If you have ever experienced living with squeaky floors, you must be knowing how irritating and maddening the sounds are, especially during midnights when you have to come downstairs to use the loo or have water. Squeaky floors are often caused by loosened wood floorboards. Not only wooden floors, even carpeted floors can give rise to squeaky floors if the plywood subfloor isn’t properly attached to the joints. Luckily, fixing these squeaky wood floors is inexpensive and can be done at home by following the steps given below:
Step 1
Attach a piece of scrapwood against the floor joint, fitting it tightly against the subfloor. This wood will prevent the subfloor from moving down the joint.
Step 2
If there are small gaps on the floor, apply adhesive to a block of wood and slide it into the space between the subfloor and joint. However, don’t place the shim forcefully as it might result in a larger gap.
Step 3
If the squeaky floor has occurred because the subfloor has separated from the floor, attach both the floor and the subfloor using a screw, though not a long one.
Step 4
Fix the existing squeaks from the upper surface of the floor using finish nails and a hammer. If you have a wooden floor, find out the squeak and insert a long nail into the floor. However, if the squeak has been caused because of the separation of the floor and the subfloor, hammer two nails into the floor at opposite angles of 45°.
Step 5
If you have a carpeted floor and suffering from a bad squeaky floor, use a knife to cut a small hole on top of the carpet webbing. Take off the carpet and hammer a screw into the floor till the subfloor. Make sure the hole you drew using a knife is large enough to let the head of the screw pass through it. If the screw starts to pull down the carpet, loosen it. Adjust it accordingly.
Squeaky floors are a common problem seen in old houses, but newly built ones aren’t exempted from this nuisance. These squeaks can occur in houses of any age, regardless of the type of flooring it has. The above mentioned DIY steps would help you in dealing with the issue. If you need further help, contact flooring Raleigh NC.
