Creaky oak floors

[Profzarkov]

Hi

I have an Aqualine narrowboat, 65 feet, with oak floors, walls & ceilings - all very nice but the floor creaks - a lot!

I don't know what Aqualine use for the floor - it looks solid and there's no sign of any fixings. The boat is only 7 years old.

I'm about to give it a deep clean with Osmo wood cleaner and then 2 coats of the Polyx oil, hoping this may well help the creak but mainly as a good piece of maintenance.

Is there anything else I can do. I can't see any way of lifting the boards?

Cheers

Steve

 

 

[MtB]

That looks to me like 'oak finish' 'click-fix' mdf floor paneling.

 

I'd suggest the chipboard or plywood it has been laid upon is more likely to be the culprit, rather than the floor finish...

Sadly if I'm right, stopping the creaking is going to involve a new floor.

[pophops]

You could try spraying the joints with a silicone lubricant.

[Profzarkov]

Unlikely on an Aqualine.

[bizzard]

If you were to wear squeaky leather shoes the two squeakynesses and creakynesses of them and the boards would probably blend together and wouldn't be so noticeable and be more pleasant to the ear. There's always earmuffs to consider.

Edited April 10, 2016 by bizzard

[Profzarkov]

Cool!

Not really a problem . . . just at night . . . sounds more like the Haunted House!

The Osmo oil may well fix it.

[ditchcrawler]

Unlikely on an Aqualine.

Why?

[bizzard]

It might be just be a simple case of spreading the your body load over a larger area, spreading the load by means of discarding your normal size shoes or slippers and have made a giant pair of special ''floor board tramplers'' about 3feet in length each, like a clowns, which would spread the load imposed upon the boards and so reduce or eliminate the creaking. If they were creaking on my boat they'd probably creak in time with my creaky joints and not be noticeable at all.

[Murflynn]

squeaky floors are usually the result of the sub-floor not being fixed down properly.

if it is ply (or chipboard in the case of a house) the holes for the screws fixing the sheets to the bearers may have opened up, so that the screws are no longer tight.

it appears that the partition panels have been fixed over the top of the oak planks.

as MtB says, you'll need to rip out the floor and then fix the sub-floor.

 

it really isn't worth the effort unless you want to replace the floor finish anyway.

 

in the olden days floorboards always creaked - why worry about it?

[raymondh]

Why?

Aquline timber for floors, ceilings etc comes to the factory as "sliced" tree trunks and then machined into the required sections ie T&G for flooring

 

[Murflynn]

blimey, that's impressive!

 

do they roll their own steel plates as well?

[bizzard]

Perhaps the Poles like creaky floors, think they're are cool, all the rage and are the latest thing to have in Poland and so bought in bottles of bottled creaks to add to the timber thinking that everyone's the same.

[boat fan]

Hi

I have an Aqualine narrowboat, 65 feet, with oak floors, walls & ceilings - all very nice but the floor creaks - a lot!

I don't know what Aqualine use for the floor - it looks solid and there's no sign of any fixings. The boat is only 7 years old.

I'm about to give it a deep clean with Osmo wood cleaner and then 2 coats of the Polyx oil, hoping this may well help the creak but mainly as a good piece of maintenance.

Is there anything else I can do. I can't see any way of lifting the boards?

Cheers

Steve

 

 

If you have slight gaps in the boards , talc powder can sometimes fix it .

 

I have done this in the past and it has worked for me .

Assuming that these are indeed solid wood T & G .

 

This is best done at the end of summer when the boards have shrunk the most to be able to work the powder into the groove..

 

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi9suuzsIXMAhXig6YKHbnSAGEQtwIIJzAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DaoVCy_z7jrk&usg=AFQjCNGGrXeFbK6lqgV4gk3ibUsxc6HLWw

 

 

Edited April 11, 2016 by boat fan

[Profzarkov]

Great thanks for the last item! Will give the floor a good clean and then a double coat if the Osmo Polyx oil, as planned.

But I might give the talc a go on some of the worst offenders.

[smileypete]

Wonder if they're creaking from sliding on the bearers or planks rubbing against each other or the screws that fix them down.

 

Some of the DIY forums etc out there may be a source of other fixes if talc doesn't work:

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=squeaky+floorboards

Edited April 13, 2016 by smileypete

[boat fan]

Talc won`t fix those issues , like you say smileypete...

But , because its so easy to try first , its worth a shot.

 

If the walls and bulk heads are sitting on top of the boards , it will be a painful repair ,

( I would opt for noisy floors ).