Creaking Laminate Floor

Q: inherited a 10 year old laminated floor. it was placed over tile. don’t know more of history. previous owner had metal strips as thresholds between laminate and carpet. wanted to replaced the metal with more attractive wood strip. found could not glue threshold to edge of sub-floor beneath the laminate because edging of laminate is uneven, not squared or consistent. have used screws to hold wood strip in place.
problem came when i noticed a popping noise when walking on the floor after putting down the strip. it seems the screws going thru the wood and thru the laminate have apparently put a stress on the laminate section (not all of them) and cause a portion of the laminate to raise up.
i used 1 inch screws. my theory is the screws did not penetrate thru the tiles beneath the laminate and when tightened at the wood strip threshold, it caused the middle of the laminate plate to bend upward.
other theory is that one o more of the tiles beneath the laminate are either cracked or the old glue is no longer holding and when the edge if pulled tight against the wood strip, the far edge of the tile is bent upwards by the stress.
i assume my 1 inch screws are well seated in the tiles. the popping/creaking as i walk on that part of the floor is not acceptable.
we can’t see it as being obviously raised. but laying down, getting the eye close to the laminate, i can push on it and see it move.
is there a way to solve this creaking sound? replacing the laminate, even a small section of it is not an option….a match can’t be found.
A: If the screws are going through the laminate that is your problem. Laminate is a floating floor, which means it is not meant to be anchored to the subfloor at any one point. If it gets anchored at one point, then you run into the exact problems you are seeing, as the floor shifts ever so slightly raised areas and noise occur at the anchor point.
Your best course of action here would be to remove the screws and transition strip and replace with an overlapping transition which uses a track system. Use liquid nails to install the track to the subfloor, allowing a small gap between the track and floor so the floor can shift. Then snap the overlapping trim in place and it should cover the expansion gap and a portion of your floor.