How to prevent post support brackets from creaking under foot traffic

beamfloorfootingsnoisestructural

I (well, a contractor) added a new addition to my house, and the floor creaks when I walk on it. I crawled under the addition and identified the problem.

On each footing, there is a steel bracket that connects the footing to the beam it supports. The bracket is connected tightly with screws. At the site of the noise, there is a small gap (~3/8 in.) between the footing and the beam. In other words, the beam is floating slightly above the footing. Thus, this particular bracket makes a creaking noise when the beam moves.

The bracket doesn't move visibly… it just creaks.

I tried to fix the problem by stuffing shims into the gap, but it didn't really work. Depending on the temperature, the noise gets better or worse sometimes.

Any suggestions? Is it safe for me to DIY this? If I remove or replace the bracket, will the resulting beam movement cause damage to walls or windows?

Thanks!

Edit: Here's a photo from my latest repair attempt: https://imgur.com/a/KQkkpbY

Best Answer

Like Ed Beal suggested in a comment, you mostly need to drive your shims in more assertively. However, I'd use plenty of construction adhesive as well.

  1. Remove the shims now in place if they'll come out with a little effort.
  2. Blow or vacuum out all dust and debris.
  3. Inject plenty of heavy-duty construction adhesive into all gaps.
  4. Firmly drive pressure-treated wood or synthetic shims into any gap, above or below the metal brackets.
  5. Add more adhesive around the shims to lock them in place.

24 hours later everything should be really well stabilized and silent.

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