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Wood Floor Noise

4 years ago

I have a 4 story row home in Philadelphia. The home is 4 years old and has wooden flooring (not sure if it's laminate, engineered or hardwood, any help to identify would be great). Above my master are my 2 guest rooms. Whenever I have guests I can hear the floors creak and pop above me as they walk in the room. How can I stop the floors from doing this?

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Comments (8)

SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
Photos of the floor please. If you have a floor register, please pull it up and take a photo of the cross section for us. That one photo will tell us everything we need to know.

First things first: check your HUMIDITY. The interior of a home should be 40%-60% indoor humidity (we call it Relative Humidity = RH). Winter is the dry time. Heated air drives the moisture out of the house. That can often lead to RH that is too low. As building materials shrink, they start to make sounds.

What's your RH reading in your house?
HU-851869560
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Here Is a photo. As for the humidity. My nest thermostat says it’s at 28%.
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I'm not an installer or wood professional. (had to get that out of the way first) Here's the deal - wood dries out during the winter and shrinks a bit when you have central heat on. (And I think gas heat tends to dry the air even more than electric heat.) Come summer and those warm humid months, even with the a/c on, your wood floors will regain moisture and swell. So you've been through 6 months now probably with heat on in your house. I would expect to see some gaps - not huge but it might just be enough to cause that movement you hear. It's not cupping but just the natural tendency for wood to gain/lose moisture during the cooling/heating season cycles. I've also heard that alot depends too on when you had your wood floors installed. If they are installed at the height of summer when the humidity is at it's highest, there is a bigger chance of having shrinkage and gapping come the winter months. I live in the south where alot of the older homes have heart pine flooring that is 100+ yrs old and yes it's definitly looser-feeling during these late winter/early spring months when you walk on it. I suppose you could face nail these planks but I would first call your installer back if he is reputable, and he will know what to do, if anything is needed. And from here I'll turn it over to the flooring experts on this board.
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SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
Photo didn't post. When uploading a jpg you need to allow it to finish. It can take 5-10 minutes. Do not refresh your browser. Go make another cup of coffee, or do something during that time.

As for your RH....you need to bump up the ENTIRE house to 40% or there about (38% is fine). And then you have to keep it there forever and ever and ever.

Do you have a whole-home humidifier?
HU-851869560
Original Author
4 years ago
Ah just tried the photo again. Show be there now. As for the whole home humidifier I do not have one. Are those easy to install? Can it just be added to my furnace?
SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
No photo yet. Is in in jpg format?

A whole home humidifier is added to the existing heating/cooling system. Your furnace company can offer a quote. The ease of install and the price will depend on your system and the size of the home. This is a professional installation.
SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
OK...photo is now up. You have engineered hardwood (real wood just in layers like plywood) with a decent wear layer (that's awesome...once you decide the dark wood is too hard to live with you can refinish these!).

Now we know what you have. It is SUPER important that you get a whole home humidifier (for the winter months) so that humidity can be maintained above 35%. If you have hot and humid summers, you will also need to monitor the humidity while the AC is running. Some parts of the USA have super humid summers which means the AC isn't enough. If that is the case, you will also need to get a whole home DEhumidifier.

As to the squeaking, that should reduce once the humidity is set around 40% (I prefer 45%). Once you have a constant humidity, you can then investigate the squeaks.

It is *possible to screw the wood 'down' from underneath (best aesthetic option) but means you need access through the ceiling of the floor below. The other option is to have a professional come in and find the squeaks and then add some screws to those areas then use a 'wood plug' over top of the screw holes. They would be touched up to match the stain that you have.

But first things first...increase your humidity.
HU-851869560
Original Author
4 years ago
Ah great! Thanks So much for the help. Getting a hvac company to come quote me for a whole home humidifer next week. Can the floors I have only be refinished once?
SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
The thickness of the top layer (the wear layer of wood that gives the floor its name) is what tells you. For a full sand/refinish you need 3mm or more. Anything above 3mm will add another 'life' (sand refinish). A 6mm top layer will offer 3 refinishes. A 4mm will offer 2. The 3mm will allow 1 sand/refinish.

You will need to use a tape measure to get the thickness of the top layer of wood. It's the only that will tell you it how many sand/refinishes you get.

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