Screed creaks

Hello everyone,

we have now been living in our house for about 3 months and this morning I noticed that the anhydrite screed in our dining room is "alive". When pressure is applied, a spot in front of our floor-to-ceiling window creaks. The tile covering does not sound hollow and everything looks "normal" from above. Do you have to live with it? I have heard that the screed can have a life of its own for years. When should I start worrying - apart from the noise, which is annoying...

I am grateful for any ideas. Oh yes, of course we only applied the covering after the appropriate residual moisture was reached.

hello,
this probably comes from the "shaking out" of the screed, especially in the area of the rising connections (walls, also floor-to-ceiling windows, joints in door transitions)
this means the screed bulges due to drying out at the limiting edges. the cause is internal stresses on the screed surface.
as a rule, this "creaking" is harmless if the joint to the window can bridge the stresses. when the drying is complete, this creaking also stops. how long this takes also depends on the measured residual moisture.
what does the joint look like (material?), as a transition from the screed to the floor-to-ceiling window?
question: with which method did you have the residual moisture in the screed checked?
the most reliable and practical method is a so-called CMG measuring device!!!

with anhydrite you also have to be careful that little water gets into the screed, because anhydrite is cheaper to install but also much more sensitive to water than cement screed in the installed state. (the joints in the tiles are never watertight - because mineral composition = joint mortar)

Hello,

Thank you for the prompt response! I am not familiar with the material of the joint - "Dämmstreifen in blau"...
The residual moisture was measured with a CMG measuring device! Well, I hope it really goes away on its own - we do not have any "Wasserspiele" in the dining room :-)

Hello

So what Thomas is writing there is not okay.

An anhydrite screed does not cup because it does not have the expansion like cement screed, on the contrary it contracts.

I have another suspicion. When was the "Dämmstreifen in blau" cut off? Before or after the tiling? If it was already cut off before laying, I hope it was not cut off together with the screed. Because then it can be that some tile adhesive got on the wall and it creaks when walking. The skirting should be removed and it should be checked.

This should be done by the tiler. So please contact your architect or builder.

Regards Michael

Hi Michael

As far as I know, the strip was cut off afterwards - but I don't want to bet my life on it.

I will keep an eye on the spot - since it doesn't always creak, as I have now found out. But thanks for the tip!

We built our semi-detached house in 1999. The screed in the hallway of the upper floor has been creaking from the beginning. I recently asked a screed layer for advice. He gave me the tip to pour synthetic resin into any existing crack. Then the creaking stops. When our glued carpet is worn out, we will tackle it.
Regards