A squeaky floor is definitely very annoying. Many homes have it and it typically occurs after the house has settled and flooring lumber has dried out and shrunk. What happens is, as you walk across the floor, boards rub against each other or slide against nail shafts to produce a cacophony of squeaks and creaks.
Loose subflooring will also emit high-pitched chirps too. Traditional hardwood strip flooring is the most susceptible to developing a case of the squeaks, but all types of flooring can make annoying creaks and squeaks. The good news is that it’s easy to fix and here now are tips on how to eliminate the annoying sounds of a squeaky floor:
Floor squeaks are caused by wood rubbing against a nail, other wood, or even ductwork and piping. Although finding the squeak can be difficult, it is possible with help of a companion. To locate the source of the squeak, start by having someone walk across the floor while you listen from below. It doesn’t take much movement to cause a squeak, especially since your floor amplifies the sound like a giant soundboard.
When you hear a squeak, have the person above rap on the floor so you can pinpoint the exact spot. Next, take a thin wood shim and coat it with carpenter’s glue. Gently tap the shim into the space between the joist and subfloor. Do fill the gap above the joist and take out any give in the floor. For additional support, drive a 1 1/4-in. drywall screw at an angle up through the joist and shim and into the subfloor.
Sometimes the gapping between the subfloor and joist is too narrow, too irregular, or too widespread for shims to be effective. Instead, you can try using a bead of construction adhesive to glue the wood together. Force the adhesive as far as possible into the gaps without widening them and glue nearby joists as well in case you can’t find the exact squeak source.
If these solutions don’t work, and you realize that maybe it is time to replace your flooring, do call your contractor or handyman and they’ll be happy to help.
Leave a Reply