With a houseful of company last weekend, one might have thought our St. Paul home had been overrun with mice. We and our guests made trips to the bathroom at all times of the day and night bringing with each trip the proverbial floor squeaks for which old homes are notorious. (New homes have them, too. I know from experience!) There's one stubborn place just one step outside the bathroom and another at the top of the stairs that is impossible to miss without making a huge leap sideways. As owners, we've become accustomed to the squeaks and tune them out, but the house guests were very aware of "disturbing" us as they walked about!
Stubborn floor squeaks are caused by wood flooring (even the sub-floor under tile or linoleum) rubbing against the floor joists or subfloor beneath them. Footsteps press the floor down and release of the pressure allows the floor to pop back up. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak . . .
Some home buyers actually will not buy a house because of squeaky floors. Squeaky floors rank with trains passing by and planes flying overhead as being one of life's annoyances!
There is an easy handyperson fix for these annoying floors or stair treads. Squeeeeek No More screws can be screwed into wood flooring and the underlying wood to eliminate that pesky movement. Once screwed in, the heads of the screws are snapped off leaving a hole which can be filled with a wax wood filler crayon on wood floors. The screws can also be used right through carpet leaving nothing visible once the screw head is snapped off. If the squeaks are under ceramic tile or linoleum, this solution might not be a good idea unless there's access to the floor from below.
:-) sqeak no more I love it! The talcum thing was new to me though I might be scoping out squeaks here in the next few days to see if I can try the powder...Bonnie you rock, thanks for the link to the squeak place!
Posted by: Carole Cohen | December 15, 2007 at 10:21 PM
Funny, Jack, how we become attached to those quirks that make our old homes unique. I've got a few doors that have been trimmed as much as one inch shorter from side to side because of that "sag". What happens if I happen to take out the sag, as my son did? Will my doors have a one inch gap?
Alex, you're too young to know about the talcum powder trick! It might be a bit messy on top of carpet, though!
Bob, I think it's my dad's fault. He wouldn't let me drive until I changed all four tires on the car BY MYSELF! It was an old '63 Dodge when they were built like tanks and made out of metal . . . with a hand jack on the bumper! I've wielded a hammer by his side from my late elementary years. Yep, it has to be his fault!
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | December 14, 2007 at 11:12 PM
But - But - we find the squeaks in our old floors somehow comforting, along with the center-oriented sag (great for "Hot Wheels" races) of most of our floors.
Posted by: Jack Boardman | December 13, 2007 at 03:19 AM
You are such the tipster for these little home projects!
Posted by: Bob Carney | December 12, 2007 at 07:20 PM
I am not sure why I know this, but here is another tip to fix the problem.
Sprinkle talcum powder liberally around and on the area where the floor squeaks, place a board over the area (such as a piece of 1x6 scrap, or any other scrap wood you have laying around) and stomp on it good. Do this several times. Wipe up the excess.
The talc will work its way into the groves between the floorboards, and act as a dry lubricant. Presto, no more squeeky. Most of the time.
Give that a shot before screwing things down.
Posted by: Alex Stenback | December 12, 2007 at 04:19 PM