How to Fix the Wood Floor Sounds: All You Need To Know

A wood floor can be pretty noisy walking across it. If you’ve ever tried walking on a hardwood floor in the night with others sleeping, the creaks and cracking really stand out. A lot of the time, wood floors make creaking sounds because of the loose floorboards. When you walk across a wood floor with hard shoes, you get a different type of sound, no matter how much the flooring is secured.

Most wood floor sounds aren’t serious, but it’s worth considering the fact the origins. If you notice signs of structural damage, termites, or the floor is bowing or starting to bend, these are serious issues that will require a professional’s help. For the vast majority of the time, you shouldn’t have to worry. Hardwood floor sounds are normal and apparent in almost every home with a hardwood floor, regardless of how new or old they are.

These wood floor sounds are a tough-to-resolve annoyance, but there are a few handy fixes you can do. No matter what wood floor sounds you’re looking to minimize, you can cover up almost any sound like this. Here are the best tips on how you can fix the wood floor sounds

Rugs

Want a quick fix to the wood floor sounds? Sometimes, a simple area rug or carpet can work wonders at solving the issue. A large rug with enough thickness can absorb the sounds from walking on the wood floors. You may even notice some creaking minimized with a rug or carpet properly installed.

Please note that rugs might only be a temporary solution, as they don't fix the actual issue with the hardwood floors. If you want to fix the engineered hardwood flooring permanently, it will require some handiwork on your behalf.

Lubricants

Are the creaks coming from hardwood floors near the back or sides of tread on stairs? This issue can often be solved simply by filling the crack between thread and riser with a hardwood-friendly lubricant. Avoid using an oil-based product for this. A lubricant in this way removes the friction causing hardwood stair sounds.

Try a dry lubricant, such as lock lubricant, talcum powder, or powdered graphite. You can apply the lubricant onto a cloth and walk back-and-forth. Work the powder into the cracks. Once again, this will instantly eliminate any friction coming from wood-on-wood contact. Be sure to use a vacuum or damp cloth when you’re done to tidy up any powder remaining on the floor.

Floor Repair Kits

They make commercial floor repair kits, which are meant to help eliminate space between flooring and floorboards. One of the better products in this category is called ‘Squeeeeek No More’, though there are others. A kit like this will give you joist finders, long screws, and every material you need to fix wood floor sounds from above. The kit can also be used with carpeting laid above a wood subfloor.

Close The Gaps

It’s unavoidable that, over time, wood floors will twist, wrap, bow, and shrink of course. Spaces that didn’t previously exist suddenly open up leaving room to rub against nails or screws while moving wood up and down. A long 2x4 pressed flat against the joist and against the underside of the subfloor should resolve the problem, combined with construction adhesive.

If you are lucky enough to have a basement, have someone walk on the wood with you in the basement. Any squeak you hear, ask them to stop. If you notice a gap between the floor’s underside and the floor joist, put in a thin piece of wood. This will close the gap. Hammer it in gently.

Unfortunately, not every household has a basement to work from. If you aren’t fortunate to be able to work directly underneath the floor, instead of drilling short screws, drive nails from above. Don’t let no access to the subfloor stop you. Drill pilot holes and nail it right through. Locate the floor joists and ensure you’re nailing into them. Use nail settlers and countersink the nail heads.

Drilling The Floors

When there are wood floor sounds coming from between the joists, this is likely a sign that the floorboards are rubbing against the plywood subfloor. It might be chafed against the nails holding down the floorboards. A simple solution is to drive short screws through the underside of the subfloor. Be careful not to penetrate the top of the finished flooring. Confirm the screws aren’t poking up through the top surface of the floorboard before doing every squeak.

Construction Adhesives

If you’re fairly well skilled with small construction projects, you may choose to use construction adhesive to fill squeaky areas on the underside of the floor. If there’s a long gap causing wood noises, adhesive is far easier than trying to gently hammer a piece of wood along the length.