Help with Noisy Parquet floor

[steveyeahno]

Hi there,

I usually get all the info i need by lurking on this site and following the advice given to others but in this instance i am at a loss and would be very appreciative of some help..

I recently laid a reclaimed parquet floor in my hallway using to best of my ability, the techniques and products outlined on this wesite and others like it. To summarise;
We spent about a month cleaning the bitumen and varnish of the bottom and sides of the blocks...
The hallway (7 * 1 metres) consists of a victorian pine subfloor. On top of this is a layer of hardboard from the previous laminate floor which I left and added 6mm ply on top.
We then used lecol 5500 to adhere the blocks herringbone style and apart from the old varnish - it looks great!

The problem is that walking pretty much anywhere on the floor sounds like bubblewrap - not squeaky like loose floorboards but crunchy like plastic breaking.

I havent sanded yet as i thought/ hoped the adhesive was settling and the noise would stop - i even hired a garden roller to no effect.

Anyone have any ideas where I went wrong? Is there anything I can do to be able to sneak in after a late night again?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[flooringman]

Steve

How was the hardboard fixed down to the floorboards and how was the ply fixed down to the hardboard?

Were the floorboards themselves in good condition and not moving?

 

[steveyeahno]

Hi Flooring man and thanks for the reply;

The floor boards are in good condition and dont move - I still have access to them from the cellar.

The Hardboard was nailed down well and I used annular ring shank nails to nail the ply thru the hardboard into the floorboards....

 

[WoodYouLike]

Perhaps a stupid question, but did you vacuum clean before adding layer on layer?

 

[steveyeahno]

Not a stupid question, but yes I did vacuum between each layer. I dont think its random bits of debris because all 7m squared of it makes the same sound - the sound dies down (to almost acceptable levels) after walking on it successively but will be back with a vengeance if no one walks on it for 15mis or so...

 

[WoodYouLike]

Strange problem. By the sound of it - no pun intended - it looks like there is something not acting as it should. When you walk over the floor, do you see/notice movement? (You could station someone else at the far side of the hall to see if they notice movement when you walk over it).
Any hollow sounds when you knock on individual blocks?

 

[steveyeahno]

Hey wood you like,

Although I cant see it, I think there is the smallest of movement everywhere - each parquet seems to have the ability to move minutely causing other blocks to move against each other and the adhesive to crack a little. I guess 6mm ply just wasn't thick enough - probably made it worse.

I have tried screwing from underneath, taking a line of parquet up and screwing down from above but am coming to the realisation that 3 months of scraping, cutting researching etc has all been for nothing, just because of this stupid noise. If someone else gets it in their head to embark upon the reclaimed parquet thing (and it does look amazing) then i would put the thickest ply possible underneath. Any movement - no matter how slight can render all your efforts, and its alot of effort, a waist of time...

 

[steveyeahno]

Oh and there's no hollow sounding blocks - all solid oak..cheers

 

[steveyeahno]

UPDATE: After starting to rip the floor back up, crying, I almost absent mindedly tried one last thing - I screwed the ply down with drywall screws where i had taken blocks up - and it seemed to make a big difference. Before i knew it, id taken up 80% of the floor (enough blocks still adhered to keep the pattern) and put down about a million screws. Im very happy to say that the noise is now within acceptable limits and that i haven't completely wasted 3 months of my life!

The only explanation I can think of is that the screws hold down the thin ply tighter than nails, allowing much less movement...

A little off topic but is it now OK to level out the floor with a medium grit drum sander (and edger)? I feel quite comfortable with this machine and its the only one that my travis perkins hires out capable of leveling. Or as it will never quite be going with the grain, will it scratch the blocks up too much?

Thanks!

 

[WoodYouLike]

Good one you

We would not recommend a drum sander, too easy to leave shatter marks with the iron rod that holds the sanding paper. After all these "problems" I think it is worth hiring a proper belt sander and get the best result.

 

[steveyeahno]

Yes thanks for all your help Wood - you - like, I really dont think I would have been able to do this job on if it wasnt for the information you have given on this forum .

Can I just confirm that the sander I should go for is included in package 1 here;

http://www.floorsanderhire.com/sanders-package.php

Thanks again!

Steve

 

[WoodYouLike]

That's the one!