Squeeky floor...

[Yvonne]

HELP...

We have an old building with oak parquet flooring and the ceiling below is red brick and plaster.

There is a horrendous squeek from the fllor above that, we've been told, may be caused by a metal 'bracket' that suspends the ceiling from the floor / joists. Apparently the floor moves over time and the bricks don't so the meatal bracket begins to grate ....???

Having only just re-decorated the room below, we are reluctant to replace the entire red brick ceiling. This only leaves the option of trying to solve the problem from above.

Can anyone suggest what the problem may be and also advise how / if at all we can lift parquet flooring and put it back?? Also, what can we do about it??

Many Thanks!

Abi

 

[Debra]

are you sure you haven't got some nails in the floorboards?  If so, replacing them with screws usually works.

[Yvonne]

Hi Debra,

Thanks for your suggestion, I wish it were that simple. They are not floorboards the floors are solid oak parquet - this is why we don't quite know how to lift them and put them back properly....?!

Abi

 

[Debra]

Sorry I can't help.  All I know is one house we went to see had parquet flooring (looked just like smaller floorboards to me!) and the guy had taken some of it up to lay pipes and said it was really difficult to get down again so it would be best to put another type of flooring over it - shame.  The house we've bought has parquet flooring downstairs and part of it needs repairing where a door has been taken out between the hall and living room so I'll be looking at it very carefully next week!

[Alan Zoff]

Looking forward to hearing how you get on lifting parquet.

Part of my downstairs floor has sunk a little due, I suspect, to damp rot affecting the joists carrying the oak "parquet" floor. (The floor is a little "springy" and there's a sweet sickly smell at times.) Have tried to examine it from outside through the air vents in the lower walls but without success. Therefore, I need to lift the floor to find out what exactly is going on underneath and to replace joists if that is the problem. 

The floor looks perfect from above and I would like to reuse the parquet but can't seem to shift the strips/blocks without damaging them.  So any suggestions will be appreciated.

[hoverfrog]

whilst on the subject of parquet flooring....

we've just laid a floor upstairs, 10cm strips of chestnut that interlock on all sides, and are having issues with the last two lines of boards as we can't get the right angle to tap them into place because of the wall. Looks like we'll have to trim off the interlocking bits and nail them flat, unless anyone has any brighter ideas?

Some parts of the floor do squeak / creak a bit, especially when it's been a hot day and they cool down at night, but I'm hoping it all settles down as they wear in and when we put the oil on them!

hoverfrog

[Guimbarde2]

[quote]Looking forward to hearing how you get on lifting parquet. Part of my downstairs floor has sunk a little due, I suspect, to damp rot affecting the joists carrying the oak "parquet" floor. (The floor...[/quote]

I believe when the English talk about parquet flooring they mean flooring composed of wooden blocks arranged in a geometric pattern. They are usually about the size of a small brick laid on edge. When the French use the word parquet they could mean anything from ordinary floorboards to boards which have a pattern on them which, if you were shortsighted, might look like parquet blocks. Once taken up,  a proper parquet floor is very difficult to relay. So bon courage with the floor and ceiling.

[Alan Zoff]

I was afraid that this might be the case.

You are right. The floor described as "parquet" in my French house is not a collection of small brick-sized blocks packed tightly together as it would be in England but rather strips of half a metre or so which seem to be bonded to a sub-floor. So I can well imagine that even if I can get them up without damaging them, it could be difficult to relay them smoothly. But will have to give it a go. 

I wonder if I might be able to take all the lifted wooden strips somewhere to get the undersides sanded smooth again before they are relaid. Possibly not worth the hassle but will post the results in due course.

[Guimbarde2]

I think it would cost you more to get them sanded than to buy replacements.

[Yvonne]

SO....forgive me for getting a little confused here!

Our 'parquet' floor is, in fact, long thin strips (approx 40cm in length) that are layed in a floorboard fashion.

Are these easier to lift and put back than a 'proper' UK parquet floor??

Thanks to everyone for all their comments,

Abi;

 

[Guimbarde2]

I think if these strips have been stuck down to a base they will lift off with a certain amount of adhesive residue and if you then tried to lay them again would lay unevenly. As I said yesterday, to try cleaning off the residue might be difficult, depending on what adhesive was used in the first place. If they are of a tongue and grooved type which just 'float' on the surface, being held in tension at the skirting board then yes you should have no problem relaying them.

Parquet flooring, as laid down in such places as school halls, meeting rooms etc in the UK, were popular in late Victorian and Edwardian times. Usually chestnut or sometime oak they were cut into brick size shaped blocks and laid, often in a herringbone pattern, but also in other geometric designs.

You say they are 40cm long. What is the width and how thick are you planks Abi?

[Guimbarde2]

SORRY Abi, the last sentence in my last post to this topic was not directed at you.

It was a misprint. NOT how thick are YOU - but how thick are YOUR planks.

Just like me - ex army and as they say thick as a plank. Whoops.