Creaking flooring - any remedy?

[dpm_dpmartin]

I'm in my new house of only 2 months and had various jobs to do... only recently have I started to wonder whether there's anything - easy and economical - I can do about my downstairs wooden flooring, which is rather "cracky" and "creaky" in terms of noises that it makes when I walk on it.

It appears (to me) to be laid quite well. It appears to be quite good stuff? I've placed an image of a piece of it here (some was left over, in case of spares, I guess)...

...it's at least a centimetre thick and it obviously slots together as it's laid down.

Trouble is, when I walk around the house it creaks and, every so often, there's a louder bang... nothing gets damaged, it's just quite noisy. It has been laid recently before I purchased the property, so I wondered if it was just settling down at first... but I think not now.

I was wondering if there was a product that I could purchase to use on the flooring (maybe some kind of oil / lubricant that I can ease between the slight - designed - gaps between each board?) to lessen this noise factor?

Any advice on this would be very much appreciated... I have a B&Q, a ToolStation, a ScrewFix and even a Wickes near me, so need an excuse to get myself down there (I enjoyed the free drink when I went to ToolStation to get my £1.24 GU10 lamp holder recently).

Of course, if someone advises the only way to stop the creaking is to pull it all up, cover it in some specialised oil and re-lay it... I'll find something more urgent / interesting to do...

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Try some talcum powder sprinkled/brushed into the joints. so ou'll need a Boots for that!

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

Talc, ey?

You're right... a completely different shopping experience.

I'll ask the lady (one presumes) at Boots what grade she recommends.

Thank you!

 

[EddieM]

Talc, yeah, damn too slow.... again!

 

[AronSearle]

If talc doesn’t help, tell us how the floor is laid.

The problem is movement, could be laid on an uneven surface, could have expanded and caused stress, or shrunk, or not fixed properly.

Cracking rather than creaking indicates it is not sitting evenly on the floor. There are numerous reasons why this might be so, but commonly it is because the subfloor is not straight, or the floor has moved and something is stopping that free movement.

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

The floor covers the hallway and the kitchen. I do not think it is perfectly level in the hallway... I can feel it's not level. But the kitchen is better... I am going to give the talc a good go and see if it improves things somewhat.

I have little idea what is involved in pulling it up, levelling the floor and putting it back down, but it doesn't sound cheap or quick... so it's talc or live with it, I think.

Until it bugs me so much that I have to do something about it.

I may still go to ToolStation to buy some of those cool workman combat trousers with the knee pad slot (and the knee pads) as I'll be on the floor for a fair portion of the weekend it seems. Better look the part...