Creaky hardwood floors

7 years ago

Built a new house with nail-down pre-finished solid woods floors and the floors are SO creaky. Humidity in the basement in the basement is around 40% and I don't think it's the sub-floor. What is going on and how do I fix it? Our contractor said he's going to contact the manufacturer but I think it's a poor install job. Any thoughts?

Featured Answer

PRO

Johnson Flooring Co Inc

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

How long has it been down? Prefinished solid wood is tricky. It should probably be removed from the cartons and stickered in an acclimated area for a couple weeks before installing, but nobody does that. I suspect it's creaky for one of three reasons (or maybe a combination). It could just be acclimating and settling in as it absorbs moisture. I've seen this before. It could be acclimating/growing and there's insufficient expansion space. Or it could be a subfloor issue.

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Comments (8)

PRO
G & S Floor Service
7 years ago
It can be the sub-floor. It may not be recommended for hardwood. What type is it?
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Carla Adams
Original Author
7 years ago
Flooring was installed in March. Before it was installed it was in boxes in our basement for about 3 months (basement shouldn't have been humid since it was the winter.)
millworkman
7 years ago

This is installed in the basement? If so over concrete? If not installed in the basement it should have been stored in a similar room it was being installed in with Humidity/Moisture levels recorded, HVAC up and running. What is the subfloor? Were any readings taken? As previously asked, what is the subfloor?
Carla Adams
Original Author
7 years ago
No flooring was installed on the first floor. No readings taken. Here's a picture showing the subfloor. Pretty confident the subfloor was done right.
SJ McCarthy
7 years ago
OSB subfloor....sigh. And the wood was NOT acclimated in the area/level of the install. OK. Here's what is PROBABLY happening (could be something else...but that's a low-chance concept).

Nails rubbing against wood = squeaks. The squeaking/creaking is probably (90% chance) from the nails rubbing against wood. But which wood, you ask? Most likely the subfloor product. How do I know that, you ask? Because OSB is FAMOUS for drying out and letting go of nail holes.

OSB is known the dryout. As it dries out, it shrinks BACK away from a hole. Now image THOUSANDS of nail holes created by nail-down hardwood. Now imagine each and everyone of those holes have loosened - just a snick - to the point of allowing the nail to rub/move. Yep. Not pretty.

The OTHER option is, again to do with the OSB, is the fastenings of the OSB to the substrate BELOW the top layer (aka the subfloor). I'm going to imagine you have OSB on top of OSB (or you SHOULD have two layers that create at LEAST 3/4" thick subfloor/substrate layer on top of wood joists). Now imagine the layer on the joists is starting to dry out. Hmmmm. Now imagine the layer sitting on top of that is starting to dry out....AND the installer used NAILS to secure layer 2 to layer 1. Sigh. Which could mean you have a total of 3 layers of wood, with three layers of nails that are ALL LETTING GO.

Sh!t. Now we have some SERIOUS noise. Notice how I have not mentioned the hardwood manufacturer? Right. It is very rare to have a manufacturing issue of hardwoods that created noise. Usually it is the way the wood is fastened to the substrate BELOW it that creates the noise.

Now to go back and find out HOW the subfloor was created. How many layers. How was it fastened to each other. Were nails used (super fast and super cheap) or was it using screws (which is the RIGHT way to do it) that makes it slower and more expensive to complete the subfloor. And then find out if - by any chance - the installer laid down a nice layer of plywood (not OSB). Plywood is expensive but it is stable when it comes to nail holes. Creaking can still happen, but it isn't quite so bad as OSB.

And just for fun (because you are in the mood to p!ss off your Builder ;-P) ask if the OSB on top is SUBFLOOR GRADE! Yes. There are different grades of OSB. And each grade has a price. And the top price is the top grade. And the top grade is supposed to be used (if it is going to be used at all) as the top layer of a subfloor system.

Whew. It is going to be one HE77 of a conversation.

Let's just say you do NOT want to know how the fix is going to go. Ahem. More hardwood anyone?

BTW: I'm very sorry this has happened. I know I've made some 'funnies' above. I don't mean to poke fun at you. I'm poking fun at your builder. S/he knew the cost of real plywood and decided to go with OSB. S/he knew the cost to screw down the top layer to the bottom layer (or should have known) but went with nails. S/he knew to acclimate the hardwood on the SAME LEVEL as the install (or should have known) but didn't. All of this is on him/her.
millworkman
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
"Pretty confident the subfloor was done right."

The odds are pretty good then that that was the only thing done correctly. Let the contractor get the flooring manufacturer out to the site. No skin off your back to have it inspected but the contractor will not like the message he is going to get. Ultimately you probably won't either, if I am right.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
7 years ago
OSB is fine as long it's Advantech or something similar. You will need to do a full spread of adhesive to prevent any noise.