Squeaks parquet in the apartment - how to eliminate?

Many people still prefer classic flooring, in particular parquet. The advantages of parquet, in the first place, are environmental cleanliness and beautiful appearance. Unfortunately, parquet floors sometimes begin to creak unbearably. Read this article and find out the answer to the question: parquet creaks in the apartment - how to fix it?

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Why do parquet floors creak?

Most of the causes of squeaking are flaws made during the installation of flooring:

• The base of the floor is poorly aligned. If the preparation for leveling the floors was originally done somehow, then over time the planks begin to deform. This leads to their mobility and to the appearance of unpleasant sounds.
• Lack of substrate. The cause of the creak may be the lack of a layer of fiberboard or plywood, which is laid between the concrete base and the decorative flooring. If the fiberboard or plywood sheets are loose against concrete, the parquet will also begin to creak. This is especially evident in rooms where parquet is experiencing a significant load.
• There is no gap between the floor and the wall. The optimal gap size, given the natural expansion of parquet boards, is 1 cm.
• Incorrectly laid or deformed logs. Over time, the lags become loose. There are many reasons for this: poor heat and vapor barrier, too small or too large a distance through which the logs are laid. When they are deformed, the slats bend, hence, the parquet in the apartment creaks, and you think how to eliminate this phenomenon.

Important! In addition to installation errors, the cause of the creak of the flooring can be an unfavorable microclimate - a high level of humidity, severe temperature changes, as a result of which the parquet boards dry out or swell.

We can say that creaking is a kind of payment for the ecological purity of the material. Extraneous sounds appear if the boards are not treated with special substances that prevent their shrinkage.

In addition to these reasons, the appearance of a creak can be caused by the following reasons:

• Drying boards.
• Violation of the integrity of the dies - broken grooves or ridges, splitting the slats.
• Unfastening the mounts.

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How to determine the necessary type of repair?

So, parquet creaks in the apartment - how to eliminate this “symphony”? Before you begin to neutralize such an unpleasant sound, pay attention to how the coating is laid:

1. If it is not assembled from individual dies, but from shields with glued strips, you should not waste time on repairs. The same applies to modern flooring, assembled from separate modules. Only replacing the floor with a new one or selecting a different coating will help.
2. If the flooring is selected from separate boards, there are several ways to rectify the situation.

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How to eliminate parquet creak?

So, given: the parquet creaks. There are two ways to solve the problem: contact a specialized company or try to get rid of annoying creak.

Have you decided to act on your own? Let's consider several options.

First, carefully inspect the parquet to identify problem areas.They must be marked in order to begin restoration work.

Important! It is advisable to coincide with the restoration of the parquet floor with other repair work, such as coating parquet with varnish or wax. This will give you the opportunity to more rationally allocate time.

Dismantle parquet - overhaul

Complete replacement of the flooring is the most cardinal way to deal with unpleasant sounds. Dismantling includes such works:

• Dismantling the dies.
• Laying the base.
• Parquet installation.
• Grinding, pickling and varnishing.

Important! You can use this method if most of the dies (or all) are behind the base. Of course, this measure will completely get rid of the creak, but it requires a lot of time and money. For this reason, if the parquet is partially defective, it can be corrected without removing it.

How to remove parquet creak from potholes and cracks?

Sometimes not only creaking, but also crackling sounds are observed when walking on the parquet floor. This indicates a low humidity level or high room temperature.

In this case, you can thoroughly putty potholes and cracks, followed by the application of imitation wood.

Important! A mixture of sawdust with casein glue helps to get rid of cracks. After the mixture dries, the parquet is ground and varnished.

If the die is cracked

Hard putty is suitable only for small cracks. If their width is large, then it would be more advisable to replace the bar by choosing planks of the same wood as the entire floor. The algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Using a chisel or chisel, chop the die into several pieces. Take out the resulting pieces of wood. Starting from the center, remove the glue.
2. Thoroughly clean the resulting cavity. Level the base.
3. Prepare a new die for styling. Cut off the comb from it, polish the place of cut with a planer. If necessary, ridges and grooves can be removed from neighboring boards.
4. If you need to replace several parquet floors located nearby, connect them together with a single riveting. Be sure to make sure that the new planks firmly settle in place of the old ones.
5. Fill the base with hot mastic or adhesive that can be used in such work.
6. Place the riveting on the glue, not forgetting to carefully wipe off the excess.
7. Press down the glued board with a load.
8. After the glue is completely dry, wipe the area from dust, sand and varnish.

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We repair the base of the floor

How to eliminate the creak of parquet in the apartment by repairing the base? If the coating is even but creaks anyway, lay a 12 mm thick plywood sheet over the base. Of course, you will not forget about the creak of the parquet forever, but in any case, for a long time.

In the event that the base is bitumen mastic, you can heat it with a building hairdryer until the bitumen softens. Now it remains to press firmly against the base of the floor plate and wait until the base has dried.

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Wedges

If the reason is not good mounting of parquet boards to the logs. To eliminate this drawback, wedges are punched between the boards and lags.

If the creaking is caused by rubbing boards, then you can drive wedges into the cracks, through 150-200 mm.

Important! Watch carefully so that the wedges do not protrude above the floor.

Small gaps can be filled with talc or graphite powder. The creak will disappear.

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Adhesive Fill

We answer the question: how to remove the creak of the parquet using the adhesive? You will need:

• electric drill with a 2 mm drill;
• medical syringe;
• polyurethane adhesive;
• scotch tape;
• crayons (wax);
• rags.

How to act to remove the creak of the floor:

1. Find damaged areas on the floor.
2. Mark the center of the damaged parquet floors at intervals of 150 mm.
3. Apply construction tape to them.
4. Make holes through the marked points.
5. Through the holes obtained, using a medical syringe, fill in the adhesive.
6. After about an hour, when the glue dries, remove the tape.
7. You can remove excess glue with a solvent for construction foam.
8. Press the boards to the floor with a heavy load.
9. Until the glue dries, do not walk on the floor.
10. Fill the holes with wax one day after repair. You need to pick up wax crayons in the color of the parquet.

Important! After the repair is completed, polish the renovated floor with a soft rag.

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Cement mortar

Another way to help solve the problem is creaking parquet in the apartment - how to fix it:

1. Drill holes of 2 cm in diameter in the floor.
2. Pour in it a solution of cement or melted bitumen in such a way that a creaking bar rests on the resulting “pillow”.
3. At the end of the repair, drive a stopper into the hole and grind it so that there are no traces.

Important! The same method will be even more effective if the holes are drilled against the log. A day after pouring the cement, hammer the hole with a wooden pin. Now it remains to grind, putty and paint the repair site.

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Syringe, polyurethane foam and other improvised means:

1. For landing strips of a parquet floor, you can use a wax lubricant composition using a solvent. The resulting composition is wound under the boards using a syringe.
2. To eliminate the creak of parquet in the apartment and helps the usual mounting foam. The amount of space under the parquet reaches about 90 mm. If you fill this space with construction foam, the creaking will cease. The foam expands and the floor becomes stiffer. This method has its minus. Over time, the foam leaks and collapses. The floors begin to creak again.
3. If the board creaks when the dice contact the lag, broaching with the use of self-tapping screws helps. The hardest thing to find is logs. Be sure to ensure that there are no communications under the board. Drill a hole from the board into the log. Fasten the floorboard with the lag with a nail or a screw.

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Parquet tightening

This method is quite complex and time-consuming, but effective and does not require large expenses. Carefully check the condition of individual floorboards and lags, replacing defective dies. The essence of the method is that you replace the nails with screws.

Important! Unlike nails, self-tapping screws do not creak in places of contact with wood. After screeding with self-tapping screws, the parquet must be sanded and then coated with wax or varnish.

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How to prevent squeak of parquet?

In other words, what is the prevention of unpleasant sounds? - Experts advise to adhere to such rules:

1. Choose hardwood flooring. The best varieties of wood used for parquet are: beech, ash, maple and oak. Of the exotic species, the most durable are considered plane tree, wenge, zebrano, olive and Brazil nut. It is also important to choose a quality adhesive for laying the coating.
2. It is advisable that the flooring be laid by specialists. This will require certain costs, but the floors will last you a long time. The final quality of the flooring depends on the quality of preparation of the base and installation of the board.
3. Care for parquet floors correctly. The optimal microclimate in the apartment is a temperature of 20 degrees with a humidity of 40-60%. Use special parquet care products.

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Stock footage

By following these guidelines, you can extend the life of your floor. Now you know how to remove the creak of the floor with your own hands, without using the services of masters.