Hickory floor making popping sounds

Q: Our home is 70+ yrs old with original pecan/hickory wood floors. A week ago we had a floor restoration repair company repair and replace a badly rotted area caused by an adjoining bathroom leak many years ago. After cutting a 3′ x 5′ area of flooring and opening they found it rotted through the floor joist and someone previously cut a support beam which was just hanging.

They had to cut the rotted joist out and married a new joist in after supplying a new section of support beam.

They then sealed the hole, installed moisture barrier, new sub-floor, new wood floor boards, stained to match existing, sanded the rest of the floor, restained, sealed all with water base products. The floor is beautiful and you cannot tell anything was done. But for last 3 or 4 days we have heard loud popping from the room, which is empty right now.

Should we be concerned?

A: No, I don’t believe there is anything to worry about. Hickory is rather sensitive to environmental changes and other disturbances which means it expands and contracts a lot. I hope the guys used a sealer under their coating which has some stretch to it. I would keep an eye on that. What along board edges for any signs of cracking. As an example of how most things move, I have a steel roof. You should here the noise it makes on the coldest winter nights. It bangs! Your popping sounds should stop once the floor settles down.

Follow-up: Thank you SOOOOO much! We will keep eye on edges as you said.

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