If you have a particularly old hardwood floor, you’ll probably find that annoying little squeaks are everywhere. Is an accurate way of telling which one of your teenagers has missed their curfew but the rest of the time you really just wish they’d disappear! Especially if you’re living in London, if you have authentic hardwood floods you’re incredibly lucky to be able to reap the benefits of such a stylish design, but unfortunately you often have to battle with its one squeaky drawback. Fortunately, GJP has 8 ways to cut out squeaking, and you only need one of them to work for you!
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Wedge like your life depends on it!
This is a cracking solution to squeaks that occur on a floor level above your basement which lots of London homes will experience. Choose a willing volunteer to walk around the noisy area whilst yore in the basement in order to identify the spot with as much precision as you can. You’ll need a small wood shim covered in industrial glue that you can wedge between the base of your wooden floor and the nearest available joist. This is the wooden beam that runs throughout your house and these are easily identifiable at basement level.
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Screws to the rescue
Screws are a better long term fix for your squeaky floor and if you’re handy with a drill, they’re relatively straight forward to install. Just make sure they go through the underneath shim, joist, drywall or sheet metal if any exist and straight into the underneath of your floor. You’ll need to use a screw long enough to fit through all of this and actually get hold of the floor itself otherwise the process will be ineffective. Alternatively though, if you use a screw that is too long, you’ll be able to see it come through the other side of the floor – not a stylish look!
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The Custom Design
It’s possible to acquire a ‘Squeak-Ender.’ Squeaks often occur when there is too much loose movement between the subfloor and the joist. This is a nifty little piece of hardware that will be available from your nearest London-based store and it’s designed to pull the subfloor and the joist together tighter. This reduces the movement between the two components and ultimately stops squeaking!
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Cheating
There’s a reason we call it cheating. This is a handy trick if the source of your squeak is not one but two different floor boards rubbing against each other. Glazier’s points are the metal triangles used in glass and window installations and will be readily available from your nearest, London-based hardware store. You can use these triangles wedged between the two squeaky boards to cut out disturbance. Lay them approximately 5 inches apart, using a putty knife to push them as far between the floorboards as you possibly can and the squeaking should stop!
In our previous post we were discussing the woes of having to live with squeaky flooring and started to give away our best secrets in getting rid of them for good. If you’re not a comfortable, DIY enthusiast then there’s nothing stopping you from giving our team here at GJP a call and we’ll send someone over to put your noisy boards straight. For now though, here is our second lot of tips for abolishing squeaks:
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What to do Above Ground
With foundation beams to help you on the second, third, fourth floors and beyond, you’re left with the unfortunate but not impossible task of having to try and fix your squeaks from above. First of all you still, obviously, have to locate your squeak as accurately as possible in order to begin work. Then you need to weigh down the floor with weights, or 120kg of willing volunteers. The first fix option is to then drill holes down and then secure the squeaky offender to the joists. You’ll need to do this along the entire length of the plank, using our recommended sheet metal screws (nails are a bad idea), and unfortunately, it doesn’t make for the most attractive design. Finding the joists from above ground is pretty straight forward as they always run perpendicular to the boards. The biggest clue is a line of nails as the floorboards are nailed down to the joist at either end. If your floors are carpeted and you can’t strip it back to go joist hunting, joist finders exist to aid you and you can pick one up at your nearest, London-based hardware store.
After all that, if you’re still not convinced, you can add a few screws to some additional boards adjacent to the squeaker offenders to help the general area sit a bit tighter. For a more attractive result do what is called ‘countersinking.’ This is where screws are drilled in to sit lower that the wood itself. Then you can go over with a filler stick that is the same shade as the wood. It’s not a perfect remedy but it looks neat from afar and the noises will stop!
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The lazy option
Talcum powder really is the lazy option and it’s only a quick fix. But it will help reduce friction in the wood short term whilst you look for a better solution. Just scatter heavily between the boards, making sure it soaks between the gaps. Only use real talcum powder though as cornstarch and flour will attract pests. Especially in London!
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Waxy Boards
For customers with wax coated floors, there’s a simple fix that can solve your problems which is virtually hassle free. Your initial plan should be to dry liquid wax between the boards as the lubrication can stop the noises. It’s not always 100% effective but it’s always worth a shot to avoid getting the drill out! Note that this isn’t an option for you if you have polyurethane on your floors! Humidify
Yes it’s London where damp is everywhere to be found but if you’re having a particularly dry season then this can be a reason for floorboards that just seem to groan generally. A humidifier can help and it comes with the added benefit of reducing allergies!
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Humidify
Yes it’s London where damp is everywhere to be found but if you’re having a particularly dry season then this can be a reason for floorboards that just seem to groan generally. A humidifier can help and it comes with the added benefit of reducing allergies!
