You have just installed the floor of your dreams, but then you find a squeak. Squeaks and creaks of floorboards can be due to a few different reasons depending on the type of floor you have or how it has been installed.

As flooring settles and shifts over time, it may start to rub against nails and other boards, or the flooring you have underneath. Whatever the reason, you want to know how to fix it without damaging your flooring, so here is your quick fix guide to squeaky flooring.

In order to fix the squeak, you need to track it down. Walk over every board, and each time you hear a squeak, no matter how small, mark it with a piece of chalk or a pen that won’t stain, like a dry wipe marker

One common mistake often made when installing flooring, is not leaving enough of a gap between the edge of the flooring and the wall. There needs to be enough breathing space for the planks to expand if necessary, if not it will rub against the wall which may be the cause of your squeak. If this looks like the issue at hand, it may be advised to remove part or all of the floor to reinstall it properly.

As a starting point, it is recommended to simply apply talcum powder or flour into the cracks in the flooring, which will work as a lubricant if the problem is being caused by two boards shifting against each other.

If this doesn’t work, drill a pilot hole into the marked spots of each plank, if this falls on a seam, drill the hole on each side of the seam so you don’t fracture the flooring.

Next, replace the pilot drill bit, with a screwdriver bit, and drive a 1 ¾ inch galvanised wood screw into each of the holes making sure the head is below the surface of the flooring. Do this for each hole.

Take some wood putty that is the same shade as your flooring and fill in the gaps between the screw head and the flooring surface, leaving a small mound on top.

Take a credit card, or other similar object, and run it along the top of the flooring over each hole so that the putty is the same level as your flooring.

Leave this to set for 24 hours before walking over it.

This should have settled any issues leaving you in a squeak free environment.

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