Help I Have Something Running Under My Floorboards And Now In My Walls

Why do houses settle and sound like the walls are cracking at night?

Actually, houses do settle. When they begin a downward plunge, joints and floorboards can creak, which accounts for the mysterious sounds in settling homes ( No ghosts). And given a long enough time line, all houses eventually will settle. When a house does, it can cause serious problems. The severity of the settlement is based on a couple of factors, including how well the house was designed and counstructed and the amount of attention paid to the foundation and the ground on which the house was built.Most common reason for a house settling is improperly backfilled soil. If you've ever puttered around in a garden after spreading fresh topsoil, you've probably noticed that even after compacting the new layer of soil, you leave footprints behind. This is much the same with a house. If a builder excavates too much soil for a basement or crawlspace and must backfill it, the process requires more attention than if the basement had been dug to the correct depth.(Source Google)

Home Improvement: When drilling a hole through a floor, how can one determine where it'll come through the ceiling?

I am drilling holes through walls and ceilings on a daily basis.  Every situation is unique.  There are a variety of methods I use to get close.  Since you are drilling blind, through a floor, open space and then through a ceiling you have to take extra precaution.  You might be hitting things you don't want to pierce.  One thing to consider, is that the space you're drilling through might also be where the joist is.  So, drilling up through the cieling will give you a better chance of picking an area that is not under a joist.  Stud finder or knocking should do.  I am assuming that you are drilling to run some sort of data cable.  There is a type of bit made just for this.  It is called a bell hanger's bit.  It has a small hole on the end of it so you can attach a wire or string to it and pull your wire up.  The bit is also pretty dull and wont go through pipes too easily.  Just have to worry about hitting wires.  Try to drill in a spot away from the joist, the wires will usually be nailed to the joist.  If you are drilling from basement to upper floor you can't count on the perimeters walls to be the same.  If drilling on upper floors the walls should a good measuring place.  Another thing I do is look out side at windows and try to use them as reference points.  I usually start out with a very small bit, so If I am off there is just a tiny hole that is in the wrong place.  I use a 1/8" x 12' aircraft bit.  After I am happy with the location, I then follow with the larger bit.  If you can give more information about what you are drilling for and where in the house I can edit my answer to give you possibly more ways to your spot.

How easy is it to replace my floorboards?

As always the answer is “it depends”.It depends on what kind of floorboards you have now.Solid wood floorboards nailed directly to the floor joists can either be really straightforward if they were laid after the internal walls were put up. Or a nightmare if they run under stud walls.In some old houses you’ll find that the internal walls are simple partitions built on top of the floorboards, sometimes they even lie between joists so if you cut the floorboards out the wall falls down!If they were put in after the walls were built then it’s generally a fairly straightforward job to take off the base boards (skirting) and any door trim that covers the boards and then pull up and replace the boards. However if they are old solid wood floorboards then you could just fill any gaps, sand them and then re-finish them. Old boards could be as much as 1.5 inches thick and have tons of life in them yet.Modern flooring laid on to a sub floor again can be quite easy if the boards are traditional tongue and groove nailed down rather than glued. If they’re glued it can be a pain in the backside trying to get them up.The much more modern floating floors where the boards are glued to each other and laid on top of a thin insulation layer on top of the sub floor are really easy to pull out. After cutting out a few sections with a plunge saw they come out easily (provided the floor layer hasn’t been over enthusiastic with the glue and stuck the thing down to the subfloor)Once you know what kind of floor you have you have to decide on how to replace it. If it’s an old timber floor laid directly on the joists then the easiest thing is to replace like with like. If you want to put down a modern “engineered floor” then you’ll have to put down a sub floor first as laminated or “engineered” boards aren’t load bearing on their own.If it’s a more modern floor laid on a sub floor already then again it’s easiest to replace like with like. If the floor has been glued down and you rip out chunks of the sub floor when you’re pulling it out you might have to lay 6mm plywood down over the whole floor to even it out before fitting the new planks.Like I said initially - the answer to your question as to how easy it is, is “it depends”.

Do you have to caulk where tiles meet the baseboard?

Although its commonly done, you don’t have to. Many people do it for various reasons, and I highly suggest you do to it for any of the following reasons:Better aesthetic finish - a professional finish.In moisture areas, such as bathroom, it prevents from mould/mildew building.Long shelf-life - basically it performs the job its meant to - sealing. It creates a boundary layer and if you do encounter any sort of flooding, per say, you will be sure to know that water will not penetrate this protective layer, thus keeping your baseboards for a longer time.Seals small gaps for ants, roaches or any type of bugs to crawl in and out from. You would be astonished to know, where these buggers can crawl from - the tiniest of spaces.It costs about 1% of your total building costs. A report conducted by a building agency, reported that sealing and caulking only accounts about 1% of your building costs - but pays up in the long run (my next point).Save on light bills. During winter, cold air will find its way into your home from wherever and the reciprocal should be on winter. By ensuring all aspects of the house are sealed, your house will be warmer/colder - less escapes meaning allowing to save on energy bills.Expansion/Contraction - Over summer or winter, as areas of the house with different substrates expand/contract due to material properties. As such, cracks and creeps are shown. To a certain extent, the elastomeric properties within sealants and caulks allow for some accommodation/movement of different materials (in your case, plaster board and tiling) - hence potentially saving you a summer Sunday from having to repave all the cracks.In all, the benefits of sealing or caulking outweigh not doing it - yet at the end of the day, it is entirely up to you. Also, speak to your local trader shop about where you plan to apply the sealant for them to give you a suitable product. General rule - bathrooms and kitchens opt for 100% silicone (acetoxy cure if you don’t mind the smell while it cures, but neutral if you do). If doing general interior living room, opt for acrylic latex (commonly known as decorator’s caulk). Oh yes, measure the gap, the length prior to your visit so you know how much caulk will you be needing. Too little and you are stuck in the middle of an odd job, too much and you are shelving it for a while.