How To Fix Creaking Floorboards?

3 years ago

The noisy floor has always been an irritation for people of all ages because when you walk on the creaky floor, it will produce such an annoying sound that it can’t be bearable for anyone. Especially during the nighttime, when you walk on the floor, it will create a noise that can disturb the sleep of everyone in the home.

Many people suffer from this problem and always try to find the best ways how to fix creaking floorboards. To help you, we brought you today’s article, in which we will give you the best possible solutions for repairing the creaking floorboards so that they will not produce noise.

Main Reasons Behind Creaky Floorboards

There are various reasons that can make your floorboards creaky. Some boards cause noise because of the wear and tear situation, and some because of becoming outdated. We will highlight the top reasons behind the creaking of your floorboards that are listed below.

A gap between the top floor and the subfloor can create this type of annoying noise.
Because of the weakness of floor joints.
Loosen nails of floorboards.
Perform incorrect nailing while securing the joints of the floorboards.
Inadequacy of subfloor.
Excessive contact with water and moisturization.

Methods To Fix Creaking Floorboards

You can easily know how to fix creaking floorboards once you have spotted the main area that is causing to produce the noise. You can find that area by simply walking through the room, and where you notice the noise has been produced, just mark that place.

Once you spot that area, then you can move forward to fix it so that it will not produce any annoying sounds. Let’s look at these methods one by one:

1. By Inserting The Shims Into The hidden Gaps

First, find the gaps between the floorboards. It is only possible when there is a basement or any area that can give you easy access under the floor. You can solve the creaking of the floor by following these steps:

Go below the surface of the squeaky trendy floor and ask any member of your family to walk on the floor slowly.
Now you have to listen carefully when a noise occurs, stop that person from walking, and mark the exact spot where the squeak was produced.
Now you have to check out that place and analyze whether there is any gap between the subfloor and the top of the floor joist.
If you see a gap, then you must get the wood shim that can perfectly fit into that gap.
Attach the shim carefully without using a hammer.
Fill the gap with the help of a shim to stop the floor from moving up and down, which causes it to produce the sound.
If there is over one gap, then fit the shim in all the gaps you see.
After filling out all the gaps, now again, walk on the floor and you will definitely see a difference between before and after putting the shim into the gaps.

2. Use Construction Adhesive For Filling The Long Gaps

If there is a huge and constant gap between the subfloor and the top floor joist, then adding a series of shims is not a good approach. To cope with that type of situation, you must follow the instructions given below.

Get the sticky/heavy construction adhesive.
Use this adhesive with the help of a caulking gun.
This gun will help you insert the adhesive into the gaps that will stick to the top of the joist and subfloor to each other permanently.
After applying the adhesive on one side, you must check if the gap has also occurred on the other side, then apply the adhesive to that area, too.
This will help you reduce the creaky noise while walking on the floor.

3. Nailing A Board Inside The Warped Joist

Many times, we see that the floor joists may get damaged, shrink, twist, or bow. This mainly occurs because of installing the damp floorboards instead of letting them dry.

This will create a space between the subfloor and the top joist of the floor. When someone walks through that area of the floor, it will make a noise because of this space. You can fill out this enormous gap by following the steps given below.

Get the long Douglas to place along with the infected joist.
Apply the construction adhesive to the top of the board.
Now fix it flat along with the joist. Press the board so that it will be fixed in the right position.
Now get a hammer and rap on the board’s bottom edge to make it tight against the floor.
After fixing the board, walk on the floor and you notice that no noise has been produced and you can now have a peaceful walk and sleep too.

4. By Adding More Blocks Into Noisy Joists

The last solution to the problem is how to fix creaking floorboards. Another perfect solution to the creaky floor is to put solid blocks between the joists of the floor so that the floorboards cannot produce annoying noises. Follow the steps given below to get the amazing results:

Cut the blocks as per the size of the joists on your floor.
Then place these blocks between the joists.
Place all the blocks at a certain position so that they cover the whole creaking area of the floor.
After placing them in the perfect place, fit them tightly against the subfloor.
Use the screws to fix the blocks efficiently.

Conclusion

These are the best methods for fixing creaking floorboards. I hope all the solutions mentioned above will help you a lot while treating the creaky floors. If your floor still produces an irritating noise, let us know by posting a comment. Our fixit flooring experts will give you the perfect solution related to the problems you are facing.