Effective ways to eliminate the creak of a wooden floor. Wooden floor creaking: ways to fix the problem Replace damaged areas

Hello dear experts! My name is Marina and I have this problem. A year ago, we installed a new wooden staircase in the house. At first everything was fine, we were satisfied with the work of the master, as he fitted all the details well (well, at least it seemed so to us), but after about eight months, in the spring, the staircase began to creak unpleasantly. At first it was not very noticeable, but soon the sound became so strong that if someone walks up the stairs at night, the whole family wakes up. In general, the wooden staircase creaks, we don’t know what to do!

They called the master who did the installation, and in response they heard that he was not to blame, since the reason was that we bought low-quality wood. Naturally, he refused to correct, and we do not know if he is telling us the truth. Now I will formulate my questions.

1. Why does a wooden staircase creak?
2. What to do so that the wooden stairs do not creak?
3. Is it possible to do the repair yourself?

Hello Marina! We hasten to inform you that the master was not completely frank with you, and, most likely, part of the blame lies with him. But let's talk about everything in order.

Understanding the reasons

In fact, there is only one reason for the occurrence of squeaks in wooden structures - this is the diffusion of paints and varnishes. This chemical process proceeds to varying degrees of intensity in different paintwork materials.

The bottom line is that there are molecular bonds between the coatings of two parts, and when they break due to deformations of the stairs during walking, a creak is formed.

There are several reasons for the appearance of diffusion:

• Most often, stairs begin to creak, the supports of which are bowstrings., and not stringers, although in the second case, the steps often creak. The fact is that wooden wedges are used to install treads and risers in sawn grooves. An example of such a connection can be seen in the title photo of this material.
• After a while, the wedges can shrink, loosen in the groove due to constant loads, or simply be poorly fitted initially. In all three cases, the tread loses its fixation strength and begins to “play” a little, the situation is not saved by self-tapping screws, and even more so by nails, which additionally tighten everything.
• Another reason lies in the fact that the fastening of the tread, risers, platform beams has weakened., if available, or a supporting element (strings or kosour). Most often, a problem arises when fastening to screws or nails. Bolted connections are quickly tightened, and if necessary, rubber linings are changed on them, which cannot be done on the mentioned connections.

• Poor fitting of stairs- this is already completely the merit of the master collector, but it is very difficult to check it right away, since the consequences appear after some time.
• Floor deflection- if the main load-bearing parts of the stairs are not installed on a concrete floor or any other solid foundation, then the loads during walking will bend the floor. Because of this, there is a constant deformation of the nodes of the entire structure, which, in fact, is the cause of the squeaks. If the master did not foresee this, then we think that the fault belongs entirely to him.
• Incorrect installation- the master did not use carpentry glue or PVA glue to connect the parts. This reason can be identified by a careful examination of the joints of parts, and partial disassembly of the structure.
• Wrong coloration– it is impossible to allow paint and varnish materials to get on the spikes, grooves and other contacting parts of the structure so that the mentioned diffusion does not occur.
• But the following reason is the most suitable in the described case. This is wood shrinkage.. If this process takes place naturally, that is, without heating, then some breeds lose about 8 percent in weight per year. Maple, ash, oak and larch are the least susceptible to this phenomenon - it is these species that are recommended for the manufacture of indoor stairs.

Summary

Judging by the story, it seemed that the squeaks arose after the end of the heating season. It is possible that heating devices are located next to the stairs, which accelerated the drying process of the wood.

It follows that the wood you purchased was indeed too wet. But any competent master had to warn the client about the possible consequences.

That is why, part of the blame remains on him. In addition, you still need to personally check all the connections that he adjusted, and only then present something to the person. Well, if you have no desire to sort things out, then use our advice and try to eliminate the causes of squeaks on your own.

Answer 2 and 3: what to do

We decided to combine the remaining answers into one chapter, since they are closely related to each other.

How to eliminate the creak of a wooden staircase? The answer to this question is ambiguous, since it largely depends on the type of structure. Unfortunately, Marina, you did not describe yours, so we will try to give a more detailed answer.

Eliminate the creak

First of all, you need to determine in which places your staircase creaks. Most often, these are joints of treads and risers, treads and stringers and bowstrings, balusters and treads. To do this, you will need two people - one slowly walks up the stairs, and the second listens carefully from below (preferably under the stairs) and marks suspicious steps.

Now you need to partially disassemble these steps. First, let's talk about the repair of stairs, the steps of which are installed in bowstrings.

Here is a short guide:

• We climb under the stairs, and visually inspect the wedges on the tread and tread.
• We check the presence of glue and how tightly the parts fit together.
• We remove the wedges with a chisel and a hammer.
• We remove the mounting corners from the inner corner, including the outer ones, if any.

• We unscrew all the screws that hold the necessary parts of the stairs.
• It is not necessary to remove the steps completely - it is enough to slightly loosen and part the seams of the joints.
• Check for traces of old glue on the joints. If it is not there, then you can again, if you wish, invite your master and ask for it.
• If the adhesive is in place, then it must be cleaned off. For these purposes, use a chisel, a sharp knife and sandpaper.
• Fill the accessible holes left from the self-tapping screws with PVA glue and drive a chopstick into them. But even better - move the mounts to another place.
• The extracted wedges are also cleaned. If they are worn from walking, then replace them with new ones made of more durable wood.
• Buy a silicone sealant, since the price for it does not exceed 300 rubles, and coat all the joints from the inside. Ordinary wax can be used, which will provide a dry lubricant that never dries out and prevents diffuse bonding between parts.

Advice! In general, you need to work with silicone very carefully and quickly, as it will not allow you to disassemble the structure again. Try to use paraffin whenever possible, but it is not always convenient to apply it to surfaces.

To temporarily raise the parts, you can use small plastic or wood linings or a nail puller, which must be carefully pushed into the joint from the outside.

• Lubricate the wedges with sealant or paraffin on both sides and hammer them as tightly as possible into the place from which they were removed.
• Next, the mounting corners are returned to the place, which also need to be coated with silicone.
• At the end, we tighten everything with self-tapping screws.

The squeaks should now be gone. If this does not happen, then try again to calculate the problem areas, since you could have made a mistake the first time.

Features of stairs on stringers

Things are much more complicated with stairs that stand on stringers. The reason is that the balusters are installed directly on top of the treads, and there is no way to freely spread the joints in order to grease them well.

You will either have to completely dismantle the railing, or somehow contrive and drive a wedge under the tread. But keep in mind that you risk disrupting all normal connections, so we advise you not to be lazy and first completely disassemble the fence, at the same time updating all the joints of the balusters.

In the future, the procedure is very simple: we unscrew the screws or bolts, raise the riser, coat the joint with sealant and return everything to its place. We also hammer chopsticks with PVA glue into the holes for the screws.

Yes, completely forgot! Before assembling the ladder back, check the reliability of the fastening of the bowstrings, stringers and platform beams. If even the slightest backlash is found, we strengthen the fixation with corners, anchors and everything that is at hand. Do not forget to coat all joints of parts with paraffin or sealant.

If the reason lies in the bending of the floor under the stairs, then you will inevitably have to dismantle the entire structure and strengthen the base. In this case, we advise you not to save money and invite a truly competent master.

That's all for us, we hope that we were able to help understand the question of why wooden stairs creak, and how to deal with it. Watch the video in this article, where a professional ladder manufacturer with experience explains how and why such problems arise.

No matter how high-quality a wooden bed is, sooner or later it will begin to creak when moving, interfering with sleep and rest and simply unnerving. With all the preserved comfort of the bed, such a tangible minus as a creak will be the reason for the deterioration in the quality of sleep, and hence human health. At the same time, changing this bed to a new one is not the most cost-effective solution. In most cases, we are talking about repairing furniture and eliminating the auditory irritant that has appeared if the wooden bed creaks. How to fix this so that you can continue to use your favorite bed for many more years?

Causes of bed creaking

It is quite possible to get rid of the squeak without being a furniture specialist. However, if the wooden bed creaks, you can only solve the problem by first understanding why the furniture makes these unpleasant sounds.

Most likely, this is due to the natural process of drying out of natural material - wood. An equally common reason may be that the fasteners of the bed parts weaken over time.

But you should exclude the sound that may come from an old mattress, as in this case it turns out that it is not a wooden bed that creaks. What to do to understand if the mattress is to blame? You just need to take it off and put it on the floor, then lie down and move around. If there is no squeak, then you need to continue to study all parts of the bed: slats or boards under the mattress, all docking points without exception, as well as the frame and legs. As soon as the place or places of the defect are found, you can begin to act in accordance with what exactly causes the squeak.

Loose fasteners

The loosening of fasteners is the most common cause of an unpleasant sound, since all materials, without exception, tend to wear out, and over time, one part begins, fraying, to come into contact with another more tightly than was provided for by the design. In addition, from the movement and weight acting on the parts, the tightness of the fastening can also weaken. In such cases, it is sufficient to tighten all nuts and bolts.

But it happens that from time to time they are no longer able to withstand the load on their own, and the wooden bed creaks. What to do in such cases? You need to install additional fasteners. For example, special corners made of wood or metal, which should be screwed on the other side of the furniture. Instead of corners or in addition to them, you can strengthen all joints with wood glue.

By tightening, strengthening and letting the glue dry, you can check if the creak has disappeared. If it remains, you need to use one of the types of lubricant, which covers the joints of the bed to eliminate friction from all the wooden parts of the frame. You can use special silicone grease, grease, paraffin and even ordinary soap. These works must be carried out carefully and very carefully, since there is a high risk of damage to the upper protective and decorative layer of wood.

Gluing joints

A very good proven way to eliminate bed squeaks is to use rubber glue to seal the holes that cause the bed to squeak. The adhesive remains flexible enough to hold the filled space securely. You need to use this method according to the following instructions:

1. Disassemble the bed into the smallest possible parts to assess the degree of wear.
2. Degrease all joints with any alcohol, let it evaporate.
3. Carefully apply rubber glue to each of the prepared parts.
4. Immediately after application, we assemble and make a wooden bed back and, putting it in its usual place, wait for the glue to dry completely, in accordance with the recommendations on the package.

After that, the creak should not remain. The only disadvantage of the described method is that the glue between the elements will not allow you to easily disassemble the bed again in the future.

Reiki

The very slats on which the mattress is located are an equally popular reason why it happens that a wooden bed creaks. What to do in this case? You can only fix the problem by replacing old defective rails with new ones or by trying to swap old rails.

legs

It happens that the cause of the creak lies in this defect - the most difficult task for home repairs. The legs, of course, can be replaced with others, but their installation can be quite difficult even for professionals. But you can simply remove the legs, for example, by sawing them down, without special skills and tools. In addition, instead of a boring classic bed, the result can be a new fashionable and original element of the interior - a platform for sleeping and relaxing, standing right on the floor.

A visual change of scenery, stability and elimination of creaking can thus be achieved simultaneously. Of course, this solution is not suitable for everyone, but you can still consider it. Who knows, maybe someone close will wake up the talent of a room designer, and the platform bed will become the most favorite piece of furniture in the house.

What else can you do if the wooden bed creaks

What to do for those who have not been helped by the above methods? You can get rid of a creak without resorting to drastic measures if you try to apply the following tricky solutions:

1. A thick cushion placed between the wall and the headboard as an additional shock-absorbing support, significantly reducing the force of the skip.
2. A small layer of any dense material between the frame and the mesh or bed rails.
3. Special covers put on furniture legs.
4. Checking the position of the mattress (moved out can create noise).

Thus, having discovered the cause of the creak and knowing what to do if the bed creaks, you can stop this annoying misunderstanding at no extra cost and use your favorite furniture for a long time to come.

Almost no building is complete without such a functional element as a staircase. It can be main or auxiliary, entrance, front or internal, mid-flight or screw - a huge variety of options, including the material of manufacture. Since ancient times, wooden stairs have gained great popularity. Their modern execution is so perfect that they are able to decorate with themselves almost any interior or exterior. In addition, wood is a natural, environmentally friendly material that can bring charm, warmth and comfort to the surrounding atmosphere. The article will discuss how to eliminate the creak of a wooden staircase.

Wood is an affordable, durable and reliable building material, whose positive qualities have been confirmed for centuries. And today, the oldest surviving staircase made of wood is more than 7 thousand years old.

• But along with the huge advantages of wooden stairs, they have one significant drawback - during operation, there is a high probability of a creak.
• As a rule, an unpleasant creaky sound appears when the ladder elements touch or rub against each other. Before understanding the reasons, you should consider the main structural parts of wooden stairs.

Basic structural elements

Paying attention to the huge number of all kinds of stairs made of wood, it seems that only their main function and material of manufacture are common between them. But, even considering that they are made according to individual projects and have many unique design solutions, their design still consists of the same basic elements.

The basis of the structure - load-bearing elements

The supporting elements include two types of beams, which differ in the way steps are fixed on them. The choice of a particular type of construction depends on the personal preferences of the inhabitants of the house or apartment, as well as on the parameters of the room in which the installation of the stairs is planned, first of all, this concerns the interfloor height and the width of the opening into which the wooden product is installed.

• Kosour- an inclined bar made of durable wood. A comb is sawn or cut out along its upper part, on which steps are installed on top, which can be fixed in special grooves with glue, or with the help of hardware. The element can be mounted from two sides or one in the middle (central). When viewed from the side, the ends of the steps are visible. This design is characterized by lighter weight and compact dimensions.

• bowstring- a supporting part in the form of a bar with grooves (nests) cut out from the inside, intended for fixing steps in them, while their end is hidden behind the bowstring. This design has a significant weight and requires more space for installation, but has an attractive appearance, due to the completely closed from the bottom of the stairs.

fencing elements

The main element of the fence are considered railing that provide safe descent and ascent. The railing consists of several parts:

• handrail- the horizontal part of the railing, can also be installed separately from the railing on the wall, in cases where one part of the stairs is adjacent to it closely. The main purpose of the element is to support the hand during movement;
• balusters- vertical support posts on which handrails and a decorative element are fixed. They can be installed only at the bottom and at the top of the stairs, but more often at regular intervals along the entire march, in this case they are fixed on top of the railing, and on the bottom in the balustrade and perform a protecting function. They have a rounded, curly or straight shape;

• supporting pillars- the base for the installation of the handrail and the supporting supports for the railing, necessary for attaching the kosour or bowstring. There are entrance pillars installed on the first step of the stairs, exit pillars - respectively, on the last step and turning pillars installed in those places where the staircase makes a turn or bend.

Marches and platforms

• Perhaps the main and obligatory structural element, without which it is difficult to imagine a staircase, can be called steps, they are performed in the form of horizontal slats and together make up a flight of stairs. They serve to support the legs, and in turn consist of:
  1. tread- a horizontally located bar, which makes up the area of ​​the step, which is stepped on when walking up the stairs, is attached to the comb of the kosour or to the groove of the bowstring;
  2. riser- the element, located vertically, is the height of the step, is its additional support and performs a protective function. It can tightly or partially close the space between the degrees, in some cases it is completely absent.

• There are several types of steps in appearance - beveled, arcuate, straight and wedge-shaped, as well as in functionality - frieze (upper and lower), running and ordinary. For their manufacture, hardwoods are used, providing additional rigidity and preventing traces of mechanical stress. A wedge is often driven between the tread and the riser, which is necessary for rigid fixation of the step.
• The march usually ends platform, it can be in the form of a square or rectangle, or it can have a non-standard shape. This is a transition to the next level, in some cases the floor of the next floor acts as a platform.

Reasons why a wooden staircase creaks

There can be several reasons why the stairs creak. Among the main ones, natural processes inherent in wood are distinguished.

• Shrinkage- any wood contains moisture in its composition and during operation the process of its return to the environment takes place, if the structure was assembled from poorly dried boards, then this phenomenon simply cannot be avoided. A tree of natural moisture shrinks up to 7-8% per year, and this is quite enough for the appearance of small gaps between the main staircase elements. When choosing a material for the construction of a structure, preference should be given to well-dried boards and logs from species that give a minimum percentage of shrinkage (maple, larch, ash, oak) and harvested in winter. Usually knots such as the junction of the riser and tread, bowstrings or stringers and treads, the connection of a baluster with a handrail or with a baluster, suffer from shrinkage.

• Deformation, destruction and wear- many things suffer from long-term operation, wooden products are no exception, especially if the structure is in an aggressive environment (high humidity, low temperature and high traffic). Squeaking usually occurs at the junction of the tread with the riser. This process can be prevented by timely processing of the material with various protective agents, they should be applied at the stage of preparation, as well as during the assembly of the stairs, especially when processing all seams and joints.

• Loose fastening or detached components- this phenomenon occurs due to the low quality of the adhesive composition used, as well as due to the use of self-tapping screws for joining. As a rule, to connect the parts to each other, bolts with nuts are used, which are very easy to tighten if necessary, self-tapping screws do not have such an opportunity, and if they start to get out, they can only be replaced by placing them in a new place.
• Incorrect fit of parts- this problem arises due to the negligence of the masters or due to inexperience in self-assembly of the structure. Immediately, the problem may not detect itself, but during operation, the components will begin to loosen. It is important, before starting the independent assembly of the stairs, to carefully study the whole process, and if a ready-made structure is purchased, then check when accepting the connection of the main elements and immediately correct all the shortcomings.
• floor deflection- this problem is very difficult to eliminate, since in some cases even complete dismantling of the product is required, therefore, before installing the ladder, the floor under its main bearing and supporting elements should be carefully strengthened with special racks or an additional beam.

Many of these reasons can be prevented even at the collection stage, but if it was not possible to do this in time and the stairs make unpleasant sounds when walking on it, then all necessary actions must be taken to eliminate the problems that have arisen.

Creaking stairs what to do

• First of all, when connecting the elements of the stairs to each other, special attention should be paid to the joining of the main parts so that it is as tight as possible, preventing further backlash formation. But if, nevertheless, the cause of the creak is in a loose connection, then, first of all, it is necessary to identify problem areas.
• To establish the exact location of the creak, you need to walk up and down the flight of stairs. If there are any decorative coatings, for example, carpets on the steps, then they must be removed without fail. The task will be simplified if there is free access to the back of the stairs (under the steps). It is best to carry out repairs with two people.

Tip: one person goes down under the stairs and marks problem areas, while the second at this time goes up and down the stairs and loudly calls the numbers of those where the nasty sound occurs.

• When all creaking steps are marked, you should check if the platforms are loosened, as well as the connection of the supporting beams on which the stringers or bowstring are fixed. Particular attention should be paid to connecting elements and fasteners. If necessary, install new rubber gaskets between the bolts and wood or lubricate the metal parts with special compounds.

• The main elements where, as a rule, problems arise are the junctions of the steps, since it is on them that there is more pressure during movement, and, accordingly, they are subject to greater deformation. If the tread and riser were fixed with nails, then during operation they may loosen and small gaps will appear.
• With an open staircase design, it is better to fix the steps from the bottom side. With minor damage, you can additionally drive in 2-3 nails, at an angle to the tread. For the construction of stairs, hardwoods (oak, beech, elm) are usually selected, this ensures maximum service life and eliminates abrasion of the main parts. But the disadvantage of such material is that it is almost impossible to tighten screws or drive in nails without damaging the tree. Therefore, before fastening the parts with hardware, a hole should be drilled with a diameter smaller than the fastening element.

Tip: it is not recommended to glue a re-opened connection, they will no longer be fixed qualitatively and the squeak problem will return soon. Also, do not drive screws or bolts into existing holes or very close to them.

• If there is confidence that the creaking occurs due to loose wedges that are located between the tread and the riser, or the stringer, then they can be carefully removed from the inside of the steps, peeled off the old glue, lubricated with protective compounds and re-fixed with PVA glue or liquid nails.
• In rare cases, it happens that the wedges themselves shrink or expand (this may occur due to the use of poorly dried wood) and it becomes necessary to change their shape so that they clearly fit into their original place and perform their main function. Then, a more effective measure is considered to be a complete replacement of the wedges, or the addition of additional planks fixed to the screws.
• If the problem is more serious and the gap has a decent gap, then before attracting the parts to each other, additional wedges or planks should be made. It is advisable to treat the seams with special glue for wood and, if necessary, additionally tighten the tread and risers. When repairing from the inside, the parts are aligned so that they are invisible from the front side. If there is no possibility of repair from the inside, then the steps are either lifted with a lever, or by hammering wedges, the protruding parts are carefully cut down and sanded.

• Also, wedges may be needed for loosened bowstring grooves. To do this, prepare small wedges, coat them with glue and drive them from the bottom into the groove under the step.

• On completely loose steps, it is recommended to install additional stiffeners - special bars that tighten the riser with a tread. There are structures that do not have open access from below.
• Sometimes the creak is seasonal, that is, with an increase in the humidity of the air in the room, the wood from which the stairs are made swells and the details become larger than the grooves in which they were placed, so now they can no longer come close. To prevent wood from absorbing moisture from the air, it should be treated with various water repellents.

• Also, in order to avoid seasonal creaking, it is possible to treat all mating structural elements with silicone sealant or paraffin during the dry season. The sealant should be chosen colorless and after it has been applied, it is better not to walk up the stairs for 24-48 hours so that the composition hardens.
• Experts advise installing gaskets made of elastic materials in places where the parts come into contact with each other or sticking a damper tape that will compensate for the stretching or compression of the wood.
• It is best to carry out all work on fixing the tread under its load, that is, you should install some kind of load on it, for example, weights or a bag of sand, the total weight should be about 80 kg.
• In stairs with 3 stringers, creaking usually occurs in the middle of them. In this case, the steps are additionally fixed to the comb of the central beam with glue or metal fasteners.

From long-term operation, almost all wooden stairs begin to creak, regardless of what kind of wood they are made of, what design they have, how many steps are on it and what shape of the railing. But if you approach the process of getting rid of an unpleasant sound wisely, then you can get rid of it quickly and, most importantly, for a long time. In addition, it will not be difficult to change the general appearance of an already aged staircase by restoring it.

Most, probably, the owners of houses or apartments where wooden floors are laid, faced the problem of creaking floorboards. This phenomenon can be caused by various reasons, and it can manifest itself in both old and new buildings. It seems to be a trifle - but it acts annoyingly. And for people with a particularly sensitive psyche, creaking can generally cause an unpleasant neurosis.

There are many ways to get rid of unpleasant, nerve-wracking sounds. It does not necessarily require a major overhaul. How to remove the creak of a wooden floor on your own, without resorting to the services of a master, will be discussed in this publication.

Possible causes of creaking

Before proceeding with the repair of a wooden floor, it is necessary to determine the cause of the appearance of unpleasant sounds. And they arise most often due to the friction of structural parts against each other:

• Loose fasteners. If the board is fixed to the joists with nails, then over time the holes in the wood around them can widen. Both the impact of loads and the drying of the tree contribute to this. In order for a creak to appear when walking on the floor, sometimes it is enough for just one of the nails to loosely press the board to the base.
• If, when installing the boards, the master saved on nails, nailing them only in the middle, then the floorboards can begin to “walk” in the transverse direction. At the same time - to rub against neighboring boards, causing an unpleasant sound.

• Another mistake made when installing the floor. There is not enough clearance around the perimeter of the room between the wall and the flooring. With changes in temperature and humidity, the material expands. And if the technological (deformation) gap is small or absent altogether, the boards rest against the fixed surface of the wall. They begin, even if imperceptible visually, but still deformation. That is, new friction nodes appear and, accordingly, a creak.

• If for some reason the board is deformed - bent outward or inward, then an unpleasant sound also occurs when the load is applied. Another argument to the fact that the boards must be fixed as securely as possible.
• If the boards are securely fastened and do not cling to each other, and the floors still creak, then the problem may be in the lags. The beam could dry out and warp over time, resulting in friction against the floor slab.
• If the floors are old, then it is quite possible that the beams or logs could rot in some areas. At the same time, the boards fixed on them sag and touch the adjacent rows of flooring, creating friction centers.
• If the floors have been recently laid, then the cause of the creak is most often the non-compliance with the installation technology. Or - the use of low-quality lumber for arranging the floor - boards or timber. For example, insufficiently dried boards were purchased and put into action without proper processing. When they dry out, they deform, the fasteners loosen and friction occurs.
• When installing the lags, they were not set exactly to the level. Due to differences in their height, deflections are formed when the coating is loaded. Another reason is that the step between the lags is chosen too large, not corresponding to the thickness of the floorboards.
• If nails or self-tapping screws of insufficient length are used for fastening, then the fixation of the board weakens over time. The floorboard moves away from the lags, and lowers when loaded. This also results in a creak.
• Annoying sounds can also appear if soft leveling pads were laid under them when laying the logs. They are compressed over time, which leads to uneven subsidence of the entire structure.
• In older buildings, floor deformation can occur due to subsidence of the foundation of the house. In such cases, there is no way to do without a large-scale overhaul.

So, in order not to make mistakes and not complicate the work, it is worth considering a step-by-step reconstruction of the floor. It should be noted right away that today there are quite a lot of tools that can greatly facilitate construction work. However, in this case, the master uses improvised devices to rally the boards, which everyone can make on their own.

Illustration	Brief description of the operation to be performed
	The first step is to remove the boardwalk. First you need to remove the skirting boards. If they are going to be reused, then they must be removed very carefully. It is best not to pull on the baseboard itself, but, having found the fixing nails, remove them with a nail puller. To determine the location of the nails, the plinth must be carefully pry off the wall with a pry bar. When separating the lath, the nails will immediately reveal themselves. It is even easier if the plinth is fixed with self-tapping screws - they are simply unscrewed with a screwdriver.
	Further, using the same mount, boards are removed from the lags. If they are in good condition, and you plan to put them back, you need to try not to damage them. The boards also rise slightly from the lags, that is, the nails will also be pulled out a little along with them. When they become noticeable, they can be easily pulled out with a nail puller. Thus, the board will remain intact. When removing the boards, it is recommended that they be numbered immediately, so that after repairing the lags, put them in place in the same sequence. Cracked and rotten boards also need to be numbered, but put aside. This is in order to then make new ones on them and put them in place of those that have become unusable.
	When the boards are removed from the frame, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the base. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to determine the cause of the creak. Next, a thorough revision of the base and lags is carried out. If cracks are found in the concrete base, they are recommended to be expanded, cleaned, primed and sealed with a cement-sand mortar or a special repair putty. The following work can be done only after the repair mixture has solidified. If, during the inspection, damaged logs are found, then they must be replaced, since, perhaps, it was because of them that the floors creaked. If the lags are too large, then it is best to add additional elements to the frame. The step between the lags should be no more than 600 mm. When installing them, 80 ÷ 100 mm should be retreated from the wall.
	Old logs or new ones, in any case, they must be leveled in one plane. To align them, you will need a long, about 1.5 ÷ 2 m building level, or a shorter one and a rule. Logs are checked for evenness of installation, both in width and length of the room. If necessary, they can be lifted using rigid spacers of the required thickness or special adjustable anchors. After the logs are set in one plane, they must be rigidly fixed to the base. To do this, holes are drilled in the logs and gaskets, as well as the concrete base, through which anchor or dowel fasteners are screwed or driven in.
	If you had to make a complete reconstruction of the floor, then it makes sense to insulate and soundproof the structure. To do this, a waterproofing material is laid on the floor surface and fixed on the logs.
	A heater is laid on top of the insulating membrane - it can be mineral wool, foam plastic, slag or expanded clay. By the way, expanded clay will be the best option for a private house, since rodents do not live in it. It is especially good to use fine fraction expanded clay. From above, the insulation is closed with a vapor-permeable membrane, which will allow moisture to leave the insulation and prevent villi from mineral wool or dust from other insulation materials from entering the premises. All film coatings are fixed on the logs with staples and a stapler.
	Now you can move on to returning the old boards to their place, and replacing some of them with new ones. Boards must be mounted so that there is a minimum distance between them. Installation begins with board number one. It is laid perpendicular to the lags and well leveled, as they will set the direction for all other floor boards. Between the first board (both along its length and from the ends) and the wall there should be a technological gap of 8 ÷ 10 mm. This distance will help keep the coating intact during the thermal expansion of the material.
	If the fastening of the board to the joists will be carried out with nails, then it is recommended to hammer them at an angle to the surface of the board, so the fixation will be more reliable. Self-tapping screws are screwed vertically. For arranging floor boards, you should choose self-tapping screws that have threads that do not reach their caps. They will more reliably hold structural elements together.
	In order not to split the board when screwing in the screws, it is recommended to drill holes for them in advance with a thin drill. The upper part of the hole must be expanded (countersinked) so that the screw head is flush or 1÷2 mm below the main surface. The board is screwed with two or three self-tapping screws to each of the lags.
	The second and subsequent boards, before fixing them, must be pulled together. In this case, the master applied the technique of compacting the flooring with a spacer wedge. A wedge can be made independently from a bar by sawing it at an angle. In addition to it, you will need a piece of board (thick plywood) against which the wedge will rest. This stop is screwed to the log at a distance of 20 ÷ 25 mm from the laid board with four self-tapping screws.
	Further, a wedge is inserted between the fixed stop and the board. A bar is attached to its wide side, which is hit with a hammer. The beam is necessary in order not to hammer the wood of the wedge, as it will be needed to compact all the floorboards. The wedge, when it is tamped, will move forward, acclimating the last board to the previous one. When they are maximally interconnected, the last board is fixed to the lags with self-tapping screws. In the same way, the rallying of all floorboards occurs.
	If the last floorboard does not enter the space between the penultimate board and the wall, it must be marked and sawed off the excess part along its entire length. The marking of the board should be carried out at the place of its installation, taking into account the fact that a technological gap should form between it and the wall.
	It is desirable to cut the cut at an angle so that the lower surface of the board is 8 ÷ 10 mm less than the upper plane. Thus, a ventilated space will be created between the wall and the board.
	Having laid the last board in place, it must also be pulled to the main cover. This process is carried out using a pulling bracket and a hammer. After the minimum gap remains between the boards, the last floorboard must be immediately fixed to the logs with self-tapping screws. Now you can check the floors for creaking. To do this, it is necessary to walk on it and press on the surface with your feet, making an effort, especially in previously problematic areas. If the installation is done correctly, then there should be no creaking.
	After all the boards are returned to their place, it is recommended to sand the floors. This process is especially relevant in the case when a thick layer of paint has accumulated on the floorboards during the period of operation, which gives the surface a sloppy look. Grinding, or rather, scraping, is best done using a special machine. This device can be rented for a while, or you can invite a master to work with his equipment. It is advisable to clean the surface of the floor from paint completely, to bare wood.
	Further, the floors must be treated with an antiseptic primer, which will protect the material from biological damage and create good adhesion for the coloring layer. Even if you plan to lay plywood or OSB on the boards, the primer will still not be superfluous.
	The installation of the plinth is carried out after the plywood flooring and decorative coating or before painting the wooden floor. How to properly perform this stage of work is described in detail in a special publication of our portal.

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Now, knowing the options for eliminating unpleasant squeaky sounds that occur when moving on the floor, you can start checking the boardwalk. Then, having determined the cause of their occurrence, you can safely proceed to repair work, choosing the most appropriate method.

It should also be noted that the complete reconstruction of a wooden floor is a long and laborious process. And especially in those cases when you don’t know what to expect after dismantling the boards. Therefore, if the owners decide to make a major overhaul, then you should correctly assess your experience in this area of ​​​​work, weigh your capabilities. Perhaps it would be wiser to entrust this task to professionals who will deal with such a problem much faster and more competently.

In conclusion, we suggest watching a short video in which a home craftsman shares his quick and effective method of getting rid of squeaking floors.

Video: How to eliminate the creak of a wooden floor yourself

For a home master who does not have a building education and experience, information becomes relevant why a wooden floor creaks, usually after several years of operation. The reason is the lack of a stable geometry of the structure, the loosening of its individual elements, leading to a decrease in strength.

The design of a wooden floor (rough or floor covering) is completely maintainable, so you can get rid of the creak in any case, but using various technologies.

Before you remove the creak of a wooden floor in an apartment or house on your own, you need to understand the causes of sounds. A creak occurs due to the friction of individual structural elements with each other:

Finally, logs or beams can rot in separate areas, part of the boardwalk attached to them touches adjacent boards attached to sections of the bar that has retained the spatial geometry.

Important! If the floor creaks due to the boards bending underfoot (they touch each other), then a major overhaul (dismantling) of the boardwalk will be required. You will either have to reduce the step of the lag, or increase the thickness of the board.

There are several ways to get rid of a squeak, depending on the purpose of the floor (groove board finish or subfloor edged board), its design and the hardware used (nail or self-tapping screw).

Solutions

To get rid of the creak of a wooden floor on your own, you need to restore its design according to the technology:

• any lumber can change geometry (drying, warping) with a change in humidity, therefore, it is necessary to treat with an antiseptic and periodically impregnate with the same liquid during operation;
• the logs must be rigidly fixed to the base, and the boards must be tightly pressed against them with self-tapping screws or nails with a screw notch;
• it is forbidden to use wooden wedges to level the log in the horizontal level; TWO polymer wedges with a corrugated surface should be used in the kit;
• the laying step of the lag should be calculated depending on the operational loads and the thickness of the board of the rough / finishing floor in order to avoid critical deflections;
• each board must be fastened with two self-tapping screws to one log to ensure a stable position in the transverse direction.

Advice! The most difficult option is the dismantling of the flooring and its re-laying after the revision of the lumber. In order not to open the floors completely to provide access to rotten bars, holes and hatches can be cut down.

In other words, all methods of getting rid of floorboard creaks come down to additional fixation of wooden elements to each other with self-tapping screws, pins or wedging. More rarely, the internal cavity is foamed to provide a large supporting surface, or sheet materials are laid on top of the plank flooring, distributing point loads evenly over its entire area.

Fixing with screws/anchors

If the home master does not know what to do to eliminate the creak, the method of additional fixation of the boards to the lags is most often intuitively applied. Such a scheme is suitable only for fully preserved logs with normal support on the base. If the logs hang on the boards (the wedges flew out, the lumber dried up) or partially rotted, this technology will not bring results.

In addition, when fixing the flooring elements, the features of the hardware should be taken into account:

• self-tapping screw with incomplete thread - presses the tongue to the lags without a gap, since the smooth part "falls" into the hole made by the threaded part of the hardware;
• self-tapping screw with full thread - rigidly fixes the position of the board relative to the log with an existing gap, since the engagement force is very high, both inside the wood of the log and the board.

Therefore, there are three ways to fix the boardwalk elements with self-tapping screws:

Important! The last two methods are less reliable than the first, so they are used in emergency cases.

It is impossible to drown the screw heads into hardwoods; it is necessary to make a "sink" with a countersink. To do this, you can use a similar self-tapping screw, cutting off the head with a hand engraver (1.5 - 2 cm in length) and making inclined notches like a milling cutter with the same tool.

Coating contraction

The floorboards are laid close to each other, have a thickness of 2 - 5 cm. Therefore, by compressing the dried material with each other in separate areas, it is possible to increase the rigidity of the horizontal structure and eliminate creaking at no additional cost. There are two methods for this:

Important! In both cases, existing nails or self-tapping screws must be removed from the boards prior to screeding to allow the deck members to move horizontally.

wedging

If the defective area is far from the wall, it is difficult to pull off the wooden floors in the previous way. Therefore, the floorboards are wedged in place according to the technology:

• the floorboard is processed with sandpaper;
• a rail of the desired width and length is selected, its lower edge is sharpened with a wedge;
• the rail is coated with PVA glue, driven in with a wooden mallet;
• the upper plane is processed by a planer, then polished.

As a result, the boards are tightly pressed against each other, the point applied loads are distributed over a large surface, the lamellas stop “walking”, the sounds disappear.

Foaming and squirting

With a sufficiently strong foundation on which the logs are laid, experts recommend the following way to eliminate creaking in the boardwalk:

• a through hole with a diameter of 5 - 6 mm is drilled in the board;
• through it, the internal cavity near the defective area is filled between the lags with mounting foam;
• after drying, the foam turns into a supporting pad, dramatically increasing the bearing area.

The technique is suitable for emergency cases, but does not have high reliability for a number of reasons:

• when loads are applied, the foam shrinks under the board, the creak returns after a while;
• filling closed cavities is fraught with bulging of the floor covering / subfloor outward, since it is necessary to leave at least 1/3 of the space for the secondary expansion of the foam when it hardens;

Important! Unlike home insulation, it is better to use household mounting foam in the floors. Its density is higher, and the thermal insulation characteristics in this case do not matter.

The injection method is more reliable when, instead of mounting foam, the cavity is filled with an adhesive composition that hardens in air (epoxy and polymer resins).

But this method is suitable for filling small cavities, since epoxy is quite expensive.

Plywood flooring, chipboard

Another, but with many limitations, way to eliminate the creak of a wooden floor inside a dwelling is sheet material flooring:

The main disadvantages of the technology are:

• if the plywood joint falls on a creaking board, this will only aggravate the situation;
• wood-based boards are expensive, increase the repair budget;
• plywood and chipboard are not facing materials, so additional decoration will be required.

Therefore, plywood flooring is rarely used to eliminate boardwalk creaking.

Dowel fastening

The grooved board is joined along the length in adjacent rows by locking joints. The edged board does not have a tongue and groove, so its geometry is more susceptible to changes with changes in humidity. Therefore, information is useful for the home master on how to make a dowel connection to correct the indicated defect:

• in adjacent boards, a blind hole is made at 45 degrees;
• a cylindrical wooden part - a dowel is coated with glue and hammered into this hole;
• the operation is repeated in the opposite direction, as in the lower diagram;
• after the glue dries, the dowels are cut along the plane of the board.

Important! The quality of the joint depends on the immobility of the boards relative to each other at the time of drilling.

Replacement of boards and lag

With significant physical wear, it is necessary to replace all the lumber so that the logs and boards do not creak:

This is the most expensive option, you will need to take out all the furniture from the room and dismantle the trim.

Preventing squeaking when laying a wooden floor

It is possible to avoid the occurrence of unpleasant sounds from the friction of wood against wood or metal at the stage of installing the boardwalk. To do this, it is enough to lay absorbent material on top of the log and apply the adjustable floor technology.

Noise isolation on lags

The home master will not have to disassemble the boardwalk if the logs are cut off from the edged / tongue-and-groove board:

At the same time, the acoustics of the ceiling will be further improved, and protection against getting wet will be provided.

Adjustable floor technology

Without experience, it is very difficult to figure out why a tongue-and-groove flooring board or subfloor flooring turned out to be creaky. Therefore, manufacturers produce an adjustable floor system, in which the likelihood of third-party sounds is reduced:

• logs are mounted on studs passed through the bar;
• they are carved in a single horizontal level;
• the protruding threaded part is cut off by the angle grinder.

Lumber absorbs moisture less, natural ventilation is provided, there is no rigid fixation of wood to concrete. Even if boards that are incorrectly fixed to the joists begin to creak, it is much easier to repair defective areas, since you do not need to open the entire floor.

Thus, the characteristic creak of the boardwalk can be eliminated with your own hands by additionally screwing in self-tapping screws, foaming the internal space under it, wedging, or other indicated methods.

Advice! If you need repairmen, there is a very convenient service for their selection. Just send in the form below a detailed description of the work to be done and you will receive offers with prices from construction teams and firms by mail. You can see reviews of each of them and photos with examples of work. It's FREE and there's no obligation.