How To: Fix squeaky floors

There's nothing more annoying than that "squeak-squeak" sound when you walk across your floor! It's enough to put a damper on your day! Have you ever avoided "that' stair because of its incessant screeching? Then this tutorial is for you.

Loose boards in your floor that are rubbing against one another as you walk over them are usually the cause squeaky floors. The culprits are most likely your floor joists, sub-floor or the finished floor. However there can be other causes of squeaks, such as pipes or heating ducts that are loose and rubbing against the joists. Squeaks can usually be eliminated by "tightening up" the loose boards, pipes or ducts.

Fixing squeaks is best accomplished from below the floor. If you can access the floor joists from your basement or crawlspace, you can use some of the following techniques to silence the squeak. If you have a finished basement or the squeak is on your second floor, you will need to resort to top-down fixes. For complete, step-by-step instructions for this DIY project, watch this friendly and straightforward video tutorial.