Floorboard Under Wall

[Old_Geezer]

Been meaning to think about a DIY problem I have all week, but here it is the weekend and realise I've not done so and still a little unsure the best way to tackle it.

The background is that a fair while ago I had a plumber in to install central heating. I've since realised that where we positioned the living room radiator the plumber simply cut the floorboard off at the wall in order to get the pipes in; so it has had no support there ever since.

I didn't like this so I remove the floorboard from an existing cut it had under the stairs and another existing cut in the living room (both over joists). I managed to remove the nails under the wall also.

I bought a new piece of floorboard but trying to feed it into position is proving difficult. One end has to be higher than the floor as it is fed in in order it slide it over the existing living room bit of board that's still in place. But the new board, being straight not curved, tends to approach the gap over the joist and under the wall, too low. It fouls on the joist and is proving difficult to persuade upwards and over; so it can slide the rest of the way in.

(It might be easier if I had help but I'd prefer to get things done by myself if possible.)

What I had tried before calling it a day last weekend was a futile attempt at removing part of the underside of the brick with a rasp. Got nowhere. The brick seems to have a very smooth side and nothing seems to grip it easily to remove material. And I suspect I'd prefer an electric tool to do it with rather than pushing a hand tool in and out, continually having to go at it.

I could try to sand down the top of the joist but I don't wish to consider that. The whole point is to have the full joist there to support the board.

As I write it occurs to be that if I cleared the whole of the living room it may be possible to temporarily remove the remaining part of that floorboard and avoid the having to push the new bit in at a angle, but that seems a lot of hassle.

Anyone have any better suggestions ?

[Dogsbody2]

Can you not attach a wood noggin, nailed or screwed into the brick wall, at the appropriate height to allow you a decent support for your replacement floorboard?

[bhg481]

I would cheat by screwing a piece of say 2" x 2" timber underneath the 2 adjacent floorboards parallel to the wall. You can then cut your new floorboard in two, one piece long enough to go through the wall to the joist in the other room and the other piece long enough to go from the joist in the living room and half-overlap your new timber. You can then screw your two new floorboard pieces to your new timber - effectively your new floorboard is supported by the two adjacent ones.
Perhaps TheBuilder will have a better method.

[1581960]

You could perhaps sand a slight taper on the bottom of the floorboard as well as the top of the joist, just enough to get it started and still have sufficient landing when its pushed right in.

[The Builder]

Hi OG. I hope I've understood this proprerly. This board has to run from one room, under a partition wall, and into another room?

If so, then I would never bother with that. It's quite common for plumbers and electricians to cut boards anywhere....... leaving no joist support.

Take a short end of 2x1 batten and place it under the boards on each side of the loose board. Hold the batten and drill through the two adjoining boards. Put in a couple of screws to hold the batten tight. This will support the loose board perfectly well.

Repeat in the other room.

[bhg481]

Gosh. TheBuilder agrees with me. That's boosted my confidence.

[daveygh]

could you not lever the cut end of the existing board up enough to allow the new board to slide underneath it enough to lie flat on the joists , push into position the re fix the existing cut down

[The Builder]

Haha, bhg. Sorry about repeating what you posted. We must have been typing at the same time ;o)

[bhg481]

No worry, TheBuilder. I always believe you know what you're talking about when it comes to DIY. I thought my idea was a bit of a lash-up (it's what I would do); it's nice to have an expert support it.

[Old_Geezer]

Hi, I'm back. I see there's a few suggestions so I'll respond as I read through. Thanks all.

I can't really screw anything to the wall as, and it seems odd now, now that I think of it but, the wall doesn't extend under the floor. The joist is more or less in the middle, underneath, where the wall is, so connecting anything to it isn't really going to change the situation of having the get the new board above the joist. Thanks for the thought though.

Aye I can see that the cutting the new piece in two would work. Trouble is that I could have done that before removing/destroying the old had it occurred to me. Being honest I'd rather not have to cut the new into two, but if all else fails to get it in, in one piece, I can have that as the solution. Cheers.

Ah, one thing I have already tried is to chamfer the end slightly. Didn't want to remove too much as it still has to sit on the joist at the far end, but did give it a try. It seems the amount I was willing to sand off was insufficient though. I could see it helped a bit but... well I still couldn't get it to slide in even with a hammer and spare wood block. I may return to that again.

Aye, from the living room, under the wall, into the space under the stairs where all the meters and cables and pipes are. Yeah, I find plumbers and electricians tend to get their bit sorted and leave the rest in a state I'm not overly keen on. Reminds me of that Flanders and Swann song, The Gas Man Cometh. :-) As mentioned above, looks good but I'll keep that option as a fall back one.

Lever the end of the remaining board up: now that is a thought. Interesting I took another look at it this morning and wondered if I could chop the old remaining floorboard, say, a couple of joist widths away and simply remove that temporarily, but if it can be lifted that sounds well worth a try instead. Cheers.

The end of the remaining board is cut out to fit around the firegrate. I think I would risk breakages trying to lift it all but the end should be ok.

The other thing I though of was to try to borrow a car jack and try to force the new board up by the joist. Used to have one somewhere but lord only knows where it is now.

If I can find the enthusiasm tomorrow I'll give the lever up suggestion a try and update the result then, otherwise it may be next weekend ;-)

[Canary42]

Surely leaving a floorboard unsupported flouts the Building Regs ?

A word to the local Building Inspector re the plumber would seem to be a good idea (or am I living in cloud-cuckoo land?).

[Old_Geezer]

Too long ago to recall who it was. They were recommended by the builder I'd employed and his electrician made a pig's ear of changes too. It's a wonder the extension stayed up judging by the work of the plumber and electrician. That said one of the doors have always been difficult to close and until I had a go at them, the sliding ones used to keep jumping out of position.

[Dogsbody2]

You live in cloud cuckoo-land, Canary.

The Building Inspector won't force the plumber to repair it - even if were known who he was. If it contravened BRs (which I doubt) to such a degree that the BI put an enforcement notice on, OG would end up having to sort it out.

OG is doing this anyway, so even asking Building Control for an opinion is pointless

[Old_Geezer]

Hmm woke up today to realise there may be an issue with the slide under solution. Since the floorboard is either underneath, or cut around, the fire-grate at the other end of the room, I'm not wanting to pull it all up as the risk of damage is great. But if I just lift the end up then there are blooming great nails to try to get out of the way in order to slide the new board under: and they normally need clouting from the back to remove them, which implies removing the board. Ah well I'll see when I try it.

[daveygh]

If you can lift it slightly then push it back down you should expose the nail heads which you can then pull out with a claw hammer. if you get them up so far you can put a block of wood between the hammer and floorboard and this helps to get more leverage on the nails.

[Old_Geezer]

Thanks all. Job done. On to the next one :-)