The Squeaky Floor

Do it yourself with this inexpensive, squeaky-floor repair.

All About

Product Ideas

Amy and Chris Hauser are first-time homebuyers who settled into an older home but are a bit unsettled by the amount of upkeep and repairs that came with it. They've asked veteran building inspector Reggie Marston for some help with their 1927 American Foursquare in Arlington, Va.

Inspector's Notebook
The squeaky symphony in the Hauser's home is a common problem with wooden floors. Fortunately, it’s usually an inexpensive do-it-yourself repair.

The first step is to sprinkle baby powder, baking soda or powdered graphite over the squeaky floorboard and work it into the seams. This will lubricate the wood and should keep the floorboards from rubbing together and squeaking.
If that doesn’t stop the racket, you’ll have to silence the cranky creak from below.
Locate the squeaky floorboard by looking for movement as someone walks on the floor above. If there is a gap between the joist and sub floor, add pieces of wood shim until it feels snug.
Bulging or loose boards can be fixed by tightening the boards with screws inserted from below. Use wood screws whose length will penetrate the sub floor, but stop 1/4 inch below the surface of the finished floor.
For large areas that squeak on the first floor, you can use steel bridging to keep the joists and subfloor from shifting. If your noisy problem is on an upper level and your sub floor is sealed off, you might have to call in a pro to peek at your squeak.