helping with quick-step luminate floor cracking noise

[dudu2683]

Hi All,

We moved to a new apartment and installed quick-step luminate floor ( largo 1622 model ). the installer installed it in January ( we hade a winter over here). all was good till summer came and the luminate floor started to make a cracking noise when we walk on it. ( i added a video for reference).
luminate floor cracking noise

We called the installer and he added a transition profiles between the rooms and our main hall ...but it's still didn't help. he also tried to open few panels in the main halls to see that he kept gap to the walls but he did it in a small area.

what I noticed is when I am noticed that our apartment temperature is around 30deg and RH 60-70% . when i turning our A/C on the temperature drop to 24dec and RH ~50% and the cracking noise disappear.

Can I deduce from this that the problem is spaces for the walls? Or could it be something else?

How would you recommend me to solve the problem

 

[C.J.]

Could be your floor is expanding as a whole and the noise is to be expected from your planks adjusting amongst themselves. Floors will do that. I would keep an eye on it though and if it starts to buckle then you have a problem but some slight noise here n there during the changing of the season doesn’t necessarily mean failure.

 

[dudu2683]

Could be your floor is expanding as a whole and the noise is to be expected from your planks adjusting amongst themselves. Floors will do that. I would keep an eye on it though, and if it starts to buckle, then you have a problem, but some slight noise here and there during the changing of the season doesn’t necessarily mean failure.

Hi C.j

Thanks for your reply.

It's not a slight noise. It's really loud. Sounds like a broken bone... when someone walks at night it wakes me up .
I'm trying to understand if it's spacing from wall issue or sub flooring there is a way to know it before I starting to take off the wall panels?
I don't suspect it's a subflooring is because I didn't have this noise in winter..it's started only when summer arrived. Change in RH can cuse only side extension am I right?

 

[C.J.]

Laminate will expand in all directions. If the installer added a T-mold that tells me you did multiple areas all continuous. That could add to the noise factor. Increase in RH will cause your floor to grow. Could be different rooms are expanding at different rates which is why T-molds are usually called for. The noise would likely be the planks moving amongst themselves like plate tectonics type stuff. They expand slightly, pressure builds up and when you walk on them they pop and release.

60 to 70% RH seems kinda high to me. Maybe that’s normal where you are. Laminate floors are essentially particle board and will be more sensitive to expansion and contraction than say an engineered wood floor would. The fact that when you turn in your AC and drop the RH and the noise stops tells me it’s an expansion and contraction issue. Definitely worth pulling some baseboards or 1/4 round to verify expansion space.

I would think the installer would be the one to pull off any baseboards and confirm that there is still sufficient expansion space. What does your specific floor say about maintaining environmental conditions? You may need a dehumidifier to maintain things within an acceptable tolerance or just learn to appreciate a proper snap and crack here n there.

 

[Mark Brown]

More than likely it is just the core of the laminate expanding and getting tight on the locking mechanism, causing a build in pressure. Then you walk on it and the pressure releases. Kinda like an earthquake to keep in line with C.J.'s plate tectonic analogy. When you walk in the same spot multiple times does the noise repeat the same or is it reduced?

 

[dudu2683]

Hi

The laminate will expand in all directions. If the installer added a T-mold that tells me you did multiple areas all continuous. That could add to the noise factor. Increase in RH will cause your floor to grow. Could be different rooms are expanding at different rates which is why T-molds are usually called for. The noise would likely be the planks moving amongst themselves like plate tectonics type stuff. They expand slightly, pressure builds up and when you walk on them they pop and release.

60 to 70% RH seems kinda high to me. Maybe that’s normal where you are. Laminate floors are essentially particle board and will be more sensitive to expansion and contraction than, say an engineered wood floor would. The fact that when you turn on your AC and drop the RH and the noise stops, tells me it’s an expansion and contraction issue. Definitely worth pulling some baseboards or 1/4 round to verify expansion space.

I would think the installer would be the one to pull off any baseboards and confirm that there is still sufficient expansion space. What does your specific floor say about maintaining environmental conditions? You may need a dehumidifier to maintain things within an acceptable tolerance or just learn to appreciate a proper snap and crack here and there.

Hi C.J thanks you for your detailed answer. I think that the noise is abnormal. I added a video for you so you can see my house structure and so that you have a sample of the noise
Laminate floor noise
Are you familiar with this sound?

I will anskd the installer to open all. The panels and check the gaps.
Do you think that it can be a subflooring issue?

 

[dudu2683]

More than likely it is just the core of the laminate expanding and getting tight on the locking mechanism, causing a build in pressure. Then you walk on it and the pressure releases. Kinda like an earthquake to keep in line with C.J.'s plate tectonic analogy. When you walk in the same spot multiple times does the noise repeat the same or is it reduced?

Its reduced a bit if I walk couple of time ...but still a noise.
I added a video of my home with the noise , will be glad to get your feedback
Laminate floor noise

This noise drive my wife crazy...

 

[Mark Brown]

So after watching the video, im gonna say those transitions are too small to really create the space required.

That sound is definitely pressure build releasing, now it's just a matter of determining where its coming from. Everywhere?

 

[dudu2683]

So after watching the video, I'm gonna say those transitions are too small to really create the space required.

That sound is definitely pressure to build releasing, now it's just a matter of determining where its coming from. Everywhere?

So you don't think it's sub flooring issues?

I plan to open all the panels in my apartment to check that there is a 1 cm gap between the walls to the laminate floor.
I will try to get a bigger T transition profile.
Although I suspect that the problem is the laminate expanding to the living room area (over there I also have noise), and not the expend to the main hall width.

 

[Mark Brown]

There is almost a 0% chance it is your subfloor although I suppose almost 0% is not 0%.

Seeing how extensive it is, I really have a hard time believing it is a pressure point ad much as the whole floor, but I am not there and can only guess so well from a video but what we all can determine from this is that somewhere there is pressure in that floor.

 

[highup]

I noticed in the product description it says this product is over 2 m long. I don't know if that might change the behavior compared to a standard or shorter laminate.
Your idea to remove all of the panels makes good sense. Binding caused by one small point here and there touching the wall will stop the expansion and cause the problem you have. It doesn't take large or long areas of contact.
Undercut door casings would be difficult to check.

 

[highup]

I worked for a lady that had the same problem. I had worked for her on multiple occasions.
She had asked me to check the exterior of the home to look for issues that needed to be addressed prior to her having the home painted. When entering the home it sounded like I was walking on dry cereal.
While I was outside inspecting the exterior of the home she came out and asked me if I would remove the plastic that she had put on all of the foundation vents. She covered them with plastic, to help lower her heat bills by retaining heat under the house.
She lived at the base of a small hill and her neighbor's yard flooded during the winter time so water table there is extremely high.
I politely told her to never do that again.

 

[Kamov]

So you don't think it's sub flooring issues?

I plan to open all the panels in my apartment to check that there is a 1 cm gap between the walls to the laminate floor.
I will try to get a bigger T transition profile.
Although I suspect that the problem is the laminate expanding to the living room area (over there I also have noise), and not the expend to the main hall width.

I wonder if you found a solution to your floor issue? I have the exact same problem, I removed some mouldings and can see that there is an expansion gap. My next step is to remove the T-strips in the doorways