Do you have to put on your tutu and ballet slippers in the middle of the night just to tiptoe across your creaky old floors so you don’t wake everyone up to go downstairs for a piece of pie? Well, you shouldn’t be eating pie in the middle of the night, but right now we’re going to talk about the creaky floors.
The problem is probably not the floor, but the joists or beams or trusses under your floor, and most people think there isn’t much you can do about that. But there is!
The squeaks and creaks are usually caused by the plywood under your actual wood floor, carpet, or tile lifting away from the support beams below and forming a gap. If it’s a lower level floor with a basement below, there are many methods to tighten that gap including using shims or adhesives to tighten that gap and get rid of the noise.
Sometimes the joist below your floor is warped, and tightening the gap won’t work. In this situation you can nail another board to the side of the joist and form an even contact with the floor above.
If the floor is at a higher level and you have no access to work on the joists, there are still methods to clear up the noise but they are a little more involved. Kits are available online for remedying the problem yourself if you Google “squeaky floors, but they involve drilling and doing other things that really are better left to a professional.
Now, if you’re buying new flooring one thing you don’t want to do is install it over old, squeaky joists and plywood. You’ll have a beautiful new floor but you’ll still have to put on ballet slippers. When the old flooring comes off that’s the time to fix the squeaks.
Whatever the issue may be, FMH Flooring and Specialty Woods has the experts to walk you through any issue and find the right solution. Please call us or stop by our showroom, we are here to help.