Annoying creaking wooden floors does not have a calming effect at all and very rarely evokes childhood memories of summer vacation at grandma's. Therefore, to save your own nerves, find out what to do if wooden floors squeak.

Certainly, ideal option The solution to this problem is to take advantage of the opportunity and begin a long-planned renovation with a complete replacement of the floors.

If this solution does not suit you, then you will have to start restoring the floor. This is a troublesome matter, and besides, you may not be able to completely get rid of the squeak. However, it’s still worth a try, since no specialist will give you a guarantee of the result or lack thereof.

Causes of squeaking

Wooden floors squeak in two situations, depending on the material your floor is made from:

• if the floorboards (or any other floor covering, such as chipboard) do not fit very tightly to the joists (or wooden beams);
• if the parquet does not adhere tightly to the surface of the base on which it is laid.

In both cases, there is only one way to get rid of the squeak - remove the space that has appeared between the floor covering and its base. However, in these cases you will have to act differently.

Floor on joists

The only way to solve the question of what to do if wooden floors squeak when they are laid on joists (wooden beams) is to screw the floor covering to them more carefully.

For this you will need:

• long wood screws,
• screwdriver or drill with a screwdriver attachment.

The process of eliminating the squeak itself will look like this:

1. Find the most creaky places on the floor (so as not to “lose” them later, mark them with chalk).
2. Next, determine where the joists (beams) go in the floor. If the floor has been painted several times, the paint will have to be scraped off to find the nails that secure it to its base. In the case when the floor covering is made of boards, you can remove the outer boards to find the joists under them (the joists always run perpendicular to the wall at a constantly maintained distance from each other). At the same time, you can look under the floor structure and see the condition of the joists. If from under the boards you “smell” of mustiness, dampness and mold, then instead of cosmetic restoration of the floors, you should still completely replace it.
3. Now you need to screw self-tapping screws into the joists (beams) so as to press the boards (or chipboard) to them as tightly as possible. The pitch of the screws in this case may vary depending on the intensity of the squeak, but still should not be more than 15 centimeters. Be careful not to hit the nails with the screw, as this will cause it to break and you may be injured.

Parquet

Creaking parquet can cause no less inconvenience. And since in this case the creaking occurs due to the deformation of its individual elements (and not the whole flooring), then, first of all, it will be necessary to find them, since the defect will have to be eliminated pointwise.

To get rid of the squeak you will need:

• drill with a drill with a diameter of 6-8 mm,
• ordinary cement (about 20 g for each creaking plank) - if you don’t have it, then a mixture for plastering work is suitable,
• a very large syringe without a needle.

Having prepared everything necessary for the repair, you can proceed to the main action:

1. Carefully drill a hole in the middle of the creaking parquet strip.
2. Prepare cement mortar, the consistency of which should resemble regular milk.
3. Fill in cement mixture into a syringe. Make sure you can squeeze it out without it getting stuck in the syringe. If the mixture is too thick, dilute it with water. In too liquid mixture you will have to add some cement.
4. Insert the syringe into the hole and pour the solution into it in small portions. Remember that after each “dose” of the solution, another portion of air should come out from under the parquet. Take your time - neither the cement nor the plaster mixture hardens instantly.
5. The hole must be filled with the mixture until it stops accepting solution.
6. Wait for the solution to harden and make sure that the parquet no longer creaks.
7. Fill the hole in the parquet plank with a special putty (or mastic) for wood.

You should not immediately try to get rid of all deformed parquet planks from squeaking. First, it’s better to do a “test” repair and only after making sure that this solution to the problem has helped you, continue to get rid of other creaking places. If the creaking does not go away, you will most likely have to re-lay the entire parquet, along the way renewing the surface of the subfloor and replacing damaged planks.

Video

Here you can see an example of work to eliminate the creaking of a wooden floor:

In many old houses, the floor consists of boards that are nailed to the joists. Over time, such a floor begins to loosen and creak. You can often get rid of the nasty squeak without disassembling the boards.

Let's figure out why floors squeak?

To do this, you need to understand how the floor structure in your apartment works. Popular designs come in two types.

• The first one consists of a floorboard laid on logs in increments of about 40 cm. The boards are secured with nails.
• Secondly, on the joists there is a top layer of chipboard/plywood sheets.

Logs are bars about 4 centimeters thick, which are located horizontally and serve as the basis for the cladding. They are not secured to the base in any way; they are held in place by being attached to the sheathing. The logs create a technological retreat from the concrete, which allows the floor to breathe and insulates it.

Since the sheathing is nailed to the beams using regular nails, they become loose over time. The boards begin to sag and creak when walked. The logs themselves can also become loose and shake.

Eliminating squeaks

You can remove creaking wooden floors yourself and without much expense.
Cheapest and effective way- scrolling with self-tapping screws. You don't need to disassemble the floor for this. Old nails will need to be duplicated with strong screws. The squeaks will mostly go away if the joists are in good condition and have not cracked or moved out of place.

A radical way is to replace the floors. This is an expensive option, since you will have to change the flooring in the entire apartment, but everything will be reliable and for a long time. Here the choice depends on your budget and preferences: make a new floor using joists or replace only floorboard, make a dry, semi-dry or wet screed. The screed will slightly increase the height of the ceilings, and all the doors will need to be replaced. But on the screed you can easily lay tiles, porcelain stoneware, and install heating. If you want to make a screed and maintain the current floor level, the missing thickness is compensated by a layer of expanded clay or extruded polystyrene foam, which will add additional heat and sound insulation. When installing a screed, you need to clarify what constant load the floor slabs in your home can withstand; in old houses this is at least 150 kg per square meter. m.

Scrolling the floor

We will not describe the process of replacing the floor, but will tell you how to fix the squeak even without removing the boards.

1. Determine at what distance the floorboards lie from concrete slabs. To do this, drill a hole and measure the depth using a wire.
2. Buy wood screws of the required length so that they fit together with the head and do not stick out.
3. Find the places where the logs are. They can be identified by the nails in the floor - they run in rows along them. If the nails are not visible, dismantle the baseboard and look at the joists through the gap along the wall, there is a special indentation of about 1 centimeter.
4. Drill a hole 1-2 millimeters smaller than the diameter of the screw.
5. Tighten the screws with a screwdriver until they stop, slightly recessing the head.
6. Repeat this with each board, screwing it to all the joists.
7. There is another option - tighten screws of the same length as the distance to the concrete. You must first blunt their tip so that they do not destroy the concrete over time. In this case, they will serve as additional support and will prevent the boards from sagging. This method also helps in places where scrolling does not remove the squeak (for example, a cracked joist).

It is not advisable to attach logs to a concrete base; this will reduce sound insulation.

Video on eliminating creaking wooden floors in Khrushchev:

Sometimes the cause of squeaking lies in the friction of the boards among themselves. This problem can be solved by driving wooden wedges between them.

Now that we have eliminated the creaking in the apartment, the floor needs to be leveled before laying a new covering. It is best to do this in 2 layers of plywood with offset joints. Each sheet is screwed to the floorboard in 15 cm increments.

Example). After repairing the floor from that article, 4 years have passed, and not a single squeak has appeared.

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:

1. 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.
2. Excessive distances between plank floor joists. The load on the floorboards causes the boards to sag and they end up rubbing against each other.
3. When constructing the floor, thin boards (thickness less than 40 mm) were used, which were unable to withstand the load placed on them.
4. 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.
5. When laying panel parquet and sheet flooring material They did not leave a compensation gap along the walls. Expanding with increasing air humidity, wood material warps and creaks.
6. The nails used to nail the floorboards no longer hold them in place due to the drying of the wood.
7. Wear or swelling of floorboards due to dampness.
8. 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:

1. 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.
2. Parquet flooring is drilled through in several places using a drill operating at low speeds.
3. Screws with a diameter of at least 6 mm are screwed into the holes. Screwing must be stopped immediately after reaching concrete base: The floor must not be allowed to rise further. This creates additional supports, which will reduce or completely eliminate squeaking.
4. 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 in color.

A slight squeak may disappear after sanding and filling the cracks putty mass 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:

1. In the parquet flooring, which “sags” when walking, we drill through hole with a diameter of 6 - 8 mm.
2. Prepare 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.
3. 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.
4. The solution should be allowed to harden completely before continuing to use the floor.
5. 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 arranged in country houses. If it creaks wooden floor, what to 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.

1. The logs are located on long 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

1. We purchase from required quantity large format plywood sheets with a thickness of at least 15 mm.
2. We lay a polyurethane foam backing on top of the floor: it will prevent the plywood from knocking on the boards while walking.
3. Cover the area of ​​the floor that is subject to the greatest load with a large sheet of plywood.
4. 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.
5. 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 self-tapping 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.

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

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, to many people, sounds from under the floor covering 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 want to note that professional installation of high-quality wooden beams means that the wooden floor creaks for the first time after a couple of years. Not before.

• 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 grinding noise is to complete disassembly covering and implementation of 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 where the joists are. 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 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 designs.

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 appears 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 squeaking 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. 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 supporting structure 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 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 renovation: 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.

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 cause of squeaking most often. 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, creaks occur due to the fact that a gap of 10 mm 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 sheet covering 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 squeaks 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 can you do without disassembling them? In this case, 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 must be adjusted to the size of the slots each time, and this is very time-consuming.

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 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 trimmed 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.

Tip 1: What to do if the floors in your apartment creak
Tip 2: How to behave with a brownie

Development modern technologies did not discourage people from believing in various supernatural phenomena like poltergeists, conspiracies, mythical creatures. For example, many believe that in residential buildings And apartments certainly have a brownie.

Those who believe in the brownie usually try to establish contact with an incomprehensible creature. But since such beliefs are increasingly classified as obsolete, few people know what to do to achieve this.

The question of who a brownie is can be answered approximately like this: an energetic entity that is constantly located in your house or apartment. The occurrence of this type of energy directly depends on the behavior of the people living in the apartment. With constant swearing and quarrels in the premises there will be a corresponding, not particularly good energy. On the contrary, if the residents are peaceful and cheerful people, the atmosphere in the house will be very favorable.

People imagine brownies in different ways - some claim to have seen them in the form of a light blob, a creature of a certain shape, some have only heard of them, others have never seen them at all, but they have no doubt about the existence of brownies. The question of how to appease a brownie mainly arises in cases where this entity “behaves badly” and interferes with the residents.

When moving into a new home for your family, it would be useful to install good relationship with the brownie living there. If this entity decides to show its bad side, creaking floors and dishes suddenly falling on the floor will constantly spoil your mood, and it’s good if the matter is limited to only this.

In order to create favorable energy in your home, and therefore earn the brownie’s good attitude towards you, you should keep the house clean. Wet cleaning, frequent ventilation of rooms, timely disposal of trash and unnecessary things will help ensure coziness and comfort. Don’t put off fixing the water supply system; fasten the broken ones in a timely manner. door hinges, do not ignore a rickety cabinet. Try not to sort things out in a raised voice - negotiate peacefully, look for compromises, and take the time to talk with family members. This will help you not accumulate negative energy in the premises.

To appease the brownie, sometimes they resort to such means as displaying treats or setting up a special pleasant place for this entity. This could be, for example, a shelf with figurines and amulets that, in your opinion, the brownie might like. This option is more suitable for those who imagine a brownie in the form of a tiny creature, a man. Meditative exercises are effective, during which a person thanks his home for warmth and safety, for a feeling of security, the opportunity to provide comfortable conditions for yourself and your household. The entity called the brownie will certainly provide good mood and comfort for people who do not forget to thank the brownie for his efforts.

The floors are creaking, what should I do?

The floor can become deformed for various reasons, for example due to high humidity. If the floor has been installed for a very long time, it will begin to creak and then become completely unusable. But if you carry out repairs at the right time, you can save the floor and get rid of the unpleasant noise caused by the appearance of cracks. To get rid of the problem, you need to understand where the squeak comes from and what causes it.

Why do floors creak?

When installing a wooden floor, squeaking is guaranteed, although most people treat this normally and do not take any action. But there is another group of people who cannot sleep at night because of the eternal squeak, so they are looking for all sorts of ways to restore the floor. Before determining the cause of the problem, I had to familiarize myself with different types floors For example, wooden floors in dachas were most often installed by professionals, so they easily selected the required thickness of boards, high-quality dry lumber, and installed joists wherever needed. This guarantees a silent wooden floor for at least several seasons.

Any floor will creak in five years, but this is very good result, since all floors begin to creak immediately after installation, and it makes no difference whether it is installed by a professional team or the owner of the cottage. The noise that occurs when walking on the floor is very unpleasant and can be heard throughout the house, although sometimes it is quiet. This is mainly due to the fact that the tree begins to rub against another tree, and an unpleasant sound immediately appears.

The boards can rub not only against each other, but also against the joists. This is due to the fact that the logs are installed unreliably, the mounting points are not mounted well enough, so unpleasant noise occurs. Although professionals should not make such mistakes, they do occur. When installing a board, it is ground against another, this ensures that there will be no displacement, and along with it, noise. Unfortunately, wood quickly absorbs moisture and reacts to the temperature in the room, so different seasons the tree begins to collapse under the influence of cold and moisture. For example, in spring or autumn, the size of the boards may increase as they swell due to exposure to moisture. This provokes movement and deformation of the floors. But then the most unpleasant thing happens - winter or summer comes, and the size of the boards decreases because they dry out. Because of this, gaps appear, which subsequently renders the floor unusable.

Several cycles of drying and wetting go through, so the gaps become quite large, the boards begin to run into each other and make an unpleasant noise. When a person walks on the floor, they bend and shift relative to each other, friction occurs, and a terrible squeak is heard. The chances that squeaking will occur after the first season are very high, since the floors are not installed well enough. If you are lucky and the floor was installed by real professionals, it will become unusable after 3-4 years of use.

Why do new floors squeak?

It doesn’t matter whether your floor is new or old, it will still creak for the same reasons. Of course, old buildings once had high-quality floors that dried out and became warped due to too much time passing. But even in new houses, problems arise, mainly because the floor was installed incorrectly, without following the laying technology. Although there are exceptions, if shrinkage occurs at home, which is quite rare, the floor will also collapse, but this is due to incorrect calculation foundation and does not occur very often.

There are several main reasons why the floor begins to creak:

• Dried and low-quality materials were used during installation. building materials. The boards and joists begin to dry out, the sizes of the plywood sheets change significantly, and between wooden surfaces gaps form;
• There is no layer between the plywood and the joists; for example, installing a layer of waterproofing can significantly reduce noise. The noise also comes from incorrect installation laminate or parquet substrates;
• The boards and joists are installed poorly because the ends regularly shift relative to each other;
• There is no technological gap near the walls.

The problem may arise due to incorrectly selected thickness of plywood, beams and joists, and boards. If the distance between the joists is incorrectly selected, the floor begins to creak. Please note that logs are made of timber, and they minimum size is 10x8 centimeters. It is necessary to maintain a distance between the logs of about 40 centimeters, a maximum of 60 centimeters. To prevent the boards from bending under your weight, you need to buy boards with minimum thickness 40 millimeters, and plywood with a thickness of 20 millimeters.

How to eliminate squeaking wood floors

When installing floors, the strongest wood is used, because the loads on the floor are very high. But as mentioned above, humidity and air temperature deform the structure of the wood, and this causes creaks and sagging of the floor in the most unexpected places. Despite the fact that many people face this problem, it can be solved quite simply. To get rid of squeaks, you need to acquire the following tools and materials:

• Drill;
• Hammer;
• Nails;
• Floor paint;
• Nail puller;
• Wood sawdust.

First, understand which boards cause the most squeaking. Just walk along the floor and listen to the sounds, in some places it will be louder. Check whether the creaking occurs in a specific place on the floorboard or whether the entire floorboard creaks. In most cases, sounds occur in boards that are poorly attached to floor beams or joists. When you find all the floorboards that are causing the squeak, write down their locations. Next, check whether there are any important communications under the floorboard.

Take a drill and make a hole on one side of the floorboard, you need to drill directly into the beam through the board. Screw a screw with the required diameter into the resulting hole; you can also drive a nail, but a screw is preferable. Recess the head into the board, both when installing a screw and a nail. Walk the floor again where you did the work and check if there is any noise? If it creaks, but not as much as before, you can make a hole on the other side of the board and screw in another screw. Next, perform this operation with all floorboards that cause unpleasant noise. As a rule, the problem will be solved after this procedure.

If the problem persists, but the noise level has decreased, you can use wooden wedges. Install them in the gaps between the floorboards and joists. To secure tongue and groove boards, you will need screws with countersunk heads. If the boards are driven in very tightly and the heads of the nails are almost invisible, use a nail puller and lift the board. This way you can understand where the logs are installed.

The most common cause of squeaking is the friction of each board against the boards located next to it. When you find the problem area, pour a little graphite powder or talc into the crack. Seal the gap with wooden wedges if you do not want to use powder.

Often, creaking occurs due to boards that have been destroyed under the influence of temperature changes and high humidity. The floorboards dry out and are placed in a different position, which causes squeaking. Make a paste of sawdust and use floor paint to thin it out. Seal every crack with this paste and the problem will be solved. To prepare the mixture you will need a small part of paint and about four parts of sawdust in the same quantity. When you apply the mixture and it dries, walk along the floor and check whether the unpleasant noise remains. Typically, the squeak should disappear.

You should also remember...

In order to reduce the chance of squeaking due to drying of boards and joists, you need to place a special damping gasket between the boards and joists. For example, insulation or waterproofing. Special underlays are used for laminate and parquet. But it happens that they are laid, but the floor still creaks - re-lay the underlay to solve the problem. You can reduce the chance of noise by loosely laying boards or boards, maintaining a gap between them with a distance of about a millimeter. This will not affect the quality of the coating, but the boards will not rub against each other. You can use wedges, but they are only used for plank floors. The ridges of the boards may be damaged, so this method is not very popular.

What does the master advise you to do if the floor creaks?

Currently, spruce or pine boards are used, but at one time it was believed that these materials were not suitable for laying floors. They are used mainly in Europe, where high humidity and a pleasant climate. In Russia, you need to use wood that does not absorb moisture - cedar, oak, ash or maple. It is advisable to place fabric between the boards and joists. This will reduce the friction force of the boards, so the noise will be invisible or not appear at all. The method is quite effective; you can try putting thick fabric between the boards even before you follow the recommendations from our article, which we described above.