Those fortunate individuals
raised in a home of hardwood flooring have
memories of the squeaks wood flooring can
occasionally make. Having been raised on a
hardwood floor, I can fondly remember the squeaks
at the front door and in front of the hall
bathroom. The sound would be different when my
father walked on these areas compared to my sister
who often came home late from a date. She always
got caught and I often wondered if the hardwood
flooring had anything to do with her unfortunate
luck. Squeaking noises can be remembered fondly or
can be a nuisance should there be far too many or
found consistently throughout an installation.
Squeaking is the result of two pieces of wood
rubbing against each other, which means something
in the flooring system is loose and moving. The
flooring system includes the floor joists,
sub-floor, underlayment and the finished wood
flooring, which are all made of wood. Any area of
the system can be loose causing a squeak or
popping sound.
Flooring systems can move from winter to summer,
due to increases or decreases in wood moisture
content, as well as move due to settling of the
building. Any movement in the sub-floor system can
result in the production of a squeak, either
permanent or temporary. Temporary squeaks are
usually seasonal with the shrinking and swelling
of the flooring system.
Permanent squeaks can originate
from anywhere in the flooring system and nearly
impossible to accurately locate. Repair efforts
using the scientific method of trial and error are
often successful, but not guaranteed to be
successful.
Hardwood flooring glued to a concrete sub-floor
can also have squeaks if the concrete surface is
not flat enough to support the flooring materials.
There can be slight variations in sub-floor
flatness leaving a void under the wood flooring.
This void allows the planks, or strip flooring, to
move up and down and squeaking or popping noises
can, and often do, occur. This is a repairable
condition by use of the injection method.
Squeaking noises can also be manufacturing
related. The milling on the long sides of the
planks or strips must allow little to no movement
when not installed. If testing the un-installed
material finds the tongue moving within the
groove, something is wrong and the wood flooring
should not be installed. This movement will result
in noises and other problems that are not
serviceable.
Purchasers of wood flooring always want to know
who owns those noises or who is responsible for
repairs to rid the home of these irritating
squeaks and pops. The quick answer is “there are
too many variables to make that determination” and
a trained professional should be called in to
investigate and point out the responsible party.
It can be said that the occasional or seasonal
noise is consistent and characteristic of wood
flooring installed on a wood flooring system. It’s
also fair to say that excessive areas squeaking or
noises throughout the installation should be
investigated by your installer or inspected by a
wood flooring inspector. |
