Creaking wood floor

Q: My creaking wood floor creaks and pops when I walk in certain spots. But it also does it when I am not walking on it. How can that be?

A: It’s probably a humidity issue. Particularly if the flooring has tightly milled tongue and groove. As it shrinks slightly it can make this cracking sound. Is this floor fairly new? In winter I would try to keep the RH in the home between 35-40% in cold climates. It should settle down in time.

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