How to Get Rid of Squeaky Floors?
You don’t have to live in an old house to be plagued by squeaky floors. Even the newer homes with hardwood floors can provide some unwanted sound effects on occasion. If the floors are properly installed in new homes you shouldn’t have too much trouble with this annoying sound. Older homes are another matter.
When the climate, outside and inside, is not correct any wooden floor can develop squeaks. But even this isn’t a sure thing. New, old, moist, dry – wooden floors may develop squeaks. Fortunately, you can do something about this.
How It’s Made
First of all, find out how wooden floors are made so that you can understand what might happen to make them squeak. Floors generally are made with a sub-floor that is attached directly to the floor joists/beams. These can be made of plywood or wide boards that provide a solid foundation.
The finished floor is the part you see. These are made of narrower strips of wood that have a type of construction called tongue-in-groove. This means the pieces are connected when a lip on one board slips into a groove in the adjoining board. Again, if the materials and construction are of sufficient quality you shouldn’t experience serious noise problems for several years.
Coming Loose
When boards work loose over time or if they aren’t fitted tightly when new, they move slightly and cause the squeak. Sometimes the wood warps. This may happen because of very dry or very moist conditions. It may also occur because the individual pieces were put together too tightly and don’t have enough room to expand and contract without rubbing. This can happen with the subfloor or the finished floor.
So, with this in mind, it’s time to get those boards tightened up. Try to isolate the exact spot or spots where the squeaks occur. You can use chalk or some masking tape to mark the spot. For minor squeaks you might be able to eliminate the sounds with a powdered lubrication product that gets into the cracks and spaces. Graphite in powder from may work well for those minor squeaks. Keep in mind that this might eliminate the squeaks temporarily but they will come back, eventually.
Look at the subfloor from the basement if possible, while someone walks on it. You may be able to see the subfloor move. You may have to nail from below through the subfloor, with a nail on both sides of the joint that is moving. The nails should be driven through at an angle. Make sure they go into the floor above but don’t go through!
You can make some of the same type of repairs for finish boards that squeak. In this case you may be able to use wood screws that pull the boards down to the subfloor and joists, making them tighter. Be sure to use pilot holes when working from below so that you don’t drill holes so large they crack the finished floor.
