Squeaky plywood over flooring

9 years ago

Hello,

Our home has no subfloor. It has 3/4"+ tongue and groove directly on the joists (1920s home). I suppose it was expected that this would be the subfloor and other floors would be installed on top of it.

In the kitchen, we are looking to install a new cork floor (glue down type, NOT floating), and so we pulled up a few layers of old linoleum type flooring and the 1/4" plywood it was attached to.

We had our installer come and he put in new 1/4" plywood. As opposed to the serrated nails that we pulled out, he used staples. Lots of staples... But perhaps not enough.

The floor never squeaked before, now it does in two spots. The one spot where there is an obvious squeak was slightly lower before he put in the plywood. It seems very flat now. There is one other spot, that just seems like a regular random spot on the floor.

I've seen discussions of screwing down subfloors to joists, of not screwing underlayment to joists, of screwing underlayment to subfloors, etc. I'm sort of lost.

Again, the old underlayment used nails that got wider at the top than the bottom,and wee jagged. Ms all staples are relatively smooth. Not sure if we should request some other nails, screws, or some other approach to fix this. Of course we don't want the actual flooring to be installed until this is fixed. It never squeaked before...

Recommendations?

Thanks!

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Comments (8)

roof35
9 years ago
What recommendations did the installer suggest?
JHZR2
Original Author
9 years ago
Nothing yet, he hasn't returned. I'm trying to get smart first, thus my question.
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Joseph Corlett, LLC
9 years ago
I'll bet his staples are going too deep. Have him screw the subfloor down every foot or so.
gregmills_gw
9 years ago
When the old plywood got torn out you probably loosened some of the subfloor planks. Have him go around and screw off the problem spots.
It would have been nice to hear he glued as well as stapled the plywood.
JHZR2
Original Author
9 years ago
Honestly I'm not sure if it was glued and stapled or just stapled.

I've read mixed things about screwing, because it may dimple the floor, that it should/shouldn't go through underpayment and subfloor into the joists, etc. thus my interest in this topic

Thanks!
roof35
9 years ago
JHZR2 "Honestly I'm not sure if it was glued and stapled or just stapled. "

Hence my question what does the installer recommend.

Since you pulled out the old underlayment, was it you or the installers job to fasten the existing T&G? Was it done by anyone? Since you pulled the old out, who was responsible for the prep work? Was any prep done?

It's hard to suggest anything, with so much information missing.

This post was edited by Roof35 on Tue, Oct 7, 14 at 21:15
JHZR2
Original Author
9 years ago
We did a variety of demolition efforts on ceilings, floors, and a small wall area. I'm paying pros to prep and finish walls, floor, etc.

The tasking order was to prep the underpayment and then install the floor. So prep was on the pro. The installation of the underlaymdnt and the installation of the actual floor were scheduled about two weeks apart for various logistical reasons not important here. But the pro was to do dverything needed for a proper job.

I expected in hiring a pro, that the job would be done correctly. I have squeaks that weren't there. Nothing was screwed that I was aware of. I'm going to have the pro come back but would like to be smart on best practices. The old underlaymdnt wasn't glued and didn't squeak. I just need to be smart on best approaches and what the side effects may be. For example, the effect of dimpling floors due to screws below.

So I'm just trying to get smart.

Thanks.
roof35
9 years ago
I'm very familiar with the T&G subfloor. I have been in homes where it was finished and no other covering was installed.

It appears no one did prep b/4 the underlayment according to what I read. You say to prep the underlayment, not prep the existing.

There is prep b/4 the underlayment. One must fasten all substrate first. The substrate should be level and free of voids b/4 any underlayment is installed. You're very limited on the voids you bridge with 1/4"

I'd be furious if someone glued the underlayment to the subfloor. I'm currently working on a project with IronPly. The instructions clearly state not to glue it down. I can't even imagine the amount of labor the next person would go through to get it back up if needed. Let alone attempting to get the glue off and if it wasn't hardwood, it would pull the subfloor plys apart.

Here is a picture of the IronPly. It gets fastened 4" O.C. in the field, and 2" on the edge.

I know the type of fastener you pulled up. It would be ring shanked. Staples are an approved method of fastening, if the depth is set correct, and the crown meets and doesn't exceed the manufacturer install methods.

Trying to diagnose a squeak from in front of a monitor is nearly impossible. One can only speculate what was done, or wasn't.