Your Steller Floor doesn't use nails or glue, so it is easy to fix!
In flooring, any noise indicates movement and the key is to find out where the movement is coming from. With a Steller Floor, you can always take steps to adjust your floor for any reason including if you do a new renovation, if your foundation or joists shift, or if you are responding to a leak or dramatic humidity swing.
In our experience, there are three main sources of movement that could create noise in a Steller Floor, and they can all be successfully remediated.
"Settling in" noises
Settling noises are common with any new flooring material because the materials are new and they need to get used to the shape of the subfloor, the pattern of wear, and gravity. Settling noises tend to sound like a faint "snap, crackle, pop" and they tend to go away after you have just walked past an area.
Over time, these areas will stop making noises as materials settle into normal wear. In areas with little use and minimal weight, it could take up to six months. To accelerate the process, use your floor by walking on it and putting weight on it to help the floor settle in.
Adjustment noises due to changes in humidity
Most common in the spring and fall in seasonal climates, these adjustment noises are like settling noises but they represent the floor adjusting to a change in humidity. It is not uncommon for any solid hardwood floor moving from 30% to 45% RH to make a few small noises over the time the climate changes, but they go away when the shift is over. These noises don't ever happen in areas where the RH is kept constant.
Noises due to vertical movement
These hardwood floor noises are most similar to a nailed down floor and are well-known for their definitive "squeak." Luckily with a Steller floor they are quick and easy to fix! In general, these noises to not get better as you walk over them and you can verify that these squeaky areas of your floor are making noise due to vertical movement by having someone walk past the area while you watch from a short distance away.
Once you're sure its a subfloor imperfection that you're dealing with, you can use your suction cup to remove affected planks and find areas of your Steller clips that are unsupported by the subfloor. Use shims made of uncompressable materials (like ramboard to tarpaper) in these areas to help support the clips and snap the planks back down. The noises should be dramatically reduced by these steps.
If you discover that the subfloor is heavily out of spec for a Steller Floor (more than 1/8" over 8-10' including deflection) the great news is that you can partially or completely remove your Steller Floor without ruining any pieces and you can then access the subfloor to remediate it. For suggestions about leveling subfloors you can check out other areas of our knowledge base and our blog!
Reach out for Steller Support!
We are here to help you with your flooring project and if any questions begin to vex you, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We can help you troubleshoot over the phone, by email, or by zoom appointment! 1-800-955-7671 or support@floorsbysteller.com