Although the original installer has not explained the cause, and only proposed a solution, I want to assume a worst-case scenario that an uneven concrete sub-floor is the cause of the extreme ‘snap, crackle and pop’ noises. This approach is based on opinions I have already received about the problem. I have listed a few possibilities that I have come across, but I am not sure which is correct. 1. Remove the wood and underlay and level the concrete surface. This sounds right but also very disruptive. Will the property be filled with concrete ‘dust’ at some point? Could it be done without moving all the furniture out (as well as me!) What happens to the kitchen and fitted wardrobes that have been installed on top of the wood floor? 2. Replace the existing underlay with a higher quality product (and do not level the concrete). The current underlay is 2.3mm with compensation for 1 mm of unevenness. It also has a ‘compression strength’ of approximately 9kPa. I do not know what that metric means but I thought it might be the ability to maintains its firmness over time. So, if the sub floor is uneven maybe it would also lose its firmness unevenly? 3. Glue the floor down. In my specific situation, this seems like a workaround to cover up the failures of the original installer, however maybe it is a reasonable long-term solution. Just to be clear, however, I am not questioning the general principle that I know some people favour, that this kind of floor is more reliable when glued down. Also, I cannot picture in mind, how this would work mechanically to fix my specific problem. And what do you glue to what; the wood to the underlay, and then the underlay to the concrete? 4. As well as leveling the concrete, also replace the underlay and wood. As I said, the noise is extreme, and the problem started about 8 months ago; the floor was quiet for the first few months. So, has the wood or the underlay been permanently damaged during that time? Thank you in advance for your opinions!
And number 1 has explained your issue, you have a floating floor with a kitchen and fitted wardrobes on it, this has anchored the flooring and caused your issue for this you need to remove the wardrobes and kitchen, uplift the flooring and fit it around them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You have pointed out one problem there. You should never install kitchens and heavy furniture on top of a floated floor. That will restrict the floors movement and caused problems including the ones you are describing Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for the reply. And to tarkett85 for making the same point. Just when I thought I had got to the bottom of this! The kitchen and fitted wardrobes were installed by 2 separate companies, so I will ask them why they did that! The same kitchen company also installed kitchens in several other adjoining flats so I will try to find out if they did the same in those flats, and if my neighbours are having the same problem. I still have some doubts however about whether this can be the complete story. There are 4 rooms, and they all have a 'separate' floating floor. By that I mean, there are no boards that span 2 rooms. One has the kitchen. One has the wardrobes. The other 2 smaller rooms do not have anything 'installed' on them. One of these is rarely used and is mostly quiet. But the other I use as a home/office and it is just as noisy as the 2 bigger rooms. And the other thought that comes to mind. Does this not make this kind of the floor a bit impractical? What about a heavy sofa, or a large book case full of books?
Another reason why the floor makes that sound throughout. A floating floor should be broke in the doorways and a threshold used. The expansion will go through the whole floor as it is all connected together. Sometimes they go the other way and pull apart at the doorways Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sub floor should have been tested for evenness and moisture, all areas should be split, 15mm expansions left all around the room for engineered wood (10mm is for laminate) anything really heavy such as fish tanks, kitchens, built in wardrobes, pianos etc shouldn’t be directly on a floated floor. Those are the basics to rule out first. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks again, to both of you. I am just replying to the latest post in the chain. I think you are right that I need to explore this before I go any further. But I Just a have couple more questions. The original installer - actually a new home builder - took some of the mouldings off to make sure there was enough space between the wall. I saw this with my own eyes, and it looked ok to me. But they also tried to pull up one of the strips of wood that are on the floor and part of the door frame. So, these pieces of wood divide one room from another; sorry I do not know the correct name. This was so firmly attached to the floor that they gave up in the end, but still managed to warp the wood. So, maybe these pieces of wood are compromising the 'separation' between the rooms? Maybe this is a question for later. But re-installing the kitchen is not a nice thought because of the disruption. With my kitchen, a suitably skilled person could ‘saw’ a 3 meter straight line through the wood floor and ‘disconnect’ the kitchen from the rest of the floor. And of course, do something else to tidy up aesthetically. Is that a possibility do you think?
I've had to do just that for an old lady who had similar issue whilst I did a load of carpet for her. Her son had fitted the kitchen on top of the engineered wood so I used my multi tool to separate the floor from the fixed panels under the kitchen island to free it up a little but had to put a small quadrant round the perimeter of the island. Hers was badly bowed though and sounds alot worse than yours. The problem she got now is a section connected between the bifolds and island (approx 2 meters in length) have started to gap quite abit so I'll be going back in a few weeks to see what I can do. There was also a section in 1 doorway (hallway>kitchen) that I advised her to have a threshold strip put in but she wants to see how it settles first.
Thanks, very interesting! It has just dawned on me also that the worktop is 3cm thick natural stone. So, I assume that would make the problem even worse. I completely sympathize with someone making this mistake when he is trying to help his Mum. But for an official franchise of a well-known international brand that is at least medium quality, and possibly higher – this is a surely a ‘schoolboy’ error!
There’s only one option to make absolutely sure it’s done right sadly, splitting the areas may help it doesn’t always work though. Ideally the flooring should have been the last trade in the door to avoid issues like this, kitchen fitters and joiners etc rarely have a clue about flooring because it’s not their job. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Many thanks again, point taken. It is always difficult to know what to say and what not to say, and it was just luck, really, that I mentioned the kitchen at all. So, I will just say one other thing, just in case. While I am British, the property is actually in another EU country, where it is standard to hand over new properties without a kitchen. And therefore the floor cannot be the last job. Presumably the fitters should have 'cut-out' the part of the floor where they installed the kitchen?
The floor should have been stuck down if they knew a kitchen was going to be installed on top. The floor should have been installed after the kitchen if the floor had to be floated Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hello all, I still have a noisy floor and I am still 'discussing' it with construction, kitchen and wardrobe companies. The only substantial progress these companies have made is this; it is all the customer's fault!! Of course, the customer does not agree. However, could anyone give me a view on something else. Over the last 6 weeks or so, I have noticed that the short edges of the boards have started to darken. This seems to be getting worse fairly rapidly. Could this be related to the pressure that the boards are under? Once again, many thanks for your continued help with this.
