Fixing a Squeaky Particle Board Floor
Fixing a squeaky or water damaged particle board floor
A particle board floor should be silent and solid underfoot. When it squeaks or feels soft, it is almost always a fixing problem or water damage, and both have a clear repair. Here is how to sort each one.
Silencing a squeak
A squeak is nearly always a fixing that has worked loose, or a sheet that was nailed rather than glued and screwed. The fix is to re-screw the sheet down into the joist directly below the noise. Locate the joist, drive the screws so the sheet pulls tight against it, and countersink the heads below any floor covering. A bead of construction adhesive under a lifted edge helps hold it and kill the movement for good. Chipboard flooring screws to AS3566 are the correct fixing.
Repairing a water damaged sheet
If a sheet has been soaked and has swelled, lifted at the edges or delaminated, the sound repair is to cut out and replace the affected sheet on the joist centres, rather than patch over it. Cut back to the middle of the joists on each side, lift the damaged sheet, and lay a new one glued and screwed the same way. Just as important, fix what let the water in, whether that is a plumbing leak, poor drainage or a subfloor that is not breathing.
Water damage often traces back to the subfloor itself. Our guide to subfloor ground clearance and ventilation covers the clearances and airflow that keep a floor dry in the first place.
Matching an older floor
Renovating an older floor can throw up a sizing surprise. Yellow tongue was 900mm wide until 2019 and is now a uniform 800mm, so an old 900mm sheet cannot be matched like for like. What we can do is help you plan the new sheets to suit the joists you already have, so the replacement floor goes down clean and consistent. Send us the thickness and floor size and we will work it out, or start with the current sizes and specification.
Squeaks and repairs FAQs
A squeak is almost always a loose fixing or a sheet that was nailed rather than glued and screwed. Locate the joist under the noise and re-screw the sheet down tight into it with chipboard flooring screws, and run construction adhesive under any lifted edge. That pulls the sheet firm to the joist and stops the movement.
A sheet that has swelled or delaminated is best cut out and replaced on the joist centres rather than patched, then the water source and subfloor ventilation fixed so it does not happen again. A floor that only got damp during construction and dried out is usually fine.
No. The 900mm width was phased out in 2019, so current sheets are a uniform 800mm and 900mm is no longer made. If you are working on an old 900mm floor, we can help you plan the replacement sheets to suit your joists rather than match the old width.
Get a price on particle board flooring
Send us your floor size and joist centres, or build a quote online, and we will work out the sheets and get a price back to you.