Few things are more downright frustrating than a tattletale squeaky floor—especially irksome squeaks that come from the floor above. For homes with multiple stories or multifamily structures, reducing floor noise is critical for the comforts of the people who live there. As with most problems, the solution is often found in the early stages of construction and selecting just the right second floor sub-floor.
What Causes Squeaky Floors?
Creaky floors occur when there’s movement between two or more floor system components, such as when the substrate and nails rub against one another. Squeaky second floors are much more troublesome because they annoy people on two floors.
LP Legacy® Premium Sub-Floor Adhesive helps increase overall floor stiffness and can help prevent squeaks by creating a tight seal between the floor joists and sub-floor. When used with LP Legacy® Premium Sub-Flooring, LP Legacy Adhesive offers a strong and quiet sub-floor system—and pairing the two adds coverage for squeaks that has a lifetime limited warranty.
Read the complete warranty details for LP Legacy Premium Sub-Flooring here.
How to Reduce Squeaks on Second Floors
It is also critical to use proper sub-floor fasteners and to ensure that they hit their mark—the supports.
LP Legacy Premium Sub-Floor Adhesive has been performance-tested and demonstrates the ability to withstand extreme weather conditions and protect against squeaks. The premium adhesive can even be applied to wet, dry or frozen lumber, giving builders greater flexibility.
What Makes LP® Structural Solutions Subfloor Adhesive a Great Choice?
Ready-to-use and gun-applied, initial cure only takes 4 hours and the adhesive reaches full cure in 24 hours.
Determining Second Floor Subfloor Thickness
The thickness of OSB subfloor panels in a floor system is usually determined by the spacing of the joists. A wider joist spacing could create more deflection in the sub-flooring and a greater opportunity for movement, which can lead to squeaks. Builders can combat this deflection by using a thicker and/or stiffer subfloor.
When a person walks across a floor, they cause the floor to sag (deflect) under their step. If the step is between two floor joists, the sub-floor will deflect and, if not properly designed, can be noticeable. Using a higher-stiffness panel like LP Legacy Premium Subflooring instead of commodity sub-flooring can help reduce the deflection.
To see how much sub-flooring can deflect between supports, Kyle Stumpenhorst of @rrbuildings looked at the difference between commodity-grade OSB sub-floors and LP Legacy Premium Sub-Flooring panels. Setting up the camera to view the deflection, Stumpenhorst walked across both panels: the commodity OSB visibly deflected while LP Legacy sub-flooring remained stiff with less deflection.
Watch this video to see another builder’s take on LP Legacy Premium Sub-Flooring.
How Can Builders Minimize Squeaks In A Floor System?
Whether you’re building a one-story family dwelling or multifamily structure, LP Structural Solutions Premium Adhesive when installing LP Legacy Premium Subflooring can help you minimize the squeaks that can occur in a floor system from the subfloor sliding up and down on a nail.
In fact, when properly installed with LP Legacy Premium Sub-Flooring assemblies, LP Legacy Premium Sub-Floor Adhesive offers the benefit of a squeak-free lifetime limited warranty, which covers squeaks caused by the panel moving on the shank of the nail, during the life of the structure.
Looking for more about LP Legacy Premium Sub-Flooring? Check out installation instructions, our warranty and more product information.
LP® TopNotch® 350 Sub-Flooring, which boasts a 50-year limited warranty, is another great option for sub-flooring. LP Legacy adhesive can be used with this type of sub-flooring, and the pairing adds a lifetime limited warranty for squeaks to your build. Check out more details about sub-flooring options here.
