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 New Jersey
home inspection NJ home
inspectors perform
Certified New Jersey home
inspections in NJ.
PLYWOOD / OSB SUB-FLOORING:
Plywood or oriented strand board is commonly
used in today's houses as subfloors below carpet
and other flooring materials. The 3/4" type
is nailed across joists or trusses while the 1
1/8" tongue and groove type is nailed
across beams. This is a common framing method
and is very strong and long lasting when applied
properly. Occasionally the builder will
not leave enough space between the sheets of
material or will not use adhesives between the
floor joists and the sub-floor material. The
result may be squeaking and/or popping floors
when walked on. The inspector will not routinely
report "squeaks" and "pops"
in wood floors. If floor joists and or beams can
be located by finding the original rows of nails
in the subfloors it may be easy to drive in a
few new 8 penny ring shank nails at problem
locations. This will usually remedy the
situation. Lumber used in modern construction is
often very wet. As it dries it shrinks. Usually
the shrinkage will vary from board to board,
especially in heavy lumber such as is used in
floor joists. Wavy floors are often the result
of this uneven shrinkage. The inspector will use
his/her discretion whether or not to mention
wavy floors in this situation. The remedy for
wavy floors is expensive so most people just
learn to live with them.
The above information was provided by TWI Systems Copyright 1995-2005 1-800-553-5660 |
