Squeaky/Crackling Laminate Wood Floor

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Leesider32

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Hi all,

Any advice on how to fix a squeaky/crackling laminate floor without ripping it all up?

I put it down myself (probably a bad idea in the first place) in April, gave it a couple of days to acclimatise and left a few mms all the way round for expansion. Probably should have used leveling compound in parts but didn't seem like a massive issue.

For the first month there were no problems then when the weather started to get warmer and it was humid it became very noisy in most areas. It is a kind of a crackling noise that did disappear briefly when the weather changed but is back again. It may go away when the weather gets cooler in October or so but then we have underfloor heating so maybe not.

Anyone know of any solutions? I have seen the usual videos of using WD40 and trying to get tongue & groove glue into the spaces.
 
Is perfectly OK to fit this yourself. Loads of people do it.
It is normal for some expansion and contraction on these.
You mention probably using levelling compound. How uneven is the sub-floor?
 
Luternau said:
Is perfectly OK to fit this yourself. Loads of people do it.
It is normal for some expansion and contraction on these.
You mention probably using levelling compound. How uneven is the sub-floor?
Click to expand...

The subfloor was ok except for near the doors where there was definite rises so I was expecting some issues around these areas but more that it wouldn't feel solid underfoot, which was the case for the first month and something I could get over. However now the snapping/crackling noise is in most areas except for most of the living room, so the hall, kitchen and dining room, it is driving me mental especially when you put so much effort into it!!
 
Is there visible movement (up and down) of individual planks in the areas where there is cracking? It could be that some plank tounges have failed causing friction and movement between adjoining plans. I have this in one plank where plank is not locked into the adjoining stave. It creaks when stepped on. It just seems to have failed as nothing happens to cause it.

I am assuming you have left enough gap for expansion and the creaking is not because the floor can't expand and is now under a lot of pressure . This time of year the floor should not be expading.
 
Leo said:
High humidity and heat means this is exactly the time of year expansion is an issue.
Click to expand...
Going to check to see what the expansion gap is later on this evening but initially left a 1cm to 1.5cm all the way round. I don't think the tongues have failed as they are still tight with no gaps. It is worse in the kitchen........maybe this is because the kitchen was installed on top and the weight doesn't allow it expand?

Have noticed when the humidity level drops it is not as bad.

Btw out of curiosity I tried some WD40 on a few of them and it does work (made sure to clean up any excess so no potential for staining) but how long that will last who know.
 
S class said:
Did you put down underlay first ?
Click to expand...
Yeah, it was the one for underfloor heating.

I have a thermostat in the kitchen since Tuesday that has a humidity reading as well. It was reading 74% on Tuesday evening and the creaking was very loud, today it is reading 50% and there is very little creaking so it does seem to be an expansion issue.

I checked around the kitchen where I could and there are gaps for expansion however these are underneath the kitchen so maybe the weight of the kitchen is stopping the floor from expanding properly? Our kitchen fitter told us to put down the floor first but a few articles I have read say you should put the floor down after and fit it around the cabinets due to this issue. Anyone have experience of this?

Another thing to mention is that this is a new build so not sure the acclimatising before installing did much good as this was at the start of April when it was cooler and the house was definitely a lot cooler as it was empty and the underfloor heating was off as tiling work was happening at the same time.
 
Leesider32 said:
Our kitchen fitter told us to put down the floor first but a few articles I have read say you should put the floor down after and fit it around the cabinets due to this issue. Anyone have experience of this?
Click to expand...
Yeah, most of the manufacturers state kitchens units or other heavy items should not be fitted over laminate floors. Even with a perfectly level subfloor, the weight of kitchen cabinets is going to compress the underlay and cause the boards to bend and stick.

Does you kitchen entirely sit on legs that are hidden behind kick-boards? If so it may be possible to cut the laminate around the legs to free it up using an oscillating tool or something like a Dremel.
 
Leo said:
Yeah, most of the manufacturers state kitchens units or other heavy items should not be fitted over laminate floors. Even with a perfectly level subfloor, the weight of kitchen cabinets is going to compress the underlay and cause the boards to bend and stick.

Does you kitchen entirely sit on legs that are hidden behind kick-boards? If so it may be possible to cut the laminate around the legs to free it up using an oscillating tool or something like a Dremel.
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I'll have to take off a kick board and check that, I would be surprised if they aren't. Sounds like a good idea!!

Would you just cut out a couple of cms around each leg or all the way around the perimeter if possible?
 
Leo said:
Just around the legs would be best. If you cut all around the perimeter it may promote too much movement in that direction.
Click to expand...
Thanks Leo, going to give that a try in the next couple of weeks and see how I get on..........will report back!
 
Leo said:
Yeah, most of the manufacturers state kitchens units or other heavy items should not be fitted over laminate floors. Even with a perfectly level subfloor, the weight of kitchen cabinets is going to compress the underlay and cause the boards to bend and stick.

Does you kitchen entirely sit on legs that are hidden behind kick-boards? If so it may be possible to cut the laminate around the legs to free it up using an oscillating tool or something like a Dremel.
Click to expand...

Finally got around to starting this however I can't cut the laminate around the legs as too difficult to get in at without dismantling the kitchen. I decided to cut a narrow strip out instead inside the kick boards. The problem is I can't get a blade that doesn't go blunt and burn out after doing only 50cm or so. I tried this one but still the same problem, anyone have any suggestions on a blade to use?

The job wouldn't actually take that long if I can get the proper blade.
 
The multi-material blades might be better for that job. If you're putting much pressure on those wood ones going into the though laminate face they can over-heat, and once they do that, they blunt very quickly.
 
Leo said:
The multi-material blades might be better for that job. If you're putting much pressure on those wood ones going into the though laminate face they can over-heat, and once they do that, they blunt very quickly.
Click to expand...
So I bought this blade but still the same problem, went blunt after cutting around a foot, very surprised with it as says it cuts through nails! Are there better ones I can/should go for? Thanks
 
Going blunt on laminate likely indicates you are applying too much pressure and over-heating the blade. Is it smoking?
 
Leo said:
Going blunt on laminate likely indicates you are applying too much pressure and over-heating the blade. Is it smoking?
Click to expand...
Yeah it's smoking, so a lot less pressure needed? Could take a lot longer than I thought!
 
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