TheScullster wrote:

Hi all

Having had the plumbers in and lifted additional boards for wiring, I now
need to put something back down.
The original boards are non-standard 3-1/2" wide jobbies, so if I try to
replace with available boards I have to get cut-down 4-1/2" versions (so I
lose the tongue or groove).
My thought is to replace 2 or 3 adjacent damaged boards with one wide board
to reduce the number of joints and hopefully lessen the creaking.
Much of this is on the landing and therefore sees plenty of heavy foot
traffic.
I prefer to avoid materials that "blow" as soon as water gets near them, so
can anyone suggest best materials for this please?

The current boards are 19mm thick from memory.

I am also mindful of the fact that these boards will not be "tied in" to the
remaining floor due to lack of tongue and groove interlock.
Will this lead to a springier floor?
Is there any way around this?

TIA

I thought that the only purpose that the t&g serves is to stop drafts.
When I replace boards with the t&g broken I glue a piece of wood to the
bottom of the two adjacent boards, mainly to stop me dropping small
things under the floor as I can't imagine that there are huge drafts
coming through where a board has been replaced for plumbing access.

Kevin

Phil