Somewhere I picked up an idea to try and fix some squeaky floorboards that get alot of traffic – expanding foam under the boards.
I did the floor, tongue-nailed, prefinished flooring, on top of the original t&g flooring, w/ no subfloor, 15lb felt in between. I had to add some filler strips in an area where the original flooring was split, etc. and they were ok for awhile, but are now squeaking, it’s a little worse with the dry air lately.
I’m hesistant to try and face-screw the flooring down and plug the holes, since it’s nice prefinished Mahogany in a high-visibility area, but I know that would work the best, so I’m thinking of trying the foam.
Anyone try this, or know of the best foam I could use that might expand enough to take up any squeak in the floor?
Thanks,
PJ
Replies
Have you looked into finish screws? the heads are only about 3/16" sq drive. The foams are available in several "strenghts" some wont push a bit and others can pop a wall.
If I was going to screw it, I would use the 'trim head' screws.
What do you know about the different foams, and using it for what I'm proposing?
If you have access from below the original T & G floor, you can screw up through the old floor and halfway into the new floor, sandwiching the filler strip in between. You can also shove some glue coated shims between the floor joist and the offending squeaker. Or a metal corner bracket could do the job. Then if none of these methods do the trick, foam it, then face screw (trim head screws) & fill it.
--Andy
Edited 2/10/2006 9:54 pm by AAA Handyman Services
A cow/horse syringe (find at a farm & ranch supply or your local large animal vet, or a turkey flavor injector at Walmart) and gorilla glue will fit into a small crack. That is one hard way to silence a floor unless you know right were the squeek is.
As far as expanding foam, if you have a foam gun there are formulas that are used in place of construction adhesive for decking and other building uses.
Cheers,
Don
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
I bought a can of the Hilti expanding foam they have on display in HD, seems like pretty hard stuff, at least more so than the Great Stuff brand I've used to seal gaps around the house. Pretty expensive at $8/can. We'll see how it goes.
PJ
Hope you put some weight on the floor to keep the foam from lifting the finished boards as it expands.Troy Sprout
Square, Level & Plumb Renovations
Well, I'm going to do some experimenting first with the foam, to see how fast it cures, and how much it expands. Then I'll go easy to start with, in some spots here and there. And then I might actually finish it up with some trim head screws into the face of the floors and plug them up. Some weight on the floors is also a good idea.
PJ
"Well, I'm going to do some experimenting first with the foam, to see how fast it cures, and how much it expands. "Warnign Will Robinson, Warning!By the time it has cured to satisfy your curiousity, it will likely have also cured in the tipo of the gun and be finished ofr use.Also - the cure rate will vary according to moisture, oxygen, and temperature
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Why don't you use PL Premium polyurethane adhesive? It expands slightly and holds on like a gorilla. Use a caulk gun to apply and press it in with a gloved hand. I did this one time to a basement ceiling and the joist/subfloor interface and it worked pretty well. It eliminated a lot of the creaks but not all. I got rid of other creaks using Mcfeeley screws that were just the right length and screwing up from the subfloor below. Buy the screws that have a portion of the shank non-threaded and they will pull the subfloor and flooring together tight.
Billy
Back to the drawing board I guess... ;-)
Thanks all for the ideas, haven't played with any of the PL products yet, so it's not like your average construction adhesive, more like a gorilla glue in a caulk tube?
PJ
Where would you inject the foam?
With the felt between plies, I'm not sure it would do much good and it might do much harm...
But if I were to need to do something like this, I would probablyuse Gorilla glue. It is nearly the same product. A spray foam is composed of various percentage mixes of three diffeerent things usually - a polyurethene, an expander, and a curing agent. The gorilla glue is a polyurethene with no expander and it uses oxygen and moisture for the curing agent. It could be controllably injected through a drilled hole with a large hypo needle and it does foam up as a part of the curing process.
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
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If you have access from below, I would use gorilla glue and pocket hole screws. As piffen said, the gorilla glue expands, thus it would fill the gaps, also gorilla glue drys very hard and has an exceptional holding power. I would not bother with the foam. Expanding foam is not designed to do anything like what you are asking it to do. Closed cell foams are cure hard but after a while, I'm sure you get your sqeaks right back, then you'll have the foam in the way and good luck fixing it then.
You could also to the shims again with gorilla glue and shoot a brad or two through the face to hold the shims as the glue sets. The pin hole from the brad will be virtually invisible.
If you really want "expanding foam", and if, as I gather, you're only talking about filling areas of 1/4" or so thickness, what you want is probably Gorilla (urethane) glue. It foams up a fair amount as it sets and is much harder than any other readily-available foam.
Of course, with GG, as with most foams, you have to be careful to keep it off finished surfaces. (Though in some ways GG isn't quite as bad in this regard -- it won't destroy the finish like the other foams, but it won't come off either.)
happy?