The squeaky floor gets the ….

Your house may be old or brand spanking new, it doesn’t matter, squeaky wooden floors happen. The squeak may come from one particular spot, many spots, or just one spot. They may also show some preference for certain environmental conditions. The squeak may only appear when the house is hot, cold, humid, dry, or for no apparent reason at all. The good news is that most squeaks are not hard for the average do-it-yourselfer to fix.

Exorcising the squeak

Casting out the demon squeak requires some modicum of knowledge about how wooden floors are constructed. Most have a two layer construction: the subfloor and the finished floor. The subfloor may consist of wide boards that run across the supporting joists at a 45 degree angle. In some cases the subfloor may be sheets of plywood. The finished floor is made up of narrower boards that run, usually, at right angles to the joist. They fit together with a tongue-in-groove joint. The finished floor boards should never run parallel to the subfloor boards.

The majority of the time, squeaks are caused by loose boards. This is caused by the buckling or warping of joists, or warping of the floorboard itself. Floorboards warp if they were not nailed down properly at the start, or not enough room was allowed for their expansion and contraction. Yes, they’re ALIVE! No, not really, but they do expand and contract. The actual squeak usually comes from the edges of the boards rubbing together when stepped on. The loose board(s) may be part of the subfloor or the finished floor.