If you’ve been noticing creaky floors lately, you’re not alone. That annoying squeak when you step can drive anyone crazy, and good luck trying to sneak out without anyone hearing you. But don’t stress, creaky floors are pretty common and usually easy to fix. If you’re wondering why your floors are creaking, here are some of the most common causes and what you can do to quiet them down.
Loose Nails: A Common Culprit
One of the most common reasons for why your floors are creaking is because of the nails and staples underneath the boards loosening over time. With these guys slowly shifting and loosening over the years, this makes your board not as tightly secured, making it shift slightly. When you step on them, you’re basically making the floorboards rub against each other, which creates that classic squeak.
How Do I Stop My Floors From Creaking?
Luckily this problem has a pretty simple fix, which is to tighten or add more screws/nails. While you can do this by yourself, it’s highly recommended you get professionals to do it, just so you don’t accidentally damage your boards and make it a completely different (and way more expensive) problem. Good thing at EZ Con we have an expert team that have been professionally installing flooring for many years.
General Wear and Tear
As your floors get older, the fasteners, adhesive, or wood itself can begin to wear down. This can create movement and lead to squeaky boards. If your floors have been around for a while and you’re starting to notice creaks in multiple spots, general wear and tear might be the cause.
Time to Replace Your Creaky Floors
If the creaking is widespread, you may need to re-secure the floorboards or even replace certain sections. Luckily for you, we have a huge selection of high quality hardwood floors to choose from!
Subfloor Issues
It’s not only the floorboards that could be the cause of your noisy floors, but the subflooring is also a big factor. If the subfloor is not secured properly or has settled over time, it can cause movement, which is why your floors are creaking. This problem is not as simple as the others, since it doesn’t have to do with the wood flooring, so it’s a bit tricky to fix.
Subfloor Creaking Solution
If you suspect the subfloor is the problem, you may need to secure it again. This is a longer process that involves lifting the floorboards to access the subfloor and re-screwing or nailing it back down.
Expansion and Contraction of Wood
There’s a bunch of science behind why wood reacts the way it does to different temperatures or humidity, but all we need to know is that it expands and contracts. Sometimes, why your floors are creaking is because the low humidity makes the wood dry out. This makes it shrink while leaving gaps between floorboards, letting your boards move around and squeak. So, if you’ve noticed your floors creaking more in the winter, this is probably the reason. As the wood shifts, it can cause gaps that result in the creaking sound when you walk over them.
Check Your Floor’s Humidity For Creaking
The solution to this problem is also very simple and something you can do yourself, it being to just make sure to keep your home humidity levels in check. A humidifier can be your best friend, keeping the humidity between 35-55% helps stop your wood floors from drying out and shrinking. This is especially important in winter when the air is usually drier. As long as your humidity levels are good, then it should reduce the amount your wood floors move and creak.
The Magic of Floor Lubrication
Here’s a lesser-known tip for fixing creaky floors that not many people think about, floor lubrication. It sounds a little out there, but applying a bit of lubrication to your wood floors can help reduce friction between boards. Over time, as wood moves and shifts, it can create friction, which is why we get that dreaded squeaky sound. By lubricating the seams between the boards, this means there will be less friction, which means even less noisy floorboards.
Best Floor Lubricant to Stop Creaking
Use a powdered graphite lubricant, which is often used to on squeaky doors and locks too. You don’t want anything too wet or sticky, as that could damage the wood or attract dirt. Lightly sprinkle the graphite between the floorboards, and use a soft cloth to work it into the cracks. This simple fix can work wonders in cutting down the squeak without having to replace anything.
Final Thoughts
Creaking floors aren’t the end of the world, but they can be annoying. If you’re wondering why your floors are creaking, it could be due to loose nails, moisture changes, subfloor issues, or simple wear and tear. Good news is, most of those problems have simple fixes so you’ll be able to get those floors to pipe down in no time.
