Two Common Reasons for a Creaking Floating Floor and Ways to Fix It
Posted on: 19 November 2018
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A creaking floor can be a terrible nuisance—this is never truer than for parents creeping out of the room of a child they've just struggled to get to sleep. Wherever your creaking floor is, it can be an irritation to live with. If you're fed up of your creaking floating floor, and you're here looking for the cause and fix, read on for more information.
Board Movement
The most common cause of creaking with floating floors is board movement. The problem is usually not the boards themselves, but what lies beneath. So, either your underlay or the subfloor beneath that. If you laid the floor yourself, you'll know what kind of underlay you used. If it's the 'foam on a roll' type, then it's possible that this could have moved during the lay and created some unevenness. If your underlay is the foam board type, then it's unlikely that the underlay is causing the problem. In this instance, the subfloor is probably to blame.
Sadly, the only way to fix this problem is to remove the floating floor and make the subfloor even. This is an easy enough job for a competent DIYer. If that's not you, you'll need to get in a flooring specialist. The cost will include removing the floating floor, making good the subfloor, then refitting. This is assuming you have a good-quality floor that can be lifted and refitted--cheaper flooring can be difficult to remove without damaging the tongue and groove locking system.
If you want to save money, you can take on the removing and refitting jobs yourself and pay a specialist to make the subfloor even. It's worth giving some thought to just how irritating the creak is, as this could end up being a big job.
Board Swelling
Wood swells and shrinks—even laminate. For this reason, you're instructed to leave an adequate gap around your room when laying your floor. This gap is covered by skirting boards attached to the wall or wooden edging attached to the skirting boards. Both methods allow for the boards underneath to move.
If there is no gap, this is likely to be the cause of the creak. Happily, this is a relatively easy fix. You'll need to lift the skirting or edging and attempt to remove some of the wood. A hammer and sharp chisel will usually suffice. Chip away enough board to give the floating floor some space to move. It's prudent to have some spare boards handy in case you make a mess of the boards you're chipping.