When I moved into my apartment I had nice hardwood floors. Now after two years I have noticed that the areas where people walk have become squeaky and creaky, while untouched areas are still firm and quiet. Is there some polyurethane coating that may have worn off in the time since I moved in? Some other reason why these areas are squeaky?
2007-11-20 18:18:39 · 10 answers · asked by FullFaith 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Is the squeak coming from the hardwood flooring itself, or the subfloor underneath it?
When there is a heavy traffic pattern, you will find that the portion of floor in that path, will be put through more flexing than elsewhere on the floor... this often results in nails backing out. But, it could be the nails in the subfloor... or the nails holding the hardwood floor to the sub floor (if it was nailed, and not made as a 'floating' floor)
And it could easily be both layers making noise, hehehe.
I find that most often, the laminate and hardwood floor coverings have a shorter 'squeak' to them, than the subfloor squeaks. In both cases, what has happened is the material has lifted a bit from whatever it was nailed to... and when you step on it... the board rubs on the nail/staple as it goes down, creating the squeak.
You can certainly try to 'lubricate' hardwood/laminate flooring with powder, just keep in mind, you're not fixing the problem, only treating the symptom. The problem is that nail (or nails) that has backed out, allowing the flooring to lift. A permanent fix (for surface flooring material) would be to pull it up, and reset it... and I'd think about using some glue, instead of nails, to prevent it from happening again, in a couple of years, hehehe.
If the problem is the sub-floor squeaking... then I like to use a "Squeak Ender". This is a special bracket made just for this type of squeak....it screws to the underside of the sub-floor, with a J-bracket that allows you to secure it under the subfloor... thus.. pulling the sub-floor back down onto the floor joist. Squeak Enders are installed from under the floor, and can be installed fairly quickly... they run about $7 at most building supply stores.
One more scenario... if youre hardwood floor is installed over a concrete slab....then the squeak is the flooring rubbing against the adjacent peice...if this was installed as a floating floor, it means the floor wasnt glued properly in that section. Again, you can try the powder trick, and just plan on adding more powder again and again, as time goes by...or the boards can be pulled up and replaced.. with more care given to the installation.
If you want to try the powder solution... an old fashioned ketchup squeeze bottle works pretty well... lets you 'squirt' some powder right down into the seam. Dont hold your face too close when doing this.. hehehe.
Ok... just to cover the bases.... since you mention 'creak'.... Mobile homes will have a creaking noise when a lag bolt that holds the steel frame, and floor joist together becomes loose. The lag bolts are located along the 'outer' side of the long parallel I-beams of the steel frame, and there is a lag bolt on the tip of the triangular 'wings' or extensions that are placed every so often down the length of the home. Usually, its the lag bolt along the I-beam that has come loose... Ive actually found quite a few of these that were over-torqued at the factory, and stripped out during transport. Simple fix is to crawl under there with a socket wrench and tighten them up. Whenever I found one stripped, I'd glue in a popsicle stick, or small dowel, to help 're-fill' the bolt hole... then drive the lag bolt back in. In some of the worse stripouts.. I'd completely fill the hole with glue/dowel, and drill a new pilot hole after it had set.
Good Luck
2007-11-21 05:20:14 · answer #1 · answered by thewrangler_sw 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
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2016-05-03 20:11:50 · answer #2 · answered by Danny 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Squeaky Wood Floors
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2015-01-24 10:36:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
PhiloSop is right but it doesn't have to be baby powder. Any talcum powder will stop the squeak.
Just sprinkle it in the cracks between the boards.
2007-11-20 20:35:20 · answer #9 · answered by Ladyfromdrum 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep. Put baby powder in between the grooves. I'm serious! I saw it on a commercial a few years ago, tried it and it worked.
2007-11-20 18:27:23 · answer #10 · answered by PhiloSophia 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋