wood floors, old house - Quieting general creaking everywhere before laying new floor

793 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by mosswald, May 4, 2016

mosswald

Discussion Starter · Apr 29, 2016

I have a 1910 house I'm working on, and for various reasons, I'm going to put a new wood floor over the top of old. Before I do so I want to quiet the weird creaks all around. Not random squeaks, but sort of crunchy sounds all over.

Here's what I have, stacked up:

NEW FLOOR and mystery underlayment TO GO HERE
5/16" x 2-1/4" T&G white oak running crossways to the underfloor (1965?)
tarpaper (1965?)
3/4 T&G floorboards (1910)
2x8 joists

I think the top oak is nailed well mostly, but as I walk around on it there are various crunchy/gravelly creaks. I don't think it's the original floorboards underneath. I want to use a 3/8" engineered wood floor, probably 3" wide over the top of all the existing floor, and nail it down.

Is there something I can do in between (rosin paper, foam, some special material, liquid, glue, powder) to quiet the creaks and maybe absorb some of the walking to come on the new floor? Maybe lots of talcum powder?

Any suggestions are welcomed - thanks! :smile:

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joecaption

· #2 · Apr 29, 2016

#1, 8" wide joist would be the bare minimum size for even a short span.
#2, I can not imagine adding a third layer of flooring being a good idea.
That's going to throw off all the doors, baseboards, kitchen cabinets, ECT.

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mosswald

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 2, 2016

Extra info for those who might have specific experience with this. Joists are 16"oc, about 1/3 are sistered, extra posts are in place. House is gutted so there is no relationship between anything else. Just trying to quiet crunchy-sounding squeaks.

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jlhaslip

· #4 · May 3, 2016

If the under side is accessible, ie : the basement ceiling, draw a bead of PL400 along each side of the joists where the Subfloor sits. It will assist in removing squeaks.

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mosswald

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 4, 2016

jlhaslip, thanks for the suggestion - the T&G floor is totally accessible from below, i'll think about this as I investigate the source of the sounds a little closer... maybe butter up a super thin shim and slide it in if there are some gaps even --- in other areas of the house I glued & screwed the OSB to the new floor joist so I know how good that can be.

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