VERY squeaky floorboards...Is it suspicious??

spender717

Hi all,

The 1930s house we're currently in the process of buying has really squeaky floorboards!! On the staircase and landing mainly, with the odd few in the bedrooms.

The stairs and landing were re-carpeted only a few years ago according to the vendor.

What I don't understand is, why not fix them before re-carpeting them?

No tradesmen will check them for me, the surveyor won't either due to carpet laid, so I'm a bit at a loss as to what it could be.

A simple fix, or potentially all rotten and needing replacement...

Thanks for any advice

stebiz

spender717 wrote: »

Hi all,

The 1930s house we're currently in the process of buying has really squeaky floorboards!! On the staircase and landing mainly, with the odd few in the bedrooms.

The stairs and landing were re-carpeted only a few years ago according to the vendor.

What I don't understand is, why not fix them before re-carpeting them?

No tradesmen will check them for me, the surveyor won't either due to carpet laid, so I'm a bit at a loss as to what it could be.

A simple fix, or potentially all rotten and needing replacement...

Thanks for any advice

Unlikely to be rotten. More likely they have central heating pipes under them and they haven't been put down properly.

SantaKlaus

rotten things don't squeek ha ha, they crunch, crumble and break. my parents floorboards squeek when you walk on them, they have done for over 30 years, the house i'm buying is only 1993 and its bathroom floorboards squeek a lot, its a common thing. dont worry about it, you can replace the floor board or simply just rescrew it down and put carpet back over it again.

SantaKlaus

if you're in a hurry or don't have enough money then do what thousands of others do, sprinkle talcum powder over the floor board and rub it into the gaps/joins and this should stop the squeak for some time.

Guest101

Or have it as an early warning system for intruders wouldn't worry

G_M

Guest101 wrote: »

Or have it as an early warning system for intruders wouldn't worry

Yeah my floorboards have squeaked since I bought 17 years ago. If I want to avoid noise I know which bits to avoid stepping on, but it's nice to know noone can creep upstairs at night and surprise me in bed.

Yes, usually it's ch pipes beneath which have dried out the wood. Or poorly fitted.

No biggie - old houses have 'character'!

mandragora_2

Isn't it ghosts, then?

spender717

Thank-you for the replies.

It has made me feel better about it! We currently live in a 1930s house and have no squeaky floors, so had imagined all kinds of things but feel reassured that its a more common thing after reading the above responses

poppysarah

Screw boards down rather than nail. That stops some of it. Squeaky stairs can have work down from underneath if you don't mind take the understair boards off, if there is one.

specialboy

mandragora wrote: »

Isn't it ghosts, then?

Has anyone ever seen the ghost of a T-Rex or a Stegasaurus running down the street? No. so that proves ghosts don't exist.

Moby_Tide

specialboy wrote: »

Has anyone ever seen the ghost of a T-Rex or a Stegasaurus running down the street? No. so that proves ghosts don't exist.

Due to the short legs of the Stegosaurus they were relatively slow beasts so I've only ever seen the ghosts meander down the street