More on squeaks

Since I reported on a treatment for squeaky floors, many readers have e-mailed pithy questions and additional squeak solutions.

I've learned that even people in brand new houses have squeak issues. Some new homeowners have had to entirely replace subfloors because the existing ones were poorly installed with inferior materials.

Building codes are devised to make buildings safe, not quiet. If you're in the market for a new home there are a few things to consider so you won't end up in the squeak ward.

Most builders will be manufacturing your house as quickly as possible. A builder doing a quality job will go to the extra effort of making the building feel solid and quiet. Other builders may take a few shortcuts, unless you make special requests.

Talk to your builder and express your concerns about having quiet floors. Put it politely. Something like, "I don't want to be calling you once the floors are finished and requesting expensive retrofits, so let's talk about the subfloors now." Here are some specific points to mention:

1. Request that they glue the subfloor to the joists with a high quality subfloor adhesive.
2. Request that they screw the subfloor down, rather than using nails.
3. Request that they use 5/8" tongue-in-groove plywood for the subfloor, rather than oriented strand board (OSB).

These items may be considered 'upgrades'. DO IT! You'll be glad you did. If you're sceptical, read further.

The builder may say, "Wait a few months. The squeaks will go away." They'll go away as the wood expands with increasing humidity, but come back when the wood dries and shrinks again.

For people who live in older buildings with tricky squeaks, here are additional offerings:

Hi Mag,
I read with interest your column today on squeaky floors and stairs. We recently put new carpeting in the bedroom and had the opportunity to "try" to get rid of the squeaks. We put about 300 screws into the floors and it didn't seem to make too much of a difference. The new carpet and underpad helped more than the screws I think.

Our stairs are really squeaky and we tried the same when new carpet was put on them about two years ago but it did nothing. Seeing as there probably aren't any joists under the stairs do you think the trim head screw will do any good or am I wrong in assuming their are no joists under each stair?

Your advice would be appreciated.
Doug Ward

Hi Doug. Sorry the screwing didn't work out. Here are a few tips in case you try it again in the future:

1. Probe for 'stringers' running down each edge of the stairs and down the middle, supporting the span of the treads.
2. Put all your weight on the loose tread and screw through it into the stringer.
3. If you don't find stringers, your other option is to screw through the tread into the riser. Use wood screws with no threads on the upper part of the shank to help pull the tread hard against the top of the riser.

If you can get underneath your stairs, drive small wooden wedges into all the cracks between the treads, and between the risers and 'stringers' (which act as zig-zag-shaped joists for the stairs). To make wedges, break off small pieces of tapered cedar shims, which are available in bundles at your home center. Coat the wedges with carpenters' glue before you tap them in.

If you don't have access to the stairs from underneath, your fellow readers have gone beyond desperation to achieve other effective solutions. For example, several homeowners wrote with this clever route for escaping squeak torment:

Hi Mag,
A year ago, before ceramic tiling the bathroom, I did all the things that you recommend in your article, but the floor still squeaked excessively. In frustration I went down to the unfinished basement, under the bathroom, and sprayed WD-40 up into every crack and joint that I could find under the bathroom floor. It smelled strongly of WD-40 for a couple of hours, but guess what? All the squeaks immediately disappeared, never to return (as yet). If they do, I'll just give them another treatment. I'm not aware of any down side to doing this.
Dave Ayotte

Pretty cool, eh? Use the red straw that comes taped to the WD-40 container; insert it into the aerosol spray opening, and aim the other end of the straw into small crevices for precise de-squeaking. If you don't have access to the squeaks from underneath, and you have carpet over the squeak, try drilling through the carpet with a finish nail, then inserting the straw and blasting the squeak with a modest hit of WD-40.

Dear Mag,
You left out the easiest method of un-squeaking floor boards, quoted in so many DIY home repair and home maintenance books: lots of talcum powder, brushed in between the floorboards! By the way, isn't it time for toolgirl to graduate to toolwoman?
P. Feldman

The key to womanhood is maturity, and I don't have that key. I have however tried the talcum powder method in the past. It was messy, slippery and the cracks went white and stayed white, plus talc dust is a known carcinogen, but if you don't mind any of that, it does work.

Come to think of it, WD-40 isn't good for lung tissue either, and what goes to the lungs ends up in the brain, so wear a respirator while you're using WD-40, especially overhead. End of lecture.