Real oak floor cracking and popping sounds

[M74]

Hi All,

We have a new build and the flooring in the kitchen and hallway is real oak. Its around 18mm thick. The issue we had is that the floor makes loads of noise with every step you take. We put it on snagging and they replaced/refitted it all, whilst we were away, but the problem came back after a few days and is worse than every now (around 6 months later)

It was refitted by the builder not a flooring company and they implied it had been done properly this time. Will the noises settle or do we need to raise it again. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mr Chibs]

I'm just laying three oak floors, solid, and also have a couple of squeaks, that I didn't notice when fitting.

Mine is on joists, so as a corrective fix, I'm going to screw the offending boards down and use a plug cutter to cover screw heads. Mine was nailed down with a flooring nailer, I'm guessing either joists distorted by a mm and/or the backs of some planks were a little ropey in thickness.

I can't see you getting rid of the noise, that said it might be different in summer

 

[M74]

It's not really squeaks, more popping/cracking noises from the oak itself. I'm not sure how it was fitted, but its onto a floating floor from what the builder said. Although I'm not sure what that means either. It really is too noisey though, its every step makes a noise. Just wondering whether this is normal and something I will have to accept or should i get an expert out to have a look? If its beacuse of it being real oak, would it be better to swap it out for something else thats less noisey, I suppose the issue would be the thickness of the wood as its below fitted kitchen, as i suspect most other floor types would be thinner. How should real oak be fitted on a floating floor?

 

[Mr Chibs]

Floating floors can be laid with or without fixings, onto a flat surface usually concrete/plywood/floorboards, I wondered if it's got any foam underlay underneath, perhaps this is being compressed, is the sound you hear when walking on it.
I doubt the oak it's self is giving off any noise.

I'm guessing the floor might need levelling a little better... and re-laying