Trying to fix a squeaky floorboard turned into a three hour hunt

I had one noisy board in my hallway that drove me nuts every morning. I thought it was a simple nail pop, but after pulling up the trim I found a cracked joist hanger from when the house was built. Has anyone else had a tiny noise lead to a much bigger structural find?

4 comments

4 Comments

janah831mo ago

Used to think squeaks were nothing, but that kind of find changes your mind fast.

markh851mo ago

Yeah that's the kind of thing that makes you stop ignoring every little noise. Was it a full-on break you found, or just a serious crack? And how did you even spot it, was the floor actually sagging or did you just get lucky poking around?

bennett.evan25d ago

oh man, that was a full break almost clean through the middle of the joist. i only found it because i was trying to run some new ethernet cable in the crawlspace and my knee went right through the subfloor where it was rotted. no sagging or anything visible from up top, just dumb luck honestly. after i patched that, i reinforced every other joist nearby with a sister board just to be safe, felt a lot better sleeping at night.

seth_singh201mo ago

My old house had a similar cracked joist under the kitchen tile.