What to do so that wooden floors do not creak

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Content

  1. Reasons for the creak
  2. Tools and fixtures
  3. Squeaking Methods

The popularity of using wood as a flooring is due to its characteristics and consumer properties. Wooden floors are environmentally friendly and do not emit harmful substances during operation. However, over time, in the apartment, the boards dry up, and when walking on them, they begin to make various sounds. What to do if the wood floor creaks? First you need to determine the possible causes of this phenomenon, and then find an effective way to eliminate it.

wood floors

Reasons for the creak

There may be several options for answering the question why the floors creak. First of all, due to deformation of the material during drying. If the humidity of the boards used on the flooring was more than optimal and exceeded 12%, then over time their warping is inevitable. The reasons for the appearance of a squeak can also include:

  • The weakening of the rigidity of the structure. As a result of a loose fit, floor structural elements begin to move relative to each other.
  • Defeat with fungus and rot. They appear in rooms with high humidity and contribute to the deformation of the material, forming cracks and gaps.
  • Reducing the gap between walls and boards. Friction of structural elements against each other is enough to make a creak.
  • Decreased bond strength. The fastener elements are gradually loosened and the tightening density of individual wooden parts is reduced.

In addition, errors made during the installation of the floor may be the cause of the creak. The most common among them:

  • the choice of boards whose thickness does not meet certain operating conditions;
  • incorrect installation of the lag and too large a distance between the supporting beams.

Depending on the reason, they also select the algorithm of actions necessary to get rid of the creak.

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Tools and fixtures

instruments

To bring the wooden floor in the apartment into proper form and eliminate squeaking, various tools will be required, the exact list of which is determined by the type of repair work. The minimum set should include:

  • a nail clipper, which is used to open the floor;
  • hacksaw for cutting linings for boards;
  • a hammer necessary to enhance the fixation of individual elements with nails;
  • an ax with which you can fit the bars or wedges to the desired size;
  • marker or crayon for marking places where you need to make additional fastening or other types of work;
  • drill for making holes.

In addition, you may need self-tapping screws, dry wood bars, glue, cement or a mixture for plastering.

Squeaking Methods

The most time-consuming and effective way ─ complete overhaul of the wooden floor in the apartment. It is used for numerous coating defects that cannot be eliminated by performing local work. In this case, you can check the status of all lags and boards and replace the damaged elements with new ones. Bulkhead flooring on a concrete base is performed as follows:

  • Fix logs on a concrete slab. To do this, use a drill with a drill for wood and a puncher, with which holes are made in the base and logs.
fix lags
  • Using a hammer, they drive the anchor into the hole and burst it.
  • Lay the floorboard, cutting off with a hacksaw or electric jigsaw so that it does not touch the wall after fixing.
  • Fix the floorboards on the logs, using self-tapping screws and insulating hats to the floor level.
hammer nails

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It is undesirable to use the nails for attaching the boards, as over time they can cause a creak.

A simpler option ─ getting rid of a creak without disassembling the floor. It can be used for parquet, and for covering from boards.

Wooden floor

If extraneous sounds appear due to the weak fastening of boards and deformed areas a little, then use wooden wedges. They are driven between the floorboards to eliminate friction and the creak disappears.

With a significant area of ​​damage, the boards are fixed with screws, performing the following:

  • identify creaking sections and outline them with a chalk;
  • find the location of the lag, for which they are guided by nails or remove the extreme boards;
  • in increments of not more than 15 cm, holes are drilled in the floorboards, which are 1-2 mm smaller than the diameter of the screws;
  • Using a drill with a nozzle or a screwdriver, screw the boards to the logs, slightly sinking the hats.

What to do if a creak appears due to poor fixation of the lag? In this case, they are fixed using special metal anchors. This method is effective, but it is labor intensive and is used when laying the coating on top of a concrete slab. The minimum distance between individual anchors should not be more than 1 m.

Advice! The power drill or hammer drill will simplify the work. Using special equipment, you can drill through holes through floorboards and logs in concrete without significant effort.

Parquet

A private option for wooden floors is parquet, which is also prone to squeaking. Since such a coating consists of individual elements, the repair is carried out pointwise. What to do to eliminate squeaking?

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parquet

First determine its source and mark the deformed areas. Then, using a drill, cement and a large volume syringe without a needle, the following operations are performed:

  1. accurately drill a hole in the middle of the creaking bar;
  2. make a cement mortar resembling the consistency of milk;
  3. pour the mixture into a syringe and check how it is squeezed out;
  4. a too thick mixture is diluted with water, and cement is added to the liquid;
  5. insert the syringe into the prepared hole and fill the solution with small doses, pausing the work to release air;
  6. pour the mixture until the hole is filled.

At the end, you need to wait for the solution to solidify, and then make sure that there is no squeak. To make the place of repair work unnoticed, the hole is closed with mastic or special putty on wood and polished.

In addition to cement mortar, polyurethane adhesive can be used to fix the deformed planks.

In some cases, to fill the space under the damaged planks and strengthen the base, foam is used, but this method can only serve as a temporary measure.

foamed with mounting foam

Advice! No need to get rid of all creaking areas at once. Having checked the elimination technology on one bar, you can begin to work on the following elements. If the creak does not disappear, then you will need to rebuild the parquet completely.

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