Thread: Creaking Floor between nail lines need glue advice please

Originally Posted by BennyBenno

Hey Lads,

I need your help before I go insane... renovating a house and the floors have been recently sanded. Tounge and groove Cyprus Pine with all nails punched and floor sealed with water based urethane.

The floor is very LOUD! creaking everywhere as their is no gaps between the boards and when weight is applied away from the joist support the boards flex and the tounges rub.

I have plenty of access under the floor so I plan to glue and screw timber strips (probable milled down partical board flooring 100mm strips) along the centre of the floor boards between the joists.

What type of glue should I use ? Keep in mind that I want to hold the boards firm so they do not move independantly . Im also going to be doing most of the house so I will need alot and would prefer it to not send me bankrupt.

Liquid nails ?
PVA ? (gap to large with uneven surface on underside of boards ?

Appriciate the help ... this problem is currently filling up my head space and I cannot sleep until I have a plan of attack.

Ben

Two methods to stop squeaks were , > Screw timber battens across under flooring as you suggested, at least 20mm thick & 40mm or more wider. The best glue I found was a Solvent Based Construction Adhesive which comes in tubes. (Not a PVA) . Screws with square heads need to penetrate at least 15mm up in to flooring. Another method for carpeted or covered floors was > gluing & nailing 2.4 X 1.2 X 4.5mm hardboard SHEETS.
This was much more expensive though ! Good luck.

didn't someone once say if there is any gap in the boards you could use to to your advantage, to use talcum powder? Don't know where this came from or how long I've known it. Damm, I'm getting old.

Talcum powder works well on new floors, but may not be a success as the floor has been sealed with poly. It would still be worth a try as the joints may still be open enough to let the talc in. The method is to sprinkle a little talc along the joint and brush in with a soft broom. Did a friend's hallway many years ago. The floor was polished but the talc still stopped the creaking.

Solvent Based Construction Adhesive = Liquid nails right ? Liquid nails is going to be a lot more $$$ than PVA, Im going to test out both glues on a small section of the boards on Sunday.

Talc will not be suitable for this ... Its only a temp fix I would be 10kgs of talc to do the entire house!

Talc is not a temporary fix. The floor I mentioned was done 20 years go and has never creaked since. The only thing that will remove the talc is water (flood) otherwise, it bonds and forms a lubricated, shiney surface. As for quantity, a little goes a long way. I dont know how big your house is, but an average room only uses about a third of an average size bottle you get from the Chemist. Give it a try, you've nothing to loose. Just do one room for a test. If it doesn't work then go for the heavy artillery.
The main cause of creaking floor boards is over-cramping. If this is the case and the overcramping is severe, you may need to use both methods of attack to get satisfaction.