Dealing with Hardwood Floors and Noise

We have come across hardwood flooring forums with posts from homeowner’s with hardwood floors who describe noise associated with walking on their home’s hardwood flooring.  No, noise is not uncommon with hardwood flooring, but there are reason why the noise is present and there are a few different things homeowner’s can do before they put flooring in and even after they have flooring in that is considered noisy.  Here are a few tips on dealing with and prevent hardwood flooring noise:

Why there is noise

First off, you are probably wondering why there is noise associated with hardwood flooring in the first place.  There is no simple answer to this question, but there usually are a couple different culprits that could be the source of the noise.  First, the room angle, more commonly if the room has high ceilings and unusual angles, can really amplify the noise.  Choosing the right hardwood flooring for the space you are putting it in is certainly important.  Having a professional hardwood flooringinstallation company install hardwood flooring is usually the best bet since hardwoodflooring experts can typically make the best suggestions on what flooring is best for your space.  Another culprit could purely be an echo.  Obviously echoes magnify sounds big and small and some rooms have more of an echo than others.  Again, this could be due to room angles and ceiling height.  Most hardwood flooring experts will agree that the main cause for a squeaky floor is old age, loose boards that are rubbing against nails in the floor or a nearby board, defective construction, or bad lumber.  For the most part, squeaky floors are the result of loose, gapped, or warped floorboards and joists.

What you can do

You’re annoyed by the noise of your hardwood flooring, so what can you do?  There are a couple of steps to take that could help with the noise:

First: Locate the specific squeaky board and determine which boards around it are affected as well.  Have a helper walk around the squeaky spot while you pinpoint the exact floorboard it is emanating from.

Second: If you find that the problem is on the main floor and the basement ceiling has exposed joints, this will be significantly easier because now you can make repairs from below. If this is the case, installing wooden wedges between the squeaky floorboard and the joist can tighten loose fitting floorboards. However, make certain that the wedges do not raise the entire level of the flooring.

Third: If the basement ceiling is finished or if the squeaking is above the main floor, a different approach will be needed.  This situation will call for the repair to be made on the surface of the floor rather than beneath it. Once again, locate the squeaky board(s) and corresponding joists and drill several small holes and then hammer in spiraled flooring nails in a "V" type formation downwards through the flooring and into the joists.  Forcing additional bridging between two joists can help make loose joists more stable.  Bridging should be placed every 8 inches of span between joists and then toenailed at both ends of the joists. This additional support will provide further support for the floor, which should greatly help and eliminate any squeaking sound.

Fourth: Another reason why the floors may be squeaking might be warped underlying joists or floorboards.  A warped joist will result in sections of the flooring being insufficiently supported, which will result in squeaking.  So if this is the problem, what should you do?  Forcing a piece of wood that is longer and wider than the gap up against the joist and nailing them together can repair this problem. Floorboards themselves can become warped and can be noticeable when they curl upwards on an end. This can be corrected by drilling spiraled flooring nails through the curled up end and down into the underlying joist.

For the most part, expert installation can help you avoid the noise commonly associated with hardwood flooring.  For more hardwood flooring advice, please feel free to comment below or contact us with questions. 

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