How can i stop my wooden stairs from creaking?

Question

some of the steps creak when stepped on. I can't get at the reverse side of the stair without tearing off the plaster finish.

Answer 1

You should be able to pull-up the carpeting on the staircase. If you take your time and go slowly, you should be able to lay the carpet back down once you complete the following steps: The floor boards creak because of settlling pressure to certain areas that have caused the nails to pull loose or the nail hole has widened from the constant pressure or wood movement, such as walking on the flooring. Try to find each area that squeaks and add some fairly large wood screws which will resist pulling out when pressure is applied. Adding more nails will only cause a repeat of the problem as the wood movement continues. Also driving the screws in at a slight angle will add strength and prevent the wood from pulling away.

Answer 2

If wooden stairs or flooring creaks it's a sign that the wood is sagging and doesn't have proper support underneath. There's not much you can do unless you're willing to get underneath the staircase to find out if the supports are weak.

Answer 3

You wll need to remove the carpet if you have them carpeted, and locate the creaking steps.

then get some oval nails probably 1 1/2" or 2" long. nail the creaking step at or as near to the creaking as possible.

carry this out on all creaking steps, if it does not work first time then have a rest and a cuppa and get the misses to have a go.

Answer 4

Creaky stairs, nightmare when i try to sneak in after a good night out. The way to sort it is to gain access to the under side of the stairs and use wedges & screws on the stair risers. This will pull all the wood together and stop the squeaking. The squeaking is due to minor movement of the stairs over a period of time. People normally put up with the odd squeak because of the hassle involved in getting in under the stairs. Good luck, beat the squeak.

Answer 5

well, i learnt this through the years of experience as a craftsman in the northwest of england..

The trick with steps is, they only creak when a certain pressure is exerted upon them that counterbalances the current "stable" forces applied when they are left alone.... To counter act this, dont step on teh ones that creak...

if your children then continue to step on them, thus waking you at stupid o'clock in the morning, apply a thin sheet of metal and connect a 10k volt charge to either end. This should stop them from using that step one way or the other... :D

Answer 6

Stop Creaking Stairs

Answer 7

the wood has come lose from the beam underneath, you need to hammer a nail in to the stairs peice of wood that goes through to the beam underneath. this should strengthen the wood and stop creaks.

Answer 8

Bang 2 inch nails in each tread half an inch from the outside edge 2 at each end should ndo the trick.! also bang some nails in at the front edge so that they go down into the riser.

Answer 9

Can you get some talc between the boards?? That's supposed to work a dream! Good luck!

Answer 10

Linseed oil works as does talcum powder