Why is chipboard destined to fail?
With over fifty years of collective experience in wood flooring, we have seen it all. We have spent years fixing failed floors and learning exactly how they work. A common question we get asked is: Why is chipboard destined to fail? It seems to happen even when the builders follow every single installation guideline.
It can be incredibly frustrating for homeowners. You buy a nice house, but the floors eventually start to creak. To understand why, we need to look at how wood reacts to your home’s environment.
It is all about the climate
Wood is a natural product. Even when it is engineered or turned into chipboard, it acts like a living thing. It breathes. When the humidity rises, wood expands. When it gets dry, wood contracts.
Flooring manufacturers know this. That is why they usually recommend leaving a gap, or a ‘break,’ between different rooms. This allows for movement. Your home actually has different ‘micro-climates’ in every room.
For example, your bathroom might be a hot, steamy tropical paradise after a shower. Meanwhile, the landing just outside remains cool and dry. A bedroom might have the radiator off, while the living room is toasty warm. These differences matter.
The problem with installation
This is where the issue lies. Why is chipboard destined to fail? It comes down to standard building methods used since the 1970s.
Builders almost always install chipboard floors before they build the internal walls. They lay the floor as one giant, interlocking sheet across the entire level. Then, they build the stud walls on top of it. There are no breaks between the rooms.
Consequently, you have one massive sheet of wood spanning multiple different climates. When the bathroom floor wants to expand because of the steam, the cool landing floor resists.
The tug of war
This creates a conflict. The floor is effectively fighting with itself. As seasons change and heating habits shift, these forces push and pull against each other. It creates ‘hot spots’ of pressure in random areas.
Then, you walk on it. Your footfall adds vertical pressure to this horizontal tension. This movement slowly loosens the nails and screws holding the floor down. That leads to the dreaded squeak.
Sadly, this is why simply adding more screws rarely works. The tension is still there. In fact, adding more screws can sometimes make the noise worse by creating more friction points.
How we solve the problem
We have developed a solution that works. We use a method called ‘zoning.’ Essentially, we separate the floors in each room. This relieves the tension.
It allows your floor to expand and contract naturally in its own environment without fighting the room next door. This is the only way to ensure a permanent fix. Because we address the root cause, we are able to offer lengthy guarantees on our work.
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