My mistake..I realize you have corrected this to plywood.. the latter of my last post still remains true.

Fastener could be the problem. I found a staple that was kicking around and it measured 31/32", which I assume is considered as a 1" staple. I have no idea the gauge. The instructions for the floor say to use 1"-1 1/2" staples. Sounds like 1 1/2" would have been a safer bet.

Now off to the hard part to get him to repair the noisy areas. I am a bit worn out of contractors that talk the talk before you pay them, then once their paid are extremely difficult about making any repairs. At least my husband is good help there. He thinks it's less painful trying to resolve contractor issues than to listen to his wife's complaining.

It isn't the 1" staple.

I have installed 1000's of sq.ft. of ½" engineered in the upper floors of the homes here, using my Senco SLS 20 and 1" staples. Some in plywood and some in OSB. I would have heard about it by now if those floors were squeaky and I'd be here telling you it was the wrong staple length.

Get out your trusty earth magnets and find the staples.

See if the fasteners are 4-6" apart, Or what ever your flooring requires in the instructions.
Also check consecutive rows to see if they skip nailed the floor.

Another thing is with a trigger gun, make sure you are standing on the board so there is no void.

see now we are all just conflicting and offering no real solution.

we are talking 5" wide board..understood to be over plywood.

1 inch staples.

now.

if by guideline we require glue and nails under solid..why not under engineered? I bet they do!

Mirage ABSOLUTELY does...

what we have offered here was possibilities.

tongues can be broke..maybe insufficient nail hold? or distance.

but not lets not jump in out of nowhere and make a suggestion as gospel.

there may be a little of everything....no one suggest theta staple length was full responsibility..read back then re chime in..it was offered as a possibility among others..

this is the problems with forum..we read what we want then jump all over it.. a little more objectiveness and less subjection goes a long way.

We have to determine the cause, to determine the solution.
Nope nothing about glue & staples. It is a end milled engineered.

Viewing the install instruction in the link provided and I find they state over and over that wood subfloor or concrete be no greater than 4%... LOL
They also state rosin paper is a moisture retarder. Hehehehe.







It is all right there in the instructions.

Everything has been covered from us all.
Now to find the real cause............ Then we can offer the proper solution.

The man can say what he wants in the requirements Perry, but you and I know if the ply or OSB is old and weathered holding power of a 1" fastener is nill.
Even at best, how much of the 1" staple is going into the wood substrate at 45 degree angle through a 1/2 inch product? Perhaps 1/4 inch at best. If your standing on it. LOL

Gravity is your friend. What you describe would be a problem no matter what length of fastener is chosen.

I wouldn't use 1" ers in a solid ½", but an engineered that has been properly acclimated and a 4-6" schedule. I will always test it.
If I pull the board and the staple stays in the wood substrate, I'm good to go. If they pull easy, I'm upping the length. Every decent installer tests and retest. Some just take off full bore and their test is a failed floor.

Well, it's been about 2 months since install and he's promised to come over 6 times and always had "something" come up. At this point, all I can figure is that I have to get someone else to come and repair this and take the contractor to court to get my money back.

When I had mentioned broken tongues to the contractor, he said it's not likely because the boards slid together so nicely. So, if he's right, the best I can figure is not enough staples and staples not put close enough to the ends. I've tried to use a magnet to find staples, maybe it's not strong enough, because I can't find any staples.

Any advice on getting a 3rd party to come and inspect and give an assessment of the cause? Will the manufacture come and inspect.

visit the NWFA website


http://woodfloors.org/certified-inspector.aspx


enter your info/zip etc and a list of certifed inspectors will come up..you can call and get cost and inspection.

they will assess if the floor was properly installed.

If litigation is the route you are going, this will certainly be needed.

In my opinion only destructive testing will begin to determine conclusively what really is going on with this floor. Only when you can definitively determine the real problem will you be able to have it fixed properly and I doubt this installer will do anything for you until you can do so.
Good Luck

I have the same problem with a floor that was installed a couple of months ago. I know it isn't the 3/4 plywood subfloor because the subfloor was installed months before and I never heard a peep from them. I was wondering if maybe the 1/4 cork underlayment was causing the problem because I know it didn't adhere properly. From what I've been reading improper acclimation may also be an issue. The floors were kept in the rooms to be installed in closed boxes for about 3 months. I didn't open the boxes because I needed to be able to move them out of the way as I worked on renovating the apt. I was also under the impression the installer was going to walk the job again before calling me & telling me he was coming the next day to actually install the floor. According to the installer it was ok that the boxes weren't open because they were there for more than 3 days. I'm also wondering if the fact that the rapid changes in temperature we had this winter had anything to do with it or if it was just improperly installed. If by chance it is because the temperature was 30 degrees out one day and 8 degrees the next and the room temperatures also changed from day to day will the floor eventually acclimate and stop crackling?

See attached installation instructions. No matter how i look at it it states 4% moisture content of wood subfloor. Can't be correct even normal would be between 6% to 9%. Also nailing schedule 1" to 2" each end and here comes the good one 3" to 4" stapled with 1 to 1 1/2" staples. Which is it? Only have seen one other with a 4" to 6" nailing schedule BUT was 6" wide solid. Get out the magnets bet it is not nailed to mfg instructions.
Wrong website can't see how to attach to this post. But go to the website stated and see for yourself.