Bathroom floor is creaking

[Q-Ball]

Well, I put a new tile floor down, and now I can hear it creaking. My tub was leaking a little bit, but I have almosted fixed the problem. It just needs some more caulking around the tub/surround. Anyways, when the new tub was installed, we redid some plywood and had the new plywood and old sharing the same floor joist. I put some 2x6's and attatched them to the floor joists and the sound was gone. Now 3 days later the sound is back? Any idea's?

It's just really annoying and now my grout is cracking with the flex in the floor.

[Drthorne]

if you nailed the 2 x 6 and plywood then that's probably the problem. Did you use a cement board or membrane like Ditra under the tiles? Do you have access from underneath so you can add more blocking and screws if required

[TTony]

did you used pl premium and floor screws

[Dustbunny]

Sounds like trouble. Sounds like the wrong subfloor or one that wasn't fixed properly and you may have to take it all up and start over because with that flex, the tile may not hold or it may crack.

You might want to go to http://johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=11 and ask as there are a lot of tile experts there who may be able to figure out what to do with the least amount of grief.

[Q-Ball]

if you nailed the 2 x 6 and plywood then that's probably the problem. Did you use a cement board or membrane like Ditra under the tiles? Do you have access from underneath so you can add more blocking and screws if required

I screwed the 2x6 parallel to the floor joist. Yes it is all open, thats how I was able to screwed the board in.

did you used pl premium and floor screws

I used 5/8 plywood to replace under the tub. Under the tiles is the original 5/8 plywood. The only screwing I did was using 3" wood screws and that was either screwing the plywood to the floor joist or screwing the 2x6 to the joist.


Sounds like trouble. Sounds like the wrong subfloor or one that wasn't fixed properly and you may have to take it all up and start over because with that flex, the tile may not hold or it may crack.

You might want to go to http://johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=11 and ask as there are a lot of tile experts there who may be able to figure out what to do with the least amount of grief.

It's weird, sometimes it creaks, other times it doesnt. It only seems to do this once people have a shower. I'll try and get a picture.

[CSK'sMom]

If you're only hearing the creak when someone is in the shower in all likelyhood it has to do with the weight in the tub. Has the tub been filled with water yet? It almost sounds like sagging joists due to the weight of the filled tub but I could be wrong. How did you screw the floor down, how close (or far part) did you put the screws in? Pictures and detail in what you did for prep would be of great help in this case....

[Q-Ball]

If you're only hearing the creak when someone is in the shower in all likelyhood it has to do with the weight in the tub. Has the tub been filled with water yet? It almost sounds like sagging joists due to the weight of the filled tub but I could be wrong. How did you screw the floor down, how close (or far part) did you put the screws in? Pictures and detail in what you did for prep would be of great help in this case....

Sorry its been so long. The tub is light compared to the old cast iron tub that used to be in there. Well I am back to working on this project and did some research. I will be trying to take out the X Cross hatching and running new longer lengths of 2x6 to the 2x8. I have some plumbing in the way. I will be sistering them to each side of the joists. Gluing them together as well as using 3/8 bolts to keep them together. Than put the X Cross hatching back in with some 2x4 as well to keep them spaced apart.

Doing some reading on the internet people have said to use Angle Iron. Looks like a 'L" and bolt it to the bottom of your joist. Has anyone here done this? I'm also assuming to run the longest length of 2x6 as well. I did cut them apart at the X Cross hatching. So I'm really thinking they did nothing. I also did read that you can screw 5/8 or thicker Plywood to the underside of the joist as a last resort. Any comments on that too?

I think thats really it. But I think I will try everything to get this speak to top. It sounds like the steel in the tub is moving do the floor joist. If I push up on the floor joist, i can feel it rise up and it makes that steel squeak.

[t3359]

If your tub is still creaking - I don't remember where, but I remember someone or a book suggesting that you fill the tub with water before you screw it into the floor/studs. That way it's heavy enough so that it's at its lowest position.

Not sure what the solution to the floor creaking would be, but when I tiled my foyer, I put down alot of screws, a cement backer board, then alot more screws.

bjl

[Q-Ball]

If your tub is still creaking - I don't remember where, but I remember someone or a book suggesting that you fill the tub with water before you screw it into the floor/studs. That way it's heavy enough so that it's at its lowest position.

Not sure what the solution to the floor creaking would be, but when I tiled my foyer, I put down alot of screws, a cement backer board, then alot more screws.

bjl

Yeah, I've heard of filling it with water, but thats only for when you lay the caulking. Cause you have to screw the floor down first before you install the tub.

[Q-Ball]

Ok, it was a pain, but I sistered as many floor joists as I could. Before I used 2x6's and stopped where the cross hatching was. The 'X'. I removed all that and had to cut my kitchen ceiling back a few feet so I could slide in new 2x8x8's. I used construction adhesive and glued and than put a good 200 screws in. I did 5 or 6 boards. 3 vertical screws every 6-8 inches. Already the floor feels a lot more solid upstairs. I ruined my grout and actually popped out a tile. But I'm hoping from now out, I will never have to re grout it again. :D