Chasing a squeak under engineered hardwood for 2 hours...

I had this job last week in a condo near downtown. Finished laying 800 sq ft of engineered and right when we cleaned up, every step near the kitchen let out this awful squeak. Pulled up three boards, rechecked the subfloor screws, nothing loose. Turns out it was a tiny high spot in the concrete underneath where the old tile was. Took 2 hours of grinding it down with a cup wheel and relaying those boards to fix. Has anyone else run into hidden slab issues that drove them nuts?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_kelly17d ago

That high spot in the concrete is a nightmare. I spent 4 hours once in a 1970s condo where the old linoleum glue had left these little bumps everywhere. Had to scrape and grind the whole kitchen area before the floor would lay flat. The worst part was I had already paid the helper to go home. Next time I'm bringing a straightedge no matter what.

patricia_lee17d ago

That reminds me of a job where I spent three hours chasing a squeak that turned out to be a loose nail in the subfloor that I'd missed because it was under a baseboard heater. I pulled up four rows of laminate before I found it and felt like an idiot. Now I always double check every single fastener near the walls before anything goes down.