Croydon · Greater London
Floor joist repairs in Croydon
If a plumber or electrician has recently had the boards up at your Croydon home, the joists they worked around are worth a look. Deep notches and holes in the wrong place weaken joists quickly, and sistering them is usually a short, tidy job.
Guide price from£310per joist inc VAT
- Postcodes
- CR0, CR2, CR5, CR7, CR8
- Population
- about 390,000
- Area
- Greater London
- Pricing region
- London
What should you know about the ground under Croydon?
We cover the whole of Croydon, including postcode districts CR0, CR2, CR5, CR7, CR8; about 390,000 people live in the borough. We also take enquiries from nearby Sutton (5 miles), Caterham (5 miles) and Banstead (6 miles).
Much of Greater London sits on clay that shrinks in dry summers and swells in wet winters. Ground movement here is more often linked to soils, drains and trees than to mining. What you mostly find across Greater London: Victorian and Edwardian terraces with shallow footings, inter-war semis in the outer boroughs, and converted flats and mansion blocks.
Signs you may need floor joist repairs
- Floor bouncing, or ornaments rattling, when someone walks across
- A gap opening up between the skirting board and the floor
- A musty smell, or fungal strands showing between the boards
How much will floor joist repairs cost in Croydon?
For Croydon we use London rates. Treat the table as a budget guide, inc VAT; the price you pay is the one on your written quote.
| Item | Guide price | Per |
|---|---|---|
| Splicing or sistering a damaged joist | £310 – £500 | per joist |
| Whole room of joists and boards | £2,500 – £7,500 | per room |
| Sleeper wall rebuild and ventilationest. | £500 – £1,900 | per room |
Which repair method suits a home in Croydon?
Sistering a joist
A new length of treated timber, the same depth as the original, is bolted or screwed alongside the damaged joist so the two share the load. It is the quickest fix for a notched, cracked or sagging joist that is otherwise sound, usually after lifting a few boards.
Best for: Cut, cracked or sagging joists with sound ends
Splicing ends and fitting hangers
Where only the end has rotted, it is cut back to sound timber and a new piece is fixed alongside, bearing on the wall or on a new joist hanger. Missing or under-nailed hangers elsewhere are replaced at the same time. The damp in the wall must be fixed too.
Best for: Rotten joist ends in damp solid walls
What happens when we carry out floor joist repairs in Croydon?
Photos and a call
Send photos of the dip or soft area, the outside wall at ground level and any air bricks. A short call about when it started, and any recent plumbing or heating work, tells us whether the problem is local or widespread.
Lift boards and inspect
On site we lift a few boards where the floor is worst and check the joist ends, sleeper walls and void with a moisture meter. Outside, we look for high ground, blocked vents and leaks keeping the timber wet.
Relay and ventilate
Boards are relaid or replaced, skirting refitted and air bricks cleared or added outside. We point out anything that would let damp back in, such as soil heaped against the wall, so the repair lasts.
Rules for floor joist repairs in England
Like-for-like repairs such as crack stitching and repointing do not usually need building control approval in England, but anything that changes or strengthens the structure, such as underpinning or rebuilding a wall, does. If the work touches a party wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply.
Floor joist repairs in Croydon: questions and answers
What is the price of floor joist repairs in Croydon?
Guide prices for floor joist repairs in Croydon start from about £310 per joist, including VAT, on London rates. Your fixed written price follows photos or a survey and depends on the extent of the work and access.
Do you carry out floor joist repairs in Croydon?
Yes, Croydon is covered, along with postcode districts CR0, CR2, CR5, CR7. We also cover nearby Sutton and Caterham.
Does the ground around Croydon cause cracking?
Most of Greater London sits on London Clay, among the most shrinkage-prone ground in the UK, with river gravels along the Thames. Subsidence claims here are among the most frequent in the country, especially after dry summers and near street and garden trees. Only an investigation can say why a particular building has moved.
Can floor joists be repaired without taking up the whole floor?
Yes, in most cases only the boards over the affected joists need lifting, and three or four boards are often enough to sister a joist or splice a rotten end. Widespread rot is the exception, because the whole floor must come up to remove the decay.
What causes rot in floor joists?
Damp causes almost all joist rot. Joist ends in damp walls, voids with blocked air bricks, leaking pipes and high outside ground levels keep timber wet enough for fungi to grow. Replacing timber without fixing the damp usually means the rot returns.
More repairs we carry out in Croydon
- Subsidence insurance claim repairs
- Structural crack repairs
- Bay window subsidence repairs
- Subsidence repairs
- Crack stitching
Floor joist repairs near Croydon
Got a bouncy or sinking floor in Croydon? Send a short video of someone walking across it, and we will tell you what it is likely to need.