Could I fix my squeaky laminate, floating, and hardwood floors with the same methods? It does work for some laminate floors but not for many.
It doesn’t work because the floors are different and make noise for different reasons.
Back in the day, laminate floors were thinner, flimsier, didn’t look as good, and didn’t work as well as they do now.
Now, floating floors are thicker than they used to be, so they don’t start to squeak as quickly as they did in the past.
But floating floors will start to squeak no matter what. It usually starts within a year or two, depending on where you live and how hot or cold it is.
Most of the time, laminate floors start to squeak because they shift. This is because many people put laminate floors in the basement, where a dehumidifier fills up almost daily on hot, humid days.
If you don’t keep that dehumidifier running all the time, your basement will be damp. Then there is a chance that the floating floors will get bigger, and when it gets dryer outside, they will shrink back down.
This will leave gaps and cracks in the floor, which will start to rub together and sound like squeaking. But at least there are a few things you can do to fix it, and I’ll show you how.
Does talcum powder help with squeaky floors?
Sprinkle talcum powder, baking soda, or powdered graphite over the squeaky floorboard and work into the seams. This will lubricate the wood and prevent the planks from rubbing together and squeaking.
Floors tend to move and rub together; just a little talcum powder and baby powder do not work well.
A lot of videos online will tell you just to spread some talcum powder or baby powder inside the seams and the cracks of the laminate floors, but the thing is, these types of methods tend to last a day or a week if that is because of laminate.
Liquid wax to fix squeaky laminate floor
So let’s move on to another method that works much better: liquid wax or liquid degreasers and bike greasers.
You should use a type of wax and not some grease because the grease will get into the seams of the floor and attract dust. Eventually, it will dry up, and it will start creaking.
It is even worse than before and can also damage the floor, so don’t use grease in the seams of your laminate floors; using liquid wax will work a lot better because it acts like wax.
It dries like wax; now, all you do is pour the liquid wax inside the seams of the laminate floors and then wipe off all the excess and make sure the floor
isn’t a slippery hazard, and hopefully, the squeaking will be gone if it didn’t work the first time around. Still, you notice a decrease in the number of squeaks you hear, then reapply a second, a third time.
The squeak should be gone now; this type of liquid wax will not attract dirt and grime like grease will, so it will last a lot longer than that and also lasts a lot longer than a baby or talcum powder. You can learn how to fix squeaky hardwood floors to get more knowledge.
A different method to fix squeaky laminate floors
You have moved into a new apartment with laminate flooring. But after moving in, you realize that the laminate is creaking.
Or have you recently laid the floor yourself and are struggling with this problem? Then it is important to track down the reason and eliminate it.
Laminate creaks due to fluctuating humidity
Do you sometimes turn the heat down in the winter to save energy? That could be the reason why the laminate is creaking.
Cold air can’t hold as much water as warm air. This means that the relative humidity goes up when the temperature goes down. Because of this, the laminate grows. And when the room gets hot, it gets smaller again. The noises happen even when no one is walking across the floor.
Provide a more even room temperature. This is even cheaper if the old building doesn’t have good insulation. A lot of energy is needed to heat a very cold room.
Laminate squeaks due to connections not snapping into place
Do you sometimes turn the heat down in the winter to save energy? That might be why the laminate is creaking.
Warm air can hold more water than cold air. This means that when the temperature goes down, the relative humidity goes up. This causes the laminate to grow. And when it gets hot, the room shrinks again. The sounds keep coming even when no one is walking on the floor.
Provide a more even room temperature. Even cheaper unless the old building doesn’t have good insulation. A very cold room needs a lot of energy to warm it up.
Laminate creaks due to insufficient wall distance
When the humidity rises, the laminate will hit the wall if it is too close to it. But since they don’t bend, tension builds up, and the laminate creaks. Worst case, the floor might even go up. Take off the baseboards to see if this is the cause. How close is the laminate to the wall if it crunches? I found an error.
After that, cut the laminate off the edge. With a small circular saw, this is easy to do. Important: Set the depth of the cut so that you only cut through the laminate. No matter what, the vapor barrier has to stay in place.
Fix Laminate creaks because of an uneven surface
Does the laminate sound hollow in some places, or does it even bend? The laminate will also creak if the subfloor isn’t even enough. Even a high-use class with thick floorboards to match doesn’t keep this from happening.
If the click laminate is not stuck, you could take up the floor and even out the subfloor. Are the boards stuck together, or do you think it’s too much work?
You could also drill a hole in the floor and fill the hole with a filling compound. There are foaming agents made just for this purpose. They are made of polyurethane, just like building foam. Colored repair wax can be used to seal the hole.
Fix the squeaky Laminate floor because of a damp subfloor
Lastly, it’s possible that the vapor barrier was left out of a mineral substrate. Or the way it is routed doesn’t make it tight. When moisture rises below the surface, it causes tension, making the laminate creak.
If you remove the baseboards, you can see if there is a vapor barrier. This should last for a while. It is also sometimes used as a layer of impact sound insulation.
There’s only one way out: to remove the floor and the soundproofing under it. Then it needs to be laid down again, but a vapor barrier needs to be added.