Silence the squeaky floor in your apartment!

Are you always woken up by the noise of the squeaky floor each time someone walks on it?  Squeaky floors are usually present in apartments which are quite old and have wooden flooring or improper installation of the wooden floors.

Why do squeaky floors occur?

Squeaky floors occur when the house is become quite old and the flooring lumber has dried out and shrunk. The lumber makes noise as a person walks around resulting in the boards rubbing against each other or sliding against the nail shafts to produce  creaks and squeaks.

Here’s what you should do;

If you find too many squeaky floors in your apartment, you should start locating the exact area where the squeaking is produced.

Once you find the exact place, tap a small nail with the ball-pen hammer in the lumber. In case the squeak and creak continues you should;

Reach the lumber surface by pulling off the carpet/rug.

Make a pilot hole at the chosen place and drive a spiral nail into the hole by setting it below the surface with a nail set.

Ensure that you are well aware about how a spiral nail works.

Once you have nailed the lumber, fill the recess with wood putty which blends well with the rest of the lumber. In case you do not have wood putty, you can always tack a pad or cover it with  the carpet.

In case the squeaking is quite loud, you should locate the floor below and drive a coated wooden shim with glue in the subfloor. This should be followed by nailing the area.

You can also;

Lubricate the wooden floor by using talcum powder or liquid graphite. Apply the talc in between the floorboards.

Look out for any loose nails which are sticking out and are causing the noise. Remove the loose nails with a pliers and replace them with the new ones.

Detect the subfloor for any lose pinned down nails and coat them with shingle and glue and fill in the gaps between the lumber.