Quick Fix for Squeaky Hardwood Floors

Learn a quick fix for your squeaky hardwood floors. Learn why your hardwood floor squeaks and how to quiet your floor without ripping up the entire floor.

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LESLIE: Gloria in New York is calling in with a flooring question. What can we do for you?

GLORIA: Well, I wanted to know – I have a hardwood floor in my dining room and it’s started to squeak over the last few months. Whenever I walk across it, it squeaks. I’ve asked a couple of professionals and they said that I would have to rip out the entire floor and the ceiling underneath it. (Tom chuckles)

LESLIE: No.

TOM: No, what they were trying to say is they need a big project and you’re just the one to give it to them.

GLORIA: OK.

TOM: Nothing to worry about with squeaking floors, Gloria; very normal occurrence. Most floors are going to squeak. They squeak because of some movement and …

LESLIE: And it’s more of an annoyance than a structural thing.

TOM: Yeah, it’s not a structural issue. There’s no need to rip anything out. Now, if you want to try to quiet it down a bit, there’s a couple of things you can do. Since it’s a hardwood floor, it’s a finished floor; so you have to be careful about how you actually secure the floor.

You can either drill out the floor and screw the floor down to the subfloor below or the floor joist below and then plug the holes – so it’s a little bit of a carpentry project; or you can take finish nails and do the same thing. But you have to find the floor joist – you can do that with a stud finder – and you’re going to drive those nails at a slight angle. You’re going to have to pilot out the floor first – because, otherwise, it’ll split and the nail will bend – and you could drive those areas a little bit tighter to the floor and that will stop the movement. Once you stop the movement, you’ll stop the squeak.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. Chances are, though, there’ll be a squeak in another section.

TOM: You’ll be chasing them.

GLORIA: Yeah, that’s what I’ve noticed. It’s started to squeak on the other side, also. Alright.

TOM: Yeah. That’s normal. I wouldn’t panic over it and you absolutely don’t need to tear the floor up to fix it.

GLORIA: Well, great. That’s great news. Thank you.

TOM: You’re welcome, Gloria. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.