How To Fix Squeaky Stairs: Four Easy Ways Of Fixing Squeaky Stairs

Four Easy Ways Of Fixing Squeaky Stairs

The stairs that will make any kind of noisy sound while walking on it are usually known as squeaky stairs & are very annoying & irritating to the homeowners. One of the most common cause for squeaky stairs is wear & tear on the wooden staircase elements, which in turn makes one wooden portion to rub against another or against a metal nail or screw. It is an easy task to fix your squeaky stairs, whether wooden or carpeted staircases.

Find The Squeak

Before starting to fix the squeaky wooden stairs, it is extremely important to find out the exact location of the squeak, which eventually will dictate the repair type that you may need to perform. You slowly & steadily need to climb your stairs & find out the steps that have squeak & check where from it is coming & then you need to mark the squeaky location with the help of the masking tape or a sticky note. In order to ascertain whether the squeaky noise is coming from the side, the back, or the front, you need to stand in the center of each squeaky step and move gently from front to back and side to side. If squeak is coming from the back of the stair, it means it is loose from its riser, however, the stair is loose at its stringer if squeak is usually on either side of the stair. Riser is the vertical space betwixt each step, and the stringer is the board on each side of the staircase that is fixed to each riser. As soon as you find out the exact location of the squeak, it is time to start fixing squeaky stairs & below are the four easy ways to do it:

Way 1: Lubricate The Joint

If a squeak is located near the back or side of the step, then you need to cover up the sound with the help of a dry lubricant, for instance, talcum powder, powdered graphite, or baby powder in order to fill the space betwixt the riser and the tread below it. The tread is a smooth & uniform surface on the step where you put your foot. Oil-based lubricant should be avoided, due to the reason that it may cause the wood to warp or may make the step to be slippery. In order to put the lubricant in the crack, apply the powder into the crack completely across the back of the tread. Make sure to pour the powder as intensely as possible with the help of a finger or old paintbrush. This method will not prevent the tread and riser from moving in opposition to each other, however, it will get rid of the friction that is causing the squeak. If in case the noise comes back, you may have to apply more powder to the crack.

Way 2: Trim Screws

If the squeaking problem is situated from the front, use screws in order to secure up the connector betwixt the riser and tread. Drill three pilot holes equally spaced throughout the front section of the tread, at a place where it connects the riser. Put in the screws and drill them in to where the heads are below the tread’s surface in order to avoid foot injuries. After you have drilled the screws, it is time to fill the indentations using wood filler in order to hide the screw heads. Choose a color that fittingly matches the wood on your stairs, however, there are huge range of colors to choose from, so this should not be any problem.

Way 3: Nail It Down

Squeaky stairs that initiate from the sides or back of the step, fasten the tread into the stringers on each & every side of the staircase using nails. With the help of 2? finish nails or a pneumatic nailer propel them at 45-degree angles away from one another. Keep performing this process on the same tread where it connects the balustrade (the side away from the wall). Remember to set the nails below the surface with the help of a spring set. If you want, you can then fill the indentations with the help of a wood filler that exactly matches the color of your stairs.

Way 4: Install Glue Blocks

If you have an access to your staircase from underneath, then use triangular glue blocks for the strong repair. Simply trim a two-inch wooden cube along the diagonal. Apply small amount of wood glue on the shorter side of each triangle and squeeze or move the block into the right angle where the tread connects the riser. Position one glue block in the center of the stair and one on both the ends of the tread for best results. Keep in mind to squeeze smoothly in order to make sure all air bubbles are eliminated from the wood glue. As soon as the glue dries completely, insert two screws into each block, one horizontal into the riser and the other one vertical into the tread.
Stairs with the passage of time become loose, which in turn result with squeaky stairs from time to time, however, you can solve this problem easily. Fortunately, this is a simple repair which you can solve yourself quickly. As soon as you get rid of the squeak, enjoy the silence that your repair created.