Unsqueaking Your Floor


	Index
	Home
	Search
	Links
	Submit
	Humor
	Shop
	About

Household
Tips

Squeaky Floorboards Tip

Squeaky Floorboards can be eased by using French chalk or talcum powder – Jean Smith

If the above measure doesn't fix the problem and you definitely do not have a mice infestation then perhaps you will have to do what we did and get a good capenter round to fix it. Our problem on the first floor landing was so severe that when we positioned two or three people at the worst points we could actually play a tune!

The carpets were lifted and we found 18mm hardboard panels nailed to the joists. Daryl, our carpenter suggested that that he could replace some of the panels and that other improvements could be made to the flooring. He mention the word noggin but at that point I thought a noggin was a measure of alcohol and it was a bit early in the day so I was about to refuse his offer.!

We left him to it and he set to work. When the job was completed the squeaks had gone and the excessive flex and bounce in the flooring was replaced by a very solid feel.

Daryl took some picture with his mobile phone and emailed them to me the next day; they give a good idea of how he went about the job: first taking up a small section:-

We can already see that our housebuilder cut a few corners, in the image above on the left the joist just stops without any support. Taking up the adjacent panel revealed a very similar abandoned joist

First of the Noggins
Even to my inexpert eye it is obvious that the floating joist is not going anywhere and is not doing what a joist is supposed to do.

I was right you know - a noggin, as well as being a bracing member is a measure of alcoholic drink, just looked it up and aparently it is another name for a Gill.

Back to fixing our squeeky floor; the following images show that a good bit of material was needed to fix the poor support and lack of rigidity. This also gave more points where the floor panels could be attached. Several of the floor panels were also replaced as the original material was not suitable for re-use.

On to the next picture: No shortage of Noggins here and one of the reasons our new floor now feels so solid. It is reassuring that we are not going to have one member of the family suddenly (middle son is the heaviest I think) drop down a level

Some of the squeaking resulted from the use of low quality nails to hold down the floor panels. Screws are the correct fixing method for this kind of job, a screw will remain in place even if the surrounding wood shrinks slightly, the finished job had no shortage of substantial screws fitted.

After the new bracing had been fitted it it was possible to fix the floor panels along all four sides. Some of the original panels had been nailed down on only two sides only.

The bricks you can see in this picture are the top of a dividing wall on the level below.

Some more Nogging

One of the problems that has developed over the years is that the lack of adequate fixing has allowed the joists to twist somewhat.

New panels fitted

The new noggins permit more fixing points to be used. You can also see that Daryl has marked the floor with information giving the position of joists for possible future use, it is also clearly marked in red where pipes and electric power and telephone cables are installed.

We also purchased some laminated flooring which Daryl expertly fitted for us.

Who was Dr Graham? Click here to find out more about a truly remarkable couple.

home - links - submit - search - humor - shop