There's old parquet in the room that's started squeaking when I walk on it, especially near the window. The boards don't look loose visually. Do I need to redo it completely or is there a way to fix it without all that?
I had a similar situation with parquet near the window in my apartment, and it turned out the boards had just dried out and moved a bit under load. Try the simplest option first - inject glue under the parquet with a syringe at the spots where it squeaks, that often helps without spending much. If it doesn't work or the squeaking is all over the room, then you'll need to find a specialist who can re-glue the boards or re-lay the problem areas, you don't necessarily need to replace everything.
My parquet started squeaking a few years ago too, and I wasn't in a rush to replace it. Turns out you don't need to redo the whole thing - usually local repairs do the trick. Squeaking often happens when the boards start moving relative to each other or when the fastening to the subfloor loosens. It's especially noticeable near windows, where humid air seeps through the gaps and the wood reacts by expanding and contracting.
First, try the simple solution: look for gaps between the boards and if you find any, inject special parquet adhesive through a syringe. You can also screw self-tapping screws through the parquet into the subfloor, but that's visible - you'd either have to cover it with filler and then sand, or screw from underneath if you have access. I went with the adhesive route, and the results have held up for a while now.
If the squeaking is bad and there are lots of gaps, you'll have to locally remove sections and check the condition of the joists and underlay. But in most cases, the parquet is successfully saved by either adhesive or reinforcing with self-tapping screws in a few problem spots. Redoing the entire floor is a whole different level of expense - only makes sense if the boards are falling apart or rotting.
The creaking usually means the boards are moving slightly relative to each other or the subfloor - you don't need to redo the entire parquet. Try filling the gaps between the boards with special wood filler or thin wooden wedges coated with glue; if that doesn't help, you'll have to partially disassemble the floor in the problem area and tighten or re-nail the boards.
A full replacement is expensive and often overkill! Squeaking usually happens not because the parquet is dying, but because the boards have started moving around due to drying out or loose fasteners. If the boards aren't loose and there are no visible gaps, you can usually fix it without a major renovation.
Try something simple first - find the exact spot where it squeaks the most (walk around the room and listen), and drive parquet nails in at an angle. You need thin nails so you don't split the board, and long enough to catch the subfloor. You can also try filling the gaps with special wax or silicone - that'll fill in the spaces and reduce the movement. If lots of spots are squeaking or the problem is more serious, you might need to lift the boards and secure them through the joists, but that's already a bigger job.
Also keep in mind the humidity in the room - if the air is really dry, the parquet shrinks and starts moving. Sometimes just normalizing the humidity helps, especially in winter. You should only do a full replacement if the parquet is badly damaged, has deep gaps, or the boards are delaminating!
Doing a complete overhaul is overkill. Squeaky parquet is usually fixed way easier than it seems. The boards are probably actually moving under load, especially near windows where humidity fluctuates more. Before you start injecting anything under the parquet, try the most basic method: walk along the squeaky spots and feel out which boards are the worst offenders, then stuff regular talc or baby powder into the gaps between them. Sounds weird, but it actually works - the powder fills micro-gaps and dampens the vibration.
If talc doesn't help and the squeak is really bothering you, then look at the subfloor. You can carefully screw self-tapping screws into the parquet at the spots where it squeaks most - just make sure you hit the beams or joists, not just the plywood subbase. The screws are driven in at an angle so they don't stick above the surface. That's definitely cheaper than a full redo.
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