It’s probably happened to you before. You’re walking across the floor of your home trying to be quiet and discreet (perhaps sneaking to the fridge for a midnight snack) and — squeak — your floor gives you away. While it may seem like a cruel prank, there is an actual reason that your floor squeaked. And besides telling everyone else in the house that you are up, the floor is also telling you that there may be a problem that needs to be addressed.
As the manager of Small Home Repairs LLC in New Jersey, Stan Grabowski is familiar with all types of sounds that a home makes, and here explains what your floor is trying to say.
Why do your floors squeak?
The cause could be one of two things, say Grabowski:
- First, it could be that the subfloor, which is the base under the finished floor, is separating or loosening from the joist, or that the finished floor itself is loosening or separating from the subfloor. It’s common that not enough fasteners were used during the installation, which is causing your problem.
- Another possibility is that the floor joist or the beam that supports the subfloor has settled over time. Therefore, every time someone passes over that area, there is movement from the subfloor as well as the finished floor.
How can you correct the problem?
How you, or more specifically, how your contractor, should go about making repairs really depends on the type of finished floors you have:
- In the case of a finished carpet floor, Grabowski says that the carpet can be lifted and the area that has become loosened can be re-secured. The best method for doing a repair like this, he explains, is using wood screws. It is important to locate the floor joists (the supporting beams) on both sides of the area that is squeaking. Then, the wood screws are driven through all the floors so that they are all properly reattached to the joists again. If you have vinyl composition and not carpeting, then the tiles are removed and the same process is performed. You can be certain, says Grabowski, that the entire floor assembled in that area is secure so there should be no more movement or noise.
- If you have hardwood floors, then it is a different matter altogether, he says. And in some cases, the finished floor boards have to be removed to alleviate the problem. By opening the area and securing the subfloor to the joists again, your problem is solved. Whenever he does a major renovation, Grabowski says that he always uses this method because the entire floor will be refinished anyway. However, if it is a small noise problem and you are not redoing the entire floor, then he says you can also place wood screws with a small head and that are countersunk and filled with a wood filler in the area of the squeak make them less noticeable.
Keep in mind, he says, that this is not always 100% of the reason for your problem. So, before you try to tackle the reattachments yourself, consult with a qualified contractor in your area who can properly diagnose the problem and offer suggestions specific to your needs.
