Packing between floor joists and floor boards

Discussion in 'Builders' Talk' started by DIY_Has123, Aug 16, 2020.

  1. DIY_Has123

    DIY_Has123 Active Member

    I live in an old Victoria property and as expected with older properties, the floor slopes and sags from one end of the room to the other.

    In my upstairs 1st floor bedroom, I scribed and packed 2 x 3 timbers onto the floor joists with some plastic packers to bring to level with highest point in the room. Used a 360 laser level to help me. Then screwed floor boards onto timbers/joists. Room is now levelled.

    Was this a good solution? I know sistering joists on sides is normally done but wasn't a viable option. Will I face any problems in future?
    Please see attached images.

    20200816_153844.jpg 20200816_153954.jpg
     
  2. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    It's fine, it may have benefited you to have used some expanding foam to fill any gaps between timber and joist but as long as its packed properly with no flex it'll be sound.
     
    DIY_Has123 likes this.
  3. Seyda

    Seyda New Member

    Hi there, we have the same issue and planing to do the same thing, packing the space between timber and joists with plastic shims. Could you give an idea what type of packing shims you used?
     
  4. DIY_Has123

    DIY_Has123 Active Member

    Hi Seyda,

    So my floor was out of level by over an inch at the other end so I used 3x2 treated timber tapered cut and screwed down on top of the original joists to bring to level, as you can see closely in my pics. You can use a circular saw or similar to cut. I measured every 30-50cm along the joists at highest point if it was twisted and then marked this on the 2 inch side of the timber, lined up each point with pencil and cut along. I still ended up using plastic shims between battens and joist to bring to level in some places as the cut won't be 100% accurate.

    In areas where I needed to pack half inch or less I used a combination of plastic broadfix shims and TIMCO plastic wedges (doubled up and interlocked) nailed down to joist and floorboards screwed through this:

    https://www.screwfix.com/p/broadfix-glazing-packers-large-225-pcs/84200#BVQAWidgetID

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/TIMco-PIW915-Plastic-Interlocking-Wedges/dp/B017XQ71AA

    Shop around for the above to get it cheaper as I ordered a bulk pack of the broadfix shims.

    You can see this guy done something similar using packers when laying his floor because his joists too were very uneven and out of level:



    Good luck!
     
  5. Seyda

    Seyda New Member

    @DIY_Has123 Thank you for such great instructions. It is giving me more confidence in doing the job!
     

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