• Sub-floor bearers or joists need to be strong enough to hold the rest of the floor up. Lack of floor vents in Sydney houses and prevailing moisture exposure can cause a range of changes to the joists and bearers for an extended period. Rising dampness, excessive moisture, lack of fresh air, and neglected sub-floor ventilation are the primary culprits of Sydney’s sub-floor repairs.

In the event of sagging, springy, or termite damaged flooring member, Floorexperts will provide the cost-effective help your flooring system needs. Floor joists replacement and bearers repairs are delicate and sometimes very tricky. Limited access, low clearance from the ground, debris, and old forgotten building material under the floor make the joist repair challenging. Enough room to insert a long piece of hardwood is the crucial issue here.

• Thank our 29 years’ experience; we do it effectively. Not only minimizing the cost, the time of repair, but also disturbance for the owners.

Rotten floor joist repair cost

• There are usually two main approaches.

1. Sufficient operating room underneath the floor. Enough space for the flooring guy to stand, sit, or at least physically be able to crawl underneath the floor.
In such a case, we will bring a new joist or bearer in and replace the faulty one. The most challenging part of the job is manipulating 3-4 m long floor members in confined space. We must place a waterproof flashing between the timber and the foundation to keep the bearers protected from moisture. A sheet of plastic or traditional lead flashing is used. The access to the sleeper wall must be provided to repair the issue from underneath the subfloor.
2. Not enough clearance between the soil and hardwood flooring. In this case, the flooring members repair must be carried out from the top of the customer’s tongue and groove floor.

The bad news is: The subsequent sanding and polishing of the natural timber usually go hand-in-hand with the repair. It means not only moving out the furniture from the room but often from the entire wood flooring area. Occasionally the sanding and polishing can be split into several jobs. However, the time required will be much longer. To provide the highest quality job, we need the whole hardwood floor to be sanded and finished simultaneously.

Once upon a time there used to be a healthy floor member and bearers supporting the timber floor

Usually there are two            repair scenarios 

Providing there is enough working space from underneath the floor, the joists can be replaced. This method is non-destructive. If the under-floor space is limited, the only alternative reminds cutting a maintenance hole and implementing the replacement from the top floor. See below

We had to cut a man hole in order to insert  two new joists.