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3/18/2018 0 Comments 4 Ways To Deal With Squeaky FloorHave you ever woken up your family due to the squeaky floor while trying to sneak in after your overnight party? We feel your pain! These creaky floorboards are the biggest problem faced by most homeowners. They are annoying and give away a feeling of a horror movie where ghosts try to scare the family members by tapping the floorboard. In reality, squeaky floors are nothing to be worried about until they show signs of structural damage, which might lead your floor to collapse. Well, you need not panic! It doesn’t require a degree in science for you to fix the floor. It is natural for floors to end up squeaking after a certain period of time, but staircases and hardwood floors are the common culprits. The main reason for squeaking is drying and expanding of wood, which makes the boards rub against each other, or the subflooring or the nail casing. So, let’s make your ground silent using these simple ways. Use Shims The simple way to prevent squeaking is by inserting small shims between the gaps. It is an easy job if you have direct access to the flooring from underneath. Simply make a family member walk on the floor from above so that you know where exactly the squeak starts. You can then observe the area and if the reason for squeaking is a gap, then you can simply insert a shim. It will prevent the floor from bouncing while people are walking over. It will be better to use adhesive on the shim before sliding it into the gap so that it sticks properly. Also, if it is not going further then stop right there, as forcing it can enlarge the gap. You can use this tip for your creaking stairs as well. Use Adhesive Cracks can run a long path, which will make inserting shims a hectic task. In this case, you can simply use constructive adhesive to fill the gap. This will work as a support to stop the floor from squeaking. Use A Board The only problem that you can face with joists is that they twist, get weaken or bend. This will end up opening a space between the joist and subfloor. Now, you can understand the reason behind those squeaky noises when you walk over the top of a joisted surface. You can simply nail a board along the broken joist to get the problem fixed. Apply constructive adhesive over the wood so that it sticks against the subfloor, before nailing or screwing it up. Use Lubrication For The Cracks
All the points mentioned above can be used when you have access to the room underneath, but what will you do when you have no access to the subfloors or joists? If such is the case, you can use a lubricant material over the problematic area to avoid squeaking. Simply pour talcum powder, powdered graphite or soapstone between the boards. Then cover it up with a cloth and walk over it so that the lubricant can work into the cracks. Later, simply vacuum the remaining powder. This simple thing will prevent woods from rubbing, which is the main cause of squeaky floors. Now that you know how to fix those squeaky noises, you can get back to tiptoeing across your house without getting caught!
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