ST. LOUIS, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- If you are a homeowner, chances are you have encountered a squeaky wood floor at some point. Those squeaks have nothing to do with the long-term performance of your floor, but they can become annoying, especially if they appear in a well-traveled area of your home, like at the base of your stairs. So how can you alleviate the problem without tearing up your floors?
There are a lot of "quick fixes" that have received attention to repair squeaks. One is to sprinkle talcum powder over the squeaky areas and then sweep it in between the floorboards. This may offer a short-term fix for the squeak, but it is only a temporary solution. The squeak eventually will return. Another quick fix recommends sprinkling powdered graphite lubricant in the same way. Again, this is not a long-term solution, and in fact, can contaminate the floor in the event you want to refinish it at some point in the future.
Squeaks in wood floors usually are caused by a loose subfloor, not loose floor boards. A more permanent fix (that's also "quick") would be to reinforce the subfloor by pulling it tight to the wood floor with screws from under the floor -- like in a basement or crawl space. If you don't have access to the floor from underneath, you also can use face nails or screws from above, but the nail holes will need to be filled and finished. Reinforcing the subfloor is the only permanent solution to a squeaky wood floor.
If squeaks in your wood floor are beyond your tolerance, you can find a wood flooring professional in your area who can fix them permanently by visiting the NWFA's web site at http://www.woodfloors.org/, and selecting the "Find a Professional or Product" link.
The National Wood Flooring Association is a not-for-profit trade organization of more than 4,100 wood flooring professionals working worldwide to educate consumers, architects, designers, and builders in the uses and benefits of wood flooring. The NWFA can be contacted at 111 Chesterfield Industrial Blvd., Chesterfield, MO 63005, or at 800-422-4556 (USA), 800-848-8824 (Canada), or 636-519-9663 (international).
Contact: Anita Howard
Communications Director
anitah@nwfa.org
National Wood Flooring Association
