What to do if the floor creaks? We eliminate squeaking without dismantling the boards. Wooden floors squeak: what to do to eliminate the unpleasant sound What to do if the boards squeak

Creaking floors are associated with an old, dilapidated house that has forgotten what repairs are. And when an unpleasant sharp or viscous sound appears in your home, a reasonable question arises: what to do if the floor creaks.

Perhaps for some, if the floor creaks, this is not a problem. And the person feels calm. However, for many people, sounds from under flooring seem like universal torture. Especially when it's time to sleep.

We will share with you tips on what you need to do to prevent wooden floors from squeaking. There are several ways to solve this issue. The use of any of them depends on the original source of the vile sound.

Why does the floor squeak?

The fact that floors creak immediately after installation seems natural and understandable.

But we would like to point out that professional installation quality beams made of wood means that wooden floor It squeaks for the first time after a couple of years. Not earlier.

Absolutely any flooring will become squeaky within 5 years. The sound itself is nothing more than the friction of floorboards against each other. When the floor is laid, the building materials are processed in such a way that they rub against each other. But the tree, absorbing moisture and reacting to the temperature, begins to deform. Swell or shrink. Stepping on a floorboard or parquet floor, a person bends the board with his weight, it moves and a familiar sound arises. This is why parquet, laminate or other wood-containing material creaks.
In addition, it is possible when laying wooden slats overdried or damp floorboards were used. After a certain time, they become saturated with moisture or dry out and at the ends they begin to shift relative to each other.
Also, the floor on the joists creaks if there is no gasket between the beams themselves and the plywood sheet.
The floor under the laminate creaks when the underlay is not laid correctly.
When installing the floor structure, the ten-millimeter technological gaps at the walls were not maintained.

What to do to prevent floors from creaking.

Before you start doing anything to stop your floors from squeaking, install a place that makes sounds. Remove the floor covering (laminate, linoleum, etc.). Walk around the room. If there is no squeak, then the problem is in the finishing coating. If the sound remains, then we find the creaking floorboard and eliminate one of the methods suggested below.

The first way to eliminate the grinding noise is to completely dismantle the covering and make a new design.

To do this, remove all furniture from the room. Remove the top cover. And cover the building structure with a 12 mm plywood sheet.

But this option will not work if the sound source is located in the frame itself. This means that the lag was installed incorrectly. In this case, you need to fix the wooden floor to the base:

Calculate the height between the beams/sheet of plywood and concrete base. This is done by drilling a hole to the base. Insert a thin splinter or wire into this hole.
Purchase self-tapping screws of the required length with a fastener thickness of at least 7 mm and a thread length greater than the floor structure itself.
Determine the places where the joists run. Stick to the old fasteners.

In the case of old fastening of boards to the joists around the perimeter of the room, the plinth is removed and the fastening points are found.

Drill holes in the coating that are smaller than the diameter of the screws.
Screw the screws into the prepared holes. You need to screw it all the way so that the cap sinks into the top layer of the structure.

For preventive purposes, you can tighten screws not only in creaking floorboards, but throughout the entire area.

Fill the place where the self-tapping screw enters the floor board, paint it and apply the finishing solution on top.

The second method is applicable when the wooden floor creaks due to the lack of technological gaps near the wall. A 10mm distance between the floorboard and the wall is provided for the natural “movement” of the wood during temperature changes.

To determine whether the deformation of the gaps or not is the cause of the squeak, remove the baseboards.

When wedges are driven into the gap under the baseboard, remove them.
when there is absolutely no technological clearance, then remove the outer floorboards from the beams, shorten them by 10mm, and lay them again.

If the boards are dry and the floors are creaking.

We have already said that over time the boards dry out and gaps appear between them. It is they who provoke the friction of the floorboards against each other with the corresponding sound. This phenomenon is familiar to apartment owners in old buildings. Very often the floors creak in Khrushchev-era buildings. What to do in this case?

inspect the empty space that has appeared between the floorboards.
prepare wedges of wood corresponding to the size of the gaps.
dip each peg in wood glue or PVA to soak.
drive wedges into the cracks between the boards.
After the glue has dried, cut the pegs flush with the surface

Instead of wooden wedges, you can use a rope cord:

buy a cord.

To eliminate squeaking using a cord, buy a product with a synthetic base.

saturate it with PVA or wood glue.
lay the cord up to half the thickness into the slot and carefully drive it in.
fill the gaps not filled with cord with a mixture (sawdust plus PVA glue). Calculate the proportions yourself so that the mixture is as thick as a paste.
Do not skimp on the sawdust-glue mixture. It should rise above the floor. Then, after it has completely dried, it will be easier for you to trim it flush.

How to prevent floors from squeaking without disassembling them.

It is possible to remove creaking without disassembling the structure. This will help:

wax. Swipe wax candle along the cracks between the planks.
graphite powder with talc. Treat the gaps between the boards with a dry mixture.

methods for eliminating creaking floors using wax and talc without are effective if the floor is old and the boards are rotten.

If a chipboard floor creaks, the sound problem is most often found in the beams. Regular polyurethane foam will help remove the rattle of boards rubbing against each other. Technological process similar to the previous one:

identify the wobbly beam causing the creaking.
Drill holes through the joists until they hit the floor. The diameter of the gun tube for installation must correspond to the size of the hole in the joists.
Foam is blown into this hole under the problematic beam. As it hardens, it strengthens the supporting structure of the floor.

Instead of polyurethane foam, you can use liquid cement. Moreover, in order to pour it into the holes it is not necessary to have it in stock mounting gun. Use a 20cc syringe.

To ensure that the foam or cement hardens firmly, pump it under the floor gradually, in small portions.

A thick plywood board can be laid on top of smooth, not swollen, not rotten floorboards. Moreover, the joints of the plywood sheets should fall on the base beams. This method isolates the sounds that come from under the floorboards.

How to make a floor in an apartment so it doesn't creak.

In order not to be tormented by the question “What to do if the floor creaks” in the future, you need to prevent this situation in advance. Even during repairs: replacing or laying a new floor:

Before laying the boards, cover the joists with a damping pad (insulation or waterproofing).

When laying a new floor, avoid materials that quickly absorb moisture in favor of cedar, oak, ash or maple.

Be sure to place a special underlay under laminate and parquet.
When installing upper floor slabs or beams, leave a millimeter gap between the floorboards.

Wooden floors, whether parquet or planks, begin to creak over time. There may be several reasons for this, but one thing is clear: the creaking is annoying and needs to be eliminated. Let's try to figure out why floors creak and ways to get rid of this problem.

The reasons for this phenomenon are as follows:

Violations of lumber drying technology. Over time, residual moisture evaporates and the wood changes its shape. As a result, cracks and crevices appear. During operation, the floorboards rub against each other, causing a creaking sound.
Excessive distances between plank floor joists. The load on the floorboards causes the boards to sag and they end up rubbing against each other.
When constructing the floor, thin boards were used (the thickness of which was less than 40 mm), which were unable to withstand the load placed on them.
Wear varnish coating parquet flooring can cause the parquet flooring to dry out and the adhesive to break down. Subsequently, the parquet joints become less durable.
When laying panel parquet and sheet flooring material, no compensation gap was left along the walls. Expanding with increasing air humidity, wood material warps and creaks.
The nails used to nail the floorboards no longer hold them in place due to the drying of the wood.
Wear or swelling of floorboards due to dampness.
There is no layer of heat and sound insulation between the joists. Plates mineral wool can significantly reduce noise.

What to do if your parquet floor creaks

There are two ways to repair parquet floors. The first involves a complete re-laying of parquet flooring in compliance with all the rules. But this method will require large physical or material costs(if you invite specialists). The second method is simpler and is done as follows:

First, the parquet is examined, and the places where creaking appears when walking are marked with a marker. Most often, such places are visible: the parquet rises, and when walking on such areas, a squeaking sound occurs.
Parquet flooring is drilled through in several places using a drill operating at low speeds.
Screws with a diameter of at least 6 mm are screwed into the holes. Screwing must be stopped immediately after reaching the concrete base: the floor must not be allowed to rise even further. This creates additional supports, which will reduce or completely eliminate squeaking.
The screw caps are not cut off: after a few days they will need to be tightened a little. After this, the screws are cut flush with the surface of the parquet flooring, and then masked with putty, matched by color.

A slight creaking may disappear after sanding and filling the cracks with putty mixed with fine sawdust. The varnish will additionally secure the surface. As a result, the parquet flooring will lie closer to each other.

Another way to eliminate parquet squeaks involves using a cement or plaster mixture. The process can be described step by step as follows:

In the parquet flooring, which “sags” when walking, we drill through hole with a diameter of 6 - 8 mm.
Preparing liquid cement mortar or plaster mixture. Their consistency should be such that the composition can be drawn up and squeezed out through a medical syringe.
Pour the solution into the hole, allowing air to escape. It is necessary to fill until all the voids under the parquet flooring are filled.
The solution should be allowed to harden completely before continuing to use the floor.
The hole must be masked with wood putty of a suitable color.

Important: before drilling and filling the voids under the following parquet elements with mortar, you must ensure the effectiveness this method repairs by observing the first plank. It is possible that the parquet will have to be completely re-laid.

If your wooden plank floor creaks

This is usually done in country houses. If a wooden floor creaks, what should you do? First of all, you should stock up necessary set tools. To work you will need:

drill or screwdriver with drill function;
jigsaw;
hammer;
self-tapping screws;
sawdust;
nail puller

It is necessary to establish the reason why the creaking is heard. Replacing nails with self-tapping screws often helps. The latter are screwed in next to the holes left after removing the nails.

The number of screws may be greater than the number of nails. If the floors in the apartment creak even after the work has been done, then there are other reasons. Let's look at ways to eliminate defects.

The logs are located at a great distance from each other. Optimal distance is in the range of 0.4 - 0.6 m, despite the fact that the thickness of the boards is at least 40 mm. In order to eliminate the creaking of floorboards, it is necessary to lay additional ones between the main joists. You will have to dismantle all the floorboards, and after installing the joists, return them to their place, replacing the nails with self-tapping screws.
Thin boards were used for the floorboards. Such a defect can be corrected with flooring sheet material in several layers. Moisture-resistant chipboard, plywood, OSB are used. Between adjacent sheets, as well as along the wall, a distance of 5 mm (compensation gap) must be maintained. The joints of the sheets of the top and bottom rows should not coincide.
Gaps between floorboards can occur when poorly prepared boards “shrink.” To eliminate them, it is recommended to pour talc or graphite powder into the crack. It is effective to use wooden wedges: they are hammered into the gap, and then the gap is eliminated with putty mixed with sawdust.
The boards are damaged by dampness, and that is why the floor creaks. How to eliminate such a defect? The cause of dampness should be determined. The waterproofing technology is probably broken. The boards must be dismantled and sheets of roofing felt laid over the logs with a slight overlap on the wall. After this, the boards (if they have not rotted) can be put back in place, treated with an antiseptic.
All installation rules have been followed, but the floors squeak. What to do in this case? Perhaps the joists and boards are made of different breeds wood and absorb moisture differently. Place fabric between the joists and boards. Such a “damper” will help either reduce squeaking or eliminate it completely.
You can eliminate the creaking of one floorboard using polyurethane foam: it is squeezed into a through hole drilled in the place where the board “walks” the most. It is important not to step on the floorboard until the foam has completely dried.
Thick boards can be fastened together with self-tapping screws, screwed in at an angle at the junction of the floorboards. If there is a joist at the joint under the boards, you can use nails instead of screws.

How to eliminate creaking floors in an old house

Previously, the following floor arrangement was often used: on top wooden floor Slag was poured from thick boards (in the form of filler), on which brick pillars-supports were installed (at a distance of about 1.5 m). On top of the posts - roofing felt or roofing felt in two layers, then - logs and finished floor boards.
It is impossible to pull the finished floor board to the ceiling with anchors: the length of the anchors is not enough. To get rid of the squeak, we proceed as follows.

We purchase from required quantity large format plywood sheets with a thickness of at least 15 mm.
We lay a polyurethane foam backing on top of the floor: it will prevent the plywood from knocking on the boards while walking.
Cover the area of the floor that is subject to the greatest load with a large sheet of plywood.
We fasten the plywood to the finished floor boards with a large number of self-tapping screws, screwed in at a distance of 100-150 mm from each other. In this case, in the place where the board base deflects, one longitudinal row of screws is screwed in, and in the convex place - two rows of screws located on both sides of the ridge. In the same way, plywood is attached along the walls of the room.
The self-tapping screws must be recessed into the plywood sheet so that their heads do not interfere with the installation of laminate or other floor covering.

In case of further floor covering ceramic tiles use GVL - gypsum fiber sheet. This material is laid in two layers using special glue. Elastic adhesive is applied and spread with a notched trowel, then laid GVL sheet attract with self-tapping screws. For the second row of gypsum fiber boards, longer screws should be used.
This method is cheaper complete replacement plank floor, in addition, eliminates the need to dismantle the lungs interior partitions, mounted on boards.

What to do if chipboard floors squeak

This phenomenon manifests itself in the case of laying sheet material without gaps between the sheets and along the walls. The gaps should be widened by carefully circular saw. In this case, you need to make sure that there are no nails or screws in the path of the saw.

Another reason for squeaking chipboard floors may be insufficient thickness of the material. Another row should be laid chipboards or plywood. It is important that the distance between the logs does not exceed 600 mm. Otherwise, you will have to disassemble the floor (in whole or in part) and lay additional logs.

Local repair of chipboard floors can be carried out as follows.

We determine the area where the floor sags the most and remove the floor covering.
Using a jigsaw or circular saw, cut out a square with sides 0.5 - 0.6 m.
We place the bars tightly under the chipboard so that its edges remain in the area cleared of sheet material.
We install the chipboard fragment in place and fasten it with self-tapping screws.
Fill the seam at the cut site with putty.
We lay the flooring.

From the author: Good day, dear reader! Today I would like to touch upon an interesting and important topic for everyone. The creaking of a wooden floor is a problem that can arise both in a private house and in an apartment. It is necessary to know methods for eliminating this phenomenon so as not to experience discomfort. Wooden floors squeak, what to do - everyone thinks about this issue, since trouble can befall the owners of both recently laid and old floorboards, so the problem is relevant for a wide range of people. You can fix the problem on our own, without resorting to the help of specialists, but it is necessary to consult with them if difficulties arise in the process of performing the work.

The main causes of squeaking

The causes of unpleasant sounds are varied. The boards from which the floors are made can produce characteristic sounds under the influence of the following factors (I had to deal with some of them from my own experience):

poor fixation during installation;
loosening of underground crossbars;
shrinkage of wood (occurs over time);
subsidence of linings;
loosening of fasteners (screws, nails);
moving ends of boards;
small expansion gap (insufficient space between the floor and walls) or its complete absence.

Let's consider the main ways to eliminate such an unpleasant phenomenon as squeaking.

Ways to eliminate squeaks

If the question of what to do if the floor in the apartment creaks has become relevant, then next I will list ways to implement repair work. There are several methods that are easy to implement:

dismantling the finished floor (completely);
use of polyurethane foam;
wedges;
replacement of fastening elements (screws, nails);
use of self-tapping screws;
anchor method;
laying plywood.

Now about each method in a little more detail.

If a wooden floor creaks - what to do and what to do

All those who live in old private houses often experience the same problem over time - the wooden floor creaks - we will tell you what to do in this case in this article. A positive point in this case is that all the work can be done with your own hands.

Possible causes of squeaks

If logs creak, the following reasons are possible:

The boards are poorly secured. This fact is the most common cause of squeaking. How to remove creaking floors in this case, you ask. You just need to secure the boards more securely, and self-tapping screws are best for this. Unlike nails, they won't loosen after a while.
The pads under the joists are loose or incorrectly installed. Over time, the floor in the apartment creaks because the joists become less stable and this becomes evident when walking.
Formation of gaps between boards. This happens if insufficiently dried wood was used as a raw material during the laying process or it could have dried out after a change of season. In this case, the boards begin to rub against each other, which is accompanied by an unpleasant sound.
Laying without maintaining a gap between the boards and the wall. In this case, squeaks occur due to the fact that a 10 mm gap was not left from the wall, which is necessary so that the board can expand freely during changes in the microclimate. As a result, the boards swell or swell - a squeak appears at the wall at the point of contact with them.

Naturally, squeaks can also occur if some of these factors are combined. In order to understand how to remove the creaking of a wooden floor, you need to understand its nature. Often, a simple inspection is enough, but sometimes it may be necessary to remove a couple of boards to determine the condition of the joists.

Now you need to understand what to do to prevent floors from squeaking if they are made of plywood. An additional reason that causes squeaks may be intersheet friction. Since the installation of the covering from sheets is carried out in compliance with the gaps, which are soon covered with putty, this is why such side issues arise.

Getting rid of floor squeaks

It’s worth talking about how to remove the creaking of a wooden floor in an apartment. The following tips will help everyone with a 90% chance of getting rid of creaks in the floors. In this case, you only need to stock up on fasteners. Read also: “How to eliminate creaking parquet flooring - proven methods.”

Screwing the floorboard

In the old days, there were probably no boards that were not attached to the floor with nails. Such floors still exist and many of them have not been repaired for decades. It can be assumed that most of the nails have become loose and need to be replaced with modern, effective fastening in the form of self-tapping screws.

Sequence of scrolling the floor:

Initially, you need to find out the thickness of the lag. This can be done by drilling a hole in the floor and measuring the length to the base. You can go the other way - remove one floorboard. The screws should be 1.5 cm shorter than the combined length of the floorboard and joists.

If you decide to use a screwdriver instead of an electric drill, then it must be powerful enough and have a capacious battery, otherwise the repair process will be significantly delayed.

If the screwdriver cannot screw in the screws, you can drill holes for them before installation. It is not necessary to remove old nails if they do not interfere.
The logs are usually located at a distance of 600 mm from each other. To understand how many screws you should purchase, you need to multiply the number of joists by the number of boards located across the entire width.
Next, everything is banally simple - you need to screw all the boards tightly, while the caps should be hidden. If you can still hear creaks somewhere, then these places need to be marked so that they can be further secured later.
Next comes leveling the surface using plywood. It is also attached to the floor with self-tapping screws in increments of 150-200 mm. If you screw them in less often, they may become loose.

Gaps between boards

If there are gaps between the boards that cause the floors to creak, what to do without disassembling them, in this case, is to fix them using wooden wedges.

Sequence of operations:

plan wooden wedges from wood, determining the desired size;
cover them with glue and hammer them into the gap, the wedges should fit tightly;
After the glue has dried, the excess part of the wedges can be cut off flush with the base.

The disadvantage of this method is that the rail needs to be adjusted to the size of the slots each time, and this is a very long process.

It’s easier to use a cord instead of a rail:

You will need to buy a braided cord with a synthetic base. Next, it is impregnated with wood glue or PVA glue, and using a core or punch, the cord is driven between the boards to about half their thickness.
The upper part of the cracks is filled with homemade putty, which includes sawdust and PVA glue. It should have a paste-like consistency.
The putty should be applied with a slight excess so that after drying, the excess can be cut off flush with the main floor.

Restoring regular floorboards

Not everyone knows what to do if the floor in the apartment creaks, in the case when an ordinary board was used to make such a floor.

The creaking occurs because the floorboards begin to sag during loading, since nearby boards do not hold them in any way.

What to do to prevent wooden floors from creaking in this case is to fasten the boards to one another.

Will need long drill, wooden dowels and the following sequence of actions:

Make a hole in the board at an acute angle so that it reaches the adjacent board.
Cover the dowel with PVA glue and drive it into drilled hole. It should penetrate about 50% of each board.
The second hole should be made in the other direction in a nearby board after 200-300 mm. Thanks to this, the dowels will support the boards in the same way as tongue-and-groove ones.

Deformation gap

A 10 mm gap should be provided around the entire perimeter in case of temperature changes. If you have removed the baseboards and found wedges under them, they must be removed. If there is no gap at all, then you will need to remove the outer boards and shorten them, and then attach them back.

Loose logs

If, after checking, it turns out that the joists are not installed entirely correctly, then in such cases, it is often necessary to re-construct the floor, be it in an apartment or a private house. There are times when this problem occurs in a specific place, it is easier to solve - you just need to remove part of the sheathing and replace the pads under the joists or on them.

It is worth noting that the logs should not be fixed to the base, thus deteriorating the soundproofing qualities of the floor.

Thickness of boards and spacing between joists

If the wooden floor in your apartment creaks, what should you do if this happens when you move across it? This happens when the board is laid too thin or the distance between the lags is insufficient.

You should take the dimensions of the problem floor and compare them with the required indicators. If the difference is very large, then you will need to redo the floor, providing it with intermediate boards to ensure sufficient structural strength.

The problem can be partially solved by adding additional supports between the joists, but you need to understand that this solution is temporary.

You will need to do the following:

Large screws will be needed to ensure the boards are securely fastened together.
The length of the screws should not be less than the distance from the top of the board to the concrete screed.
Make a hole with a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw. The excess length of the self-tapping screw must be cut off.
The self-tapping screw should be screwed in until it reaches the concrete base.
Self-tapping screws must be cut so that they are not sharp, otherwise they will quickly damage concrete screed and will no longer support sagging boards.

It is worth remembering that laying flooring over a squeaky floor will not save the situation; annoying sounds will not go away. In any case, measures will be needed to restore the floor; it is better to do this in advance.

How to remove squeaking wood floors

Often, owners of private houses are faced with creaking floors in some rooms. You can cope with this problem without dismantling the entire structure of the floor covering and completing all necessary work independently without the involvement of specialists.

But before you decide how to get rid of floor squeaks, you need to accurately determine the cause of this occurrence. unpleasant sound. Often, in order to prevent floors from squeaking, it is enough to ensure high-quality fixation of all components of the structure, which will eliminate the need to sort out the floor.

Why does this unpleasant sound appear?

When deciding how to get rid of creaking floors, you should remember the design features of a wooden floor. After all, its basis, in any case, is logs made from carefully dried and specially treated logs.

Further assembly may have certain differences. To create a floor covering, logs are sheathed with sheets of chipboard, plywood, OSB or other material that is directly related to the number of particle boards.

Floor squeaks are often caused by the use of low-quality materials.

Another installation option is to attach a floorboard to the joists, using self-tapping screws for reliable and high-quality fastening. This point can be called controversial.

Old masters with extensive experience in floor installation, which uses only natural wood, they assure that for high-quality work, so that the wooden floor does not creak in the future, it is better to fasten the floorboards to the joists with nails.

If the floor began to creak over time, it is possible that the established step size between the joists was violated, because it is this that ensures the strength and reliability of the created floor covering.

However, the most common reasons why a wooden floor creaks are recognized:

poor-quality fixation of the floorboard or other material used to create the flooring;
errors made during installation (failure to comply set step between joists and fasteners);
absence exact horizon(the work was carried out without control of the construction level);
The floor also creaks if there is no required space between the walls and the floorboards or other floor covering.

Taking into account the characteristics of the material before installation

Old coating can also become squeaky

A squeaky floor is the result of basic structural changes associated with the age of the wood used as flooring. Every owner of an apartment or private house who is faced with this problem is looking for an answer to the question “what to do if the floor creaks a lot”, how to eliminate the cause, avoiding unnecessary material costs, but many craftsmen can advise how to remove creaking in an apartment wooden floors, avoiding such complex and time-consuming work as dismantling the floor covering.

Work order

Thinking about what to do if the floor creaks, what measures to take and how to make sure that the floors in the apartment do not creak or country house, it is necessary first of all to establish the exact cause of the problem and then begin sequential manipulations aimed at eliminating it.

To do this, you should clean the room, freeing it of furniture and carpets, and if there is linoleum, remove it too. Of course, it is easier to completely disassemble the entire structure and reinstall it, but this will require large material costs.

It is quite possible to carry out repairs without dismantling wooden floors if, in order to get rid of squeaks, it is necessary to fix the floorboard to a frame made of big size wooden blocks or logs. This operation is called floor screed. To perform this, the screws are scrolled.

In some cases, in order for floors to remain strong and reliable for a long time, the old fasteners must be removed, after which it is necessary to drive in new nails or screw through new screws.

To prevent floors from squeaking, it is necessary to ensure not only reliable fixation of the finishing layer (floor board). Having gained access to the underground, you should fill the existing space polyurethane foam.

Alternative methods

When thinking about how to eliminate creaking wooden floors in an apartment, many consumers choose to use polyurethane foam, which has long received well-deserved trust from consumers as a means to combat squeaking.

Pouring foam into the subfloor does not take much time, is not related to the number of labor-intensive works and allows you to strengthen the floor in the apartment for quite a long time.

If the floor creaks, there is no need to open it. It is enough to make a hole whose diameter corresponds to the diameter of the distribution tube on the foam can.

Another simple one reliable way get rid of creaking floors - use specially prepared wedges that are driven between the floorboards. The floor won't be able to creak. for a long time, if all the wedges intended for expansion are driven in in the right places and have the exact height.

There are two ways to install wedges:

between floorboards and joists;
into the gaps between the wooden floor boards.

The floors are creaking, everyone decides what to do depending on the current situation. If, in order to prevent a wooden floor from creaking, wedges are driven between the floorboards and joists, then they are first simply dipped in glue. This will guarantee that the fixation will be more reliable. For a solution to the squeaking problem, watch this video:

When driving spacer wedges between the flooring boards, you should maintain a distance between them not exceeding 20 cm. This operation can also be performed in two ways.

After the first extended using wooden inserts(wedges) the cracks are filled with sealant. After it dries, the wedges are removed, and the resulting voids are also filled with sealant.

The second method requires not only to drive the spacer thoroughly and deeply, but also to do everything necessary so that the peg does not rise above the floor surface. It is cut off with a grinder, a plane, or simply cleaned the injection site with paper and abrasive materials, trying to obtain a flat and smooth surface.

DIY linoleum repair

Hand polishing granite

DIY parquet repair

What to do if wooden floors squeak without disassembling the covering

Wood is one of the most popular materials for constructing flooring, both in wooden houses, and on a reinforced concrete base. Wood flooring is practical and environmentally friendly, but it is prone to many problems. One of them is that during prolonged use the coating begins to creak.

You can get rid of the annoying sound by completely refinishing the floor. However, this procedure is quite labor-intensive and often expensive. You can fix the problem much easier and faster by simply fixing the coating in problem areas. How exactly can you prevent the floors in your apartment from squeaking?

Causes of squeaking

As you know, a wooden floor can be made in two ways:

logs are sheathed with slabs of plywood, chipboard, OSB or other sheet material;
a solid one is laid on the joists batten.

In both options, logs - thick and durable blocks of wood - are attached parallel to each other with a certain step, which ensures maximum strength of the floor covering.

In addition, an air cushion is created between the lags, providing ventilation. wooden structure and insulating coating. The main layer of the floor is attached to this frame using self-tapping screws.

Floors squeak for the following reasons:

Installation errors - if you lay slabs or boards too tightly, without leaving the necessary gaps, with thermal expansion they will begin to rub against each other, sag and creak. Also, mistakes can be made when preparing the base and installing joists in an apartment - if you fix them on an uneven surface, do them unreliably or at too great a distance from each other, sagging is also inevitable, and the coating will creak when walking on it.
Old age of the coating. Over time, the fasteners (nails or self-tapping screws) begin to become loose, the boards begin to move and sag, and this is what causes creaking.

Troubleshooting

There are two ways to fix squeaks. The first of them is thorough - complete disassembly floor and design of a new covering. In this case, you can install a concrete screed on the new floor, raise the covering above the base, or simply sheathe the old structure with thick plywood sheets. This will get rid of the sounds if the boards creak, but if the problem is in the frame, a new layer of coating will not help.

Less expensive and more quick way To fix it and eliminate squeaks is to securely fix the coating to the base. This is done as follows:

First, determine the distance between the floorboards or sheets of plywood and concrete base. You need to make a hole in the coating all the way to the base and measure the height using a thin splinter or a piece of wire.
There are self-tapping screws of sufficient length to reach the surface concrete slabs, but do not crash into them, and also do not stick out above the floor plane. The thickness of the fastener must be at least 7 mm, and the length of the thread must exceed the height of the floor structure. In this case, you can screw in the self-tapping screw not with a screwdriver or screwdriver, but use it as a bolt and secure it with wrench. This will allow you to more finely adjust its position so that it definitely does not pierce upper layer floor foundations.
The places where the logs lie are determined. This can be done based on the fasteners, since the wooden floor is attached to the frame and, accordingly, screws or nails will be screwed into the joists. If the boards are attached only along the perimeter of the room, you will have to tear off the baseboards and find the screws under them. In addition, a small gap is left near the walls, through which the subfloor is clearly visible.
Holes are drilled in the joists through the covering slabs, which should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the prepared screws.
The fasteners are screwed all the way, recessing the caps into the boards. Thus, it is worth screwing down all the creaking boards, and for prevention, you can treat the entire floor area.
The screws will rest against the concrete, serving as a support for the floor. If the screws are of sufficient thickness, they will never allow the floor to sag or creak.

Instead of recessing the caps into the surface, you can leave some portion of the fastener above the floor, and then cut it clean using a grinder. In this case, the additional fasteners will not even be noticeable. After the procedure is completed, the places where the screws are tightened are puttied, painted and covered with a finishing coat.

What can be done if the problem is not in the boards, but in the joists themselves? In this case, simple polyurethane foam can help. The procedure is similar to the previous one. A through hole is also drilled in the creaking place. Its diameter should be sufficient for the tube of the mounting gun to fit through.

Then, through this hole, foam is poured under the shaky joist, which, having hardened, will gain sufficient strength to become a support for load-bearing structure floor. The creaking of the floor will disappear after this, at least until you have to do it major renovation in the apartment.

And lastly, the boards creak due to friction between themselves, what should you do in this case? This cause of unpleasant sounds can be eliminated very in a simple way– by sealing the joints of the covering elements with any elastic material, after driving wedges between them to widen the joint. Sealant or elastic putty is poured between the spread boards.

After drying, the wedges are removed, and the places where they were are also filled with the substance. The sealant can also play the role of insulation in the future and will prevent cracks from forming in the floor.

Such an annoying floor defect as a squeak is unpleasant in any case. It can be caused by anything: initially incorrect installation, poor-quality material, split planks, loose nails, leakage, drying out of the parquet, uneven screed under the boards, which leads to misalignment at the joints. Something definitely needs to be done about this. Because not only is the creaking unbearable to the ear, it can also mean that the coating wears out quickly.

Anything with a wooden component will creak due to various problems. Descending price category- this is parquet, floorboard, parquet board, veneer board, laminate. How to ensure that the floor does not disappoint will be discussed further.

Option 1. Cardinal

Complete replacement of a wooden floor down to the base is an expensive and time-consuming option, but overall the most advantageous. The creaking will go away for a long time, and walking on the floor will only bring pleasure - physical and aesthetic. Especially if it's soft cork covering or self-leveling floor.

Option 2. Good old

If you don’t want to waste time and energy, you can do the simplest thing - buy a carpet. There are a great variety of them on the market - large and small, thick and thin, expensive and cheap. Having a soundproofing effect, this flooring option will slightly reduce the unpleasant sound. Naturally, the creaking will remain, but because of the carpet it will not be heard as much.

Option 3. Transfer

You can simply rearrange the boards yourself, or, much better, find craftsmen willing to take on this task. This is especially true if, due to a leak, the floors are swollen, the boards are swollen and rubbing against each other. There is no point in drying them and waiting for them to return to normal. The floor should be disassembled, the boards dried and re-fitted, after sharpening in some places. Or replace those that are no good at all. The process is long but effective.

Option 4. Backfill

You can eliminate creaking without loss appearance boards and without major repair work. If the boards rub against each other, it means there are cracks and gaps. By pouring graphite powder with talc into them, you can reduce the level of squeaking to a minimum. Another idea is to drive in wedges to also close the gaps.

Option 5. Filled

The space between the boards and joists can be filled with polyurethane foam so that the creaking will disappear as soon as it hardens and fixes all the loose elements. But this option is very short-lived - with a strong vibration amplitude, the foam is still deformed and destroyed.