Hi All, I know this is a common thing but thought I'd ask about it here. I recently had a hickory floating ("quick loc") hardwood floor installed. The material was acclimated first, and was put onto a concrete slab floor using a padded vapor barrier. Since it's a "quic-loc" style no glue was used on the boards.

Now a few spots have developed some creaks. These are coming from the where the ends of the boards butt together (the 4" end edges, not the long "sides"). Tried talc powder and that did not help. I think the only way to try and correct will be to use glue to glue the butted ends together where the creaks are. Any advice on whether or not to glue is appreciated. If gluing is indicated, any recommendations on types of glue and brand names also appreciated.

Stan

Stan,

If I understand your post correctly, glue should not make a difference. The boards are supposed to be locked together. So, there should be no need to try to bind them now.

The creaking sound could be a result of a a subfloor that is not flat. This could cause the boards to be distorted an flex with traffic.

Yep, movement can cause squeaks like that. You may have some low spots under there that were not evened out during the prep work. Call your installer and have him/her check it out and get their input.

noise is the result of movement. The boards are moving too much or not allowed to move at all..
so, it is either too much movement or no movement at all.

So whey is there no movement at all or too much movement?

Only the long edges of the boards lock together, the short ends have a sort of tongue and groove on them but they just just fit together, there is no vertical "locking" at the board ends. So, if the board has even the slightest bow lengthwise or slight give underneath it can result in some noise when walked on. So that's where the movement comes in. Unfortunately I got talked into using a padded underlayment for this floor which also allows the boards to flex a tiny bit. I should have used the simple (and cheaper) non-padded vapor barrier I wanted to go with in the first place.

At any rate, I have the problem in one spot in the kitchen (no water issues involved, it hasn't gotten wet and warped or anything like that). I'll have my installer look at it when he gets back from Oklahoma. I do not want to pull up a huge floor just to fix the 3 boards with a problem. Much rather glue the short ends of the problem boards but I'll see what my guy says after he sees it.

I agree, the substrate wasn't up to flatness requirements(1/8 in 6 feet), allowing vertical movement, Or the flooring is locked in somewhere and is trying to buckle.

Kitchen you say.....

You have to have an (1/8")undercushion with floating flooring. Failure to use one, will void all manufactures warranties.Makes up for that 1/8 in 6 requirement.