Wooden floors are beautiful and environmentally friendly, but they have one significant drawback. Over time, they cause a lot of problems with their creak. There are several options for what to prevent wooden floors from creaking in a house or apartment. The simplest of them is nothing. The creaking of the floor does not affect the strength of the structures, so nothing interferes with the operation of the room. This is an option for lazy hosts who agree to put up with minor inconveniences. If there is a desire to fight with a creak, it is necessary to begin actions with clarification of the reason.
Squeak Reasons
The main reason that the wood floor creaks becomes the deformation of the boards, their displacement and friction against each other. Deformations always arise over time. There may be several reasons for this:
- The natural aging process. Nothing can be done about the fact that the properties of the material deteriorate over time. This process always happens for any material. But for raw materials of natural origin a little faster than for synthetic ones. Aging of wood can only be slowed down by protection against all possible negative effects.
- Violation of styling technology. When erecting a wooden floor along the logs around the perimeter of the wall, a gap must be provided to allow the boards to expand unhindered under the influence of temperature changes and load. If this gap is not provided for when expanding, the boards will fit tightly against each other and friction will occur, causing creaking.
- Wood drying. Normal wood moisture for building structures is 12%. With low humidity, this value decreases, and the boards are reduced in size. Such a violation of the design can also lead to a creak.
- Violation of mounting technology. With poor-quality fastening, nails under load go out. When loose, all the elements of the floor cake are loosened, a creak appears. If time is not taken to take one squeak, the matter is not limited to, ultimately, the entire structure will collapse.
- High humidity in the room. The reverse process is shrinking. Wood reacts very strongly to changes in the indoor microclimate. If the humidity exceeds the standard, the boards begin to swell, expand. Friction leads to a creak.
All these reasons are associated with the features of the material. Their elimination is almost impossible (except for violation of technology).
To prevent, you can do a thorough treatment with protective compounds and maintain a constant recommended humidity in the room.
But this does not prevent aging. In addition, maintaining constant humidity is an extremely time-consuming undertaking.
How to fix the problem
Before you remove the creak of a wooden floor, you need to choose the most suitable way to do this. You can troubleshoot a problem using the following steps.
Foam Application
The composition is able to penetrate even the smallest cracks, filling them. Even those who have never dealt with repair work can make repairs using mounting foam. To eliminate squeakiness in this way, you need to follow the procedure:
- take the mounting foam in the bottle;
- bring the tube into the space between the ceiling and the floorboards;
- squeeze out the required amount of material;
- wait to dry.
The creaking is eliminated by fixing the wooden elements. Polyurethane foam is not strong enough material, so it can fix the board only for a while. After again, repairs will be needed.
Wedges
Such repairs can be done only with a slight wear of the floor boards. If the damage to the flooring is severe, the actions will be ineffective.
To solve the problem, wooden wedges are made. They are driven between the boards in emergency places. Elements will prevent mobility and friction of the boards.
Anchoring
This method of fixing the floor boards will allow you to remove the creak in concrete floors.
Metal anchors require reliable fastening, which can not provide a wooden floor. The disadvantages of the method include its high cost. Make repairs in the following order:
- with the help of a puncher or drill, a hole in the ceiling is prepared;
- a dowel is installed in the hole;
- the anchor is driven without disassembling it into parts;
- I fix the floor boards to the fixed anchor bolt.
Using screws
The use of self-tapping screws is suitable if the creaking place is located between the floorboards and the lags below them. The most difficult task in this case is to determine the location of the lag without disassembling the floor. This should be done in this order:
- dismantle skirting boards around the perimeter of the room;
- determine the direction of the lag;
- on the walls located across the lag, note their location with long and thin metal rods;
- the rods stuck on two sides are connected with a cord, thus creating a marking for work.
Self-tapping screws are needed 2-3 cm less than the total thickness of the boards, flooring and log. You can determine this by placing a thin metal ruler in the gap between the boards. Next, you need to fix the floor structure with self-tapping screws along the extended cord. Mounting is performed on 2-3 self-tapping screws located close to the center of the log. Fastening should be done with the same step.
Plywood laying
Before you eliminate the creak of a wooden floor with plywood, you need to make sure that it is even. If the base is uneven, the method is not suitable. Plywood sheets are selected with a thickness of at least 12 mm. Plywood is laid out on the boards and fastened to them with screws. Mounting pitch - 15-20 cm.
Replacing sites
The event is time-consuming and quite expensive. Suitable for cases where the boards are badly damaged and the use of other methods is pointless. The floor in the creaking areas is opened, dismantled and replaced with a new one. It is recommended to discard nails as fasteners, as they can again lead to a creak. Use self-tapping screws.
Carrying out the necessary and correctly selected repair measures will allow you to forget about the creak of the floor for a long time and ensure comfortable living.