Central heating dries out the timber in floors and stairs and causes squeaks and creaks. If you can reach the underneath of your stairs, it’s a relatively straightforward job to solve the problem.
First stand under the stairs and ask someone to walk up them so that you can see the movement and mark the loose or moving boards.
1. Replace the wedges
Often the thin wedges that are between the upright pieces or risers as well as the treads have worked loose and even dropped out altogether.
Remove the wedges underneath each problem board and use an old chisel to remove as much of the dry glue as possible. Spread a generous amount of glue along both sides of the wedges and push the wedge back into its place. Use a mallet not a hammer ( as it damages the wedge) to tap the pieces firmly into place again.
Wedges on risers and treads
Tip: To make new wedges saw thin angled pieces of new timber to replace any missing wedges.
Blocks screwed and glued
2. Replace the triangular blocks
The stairs may also be missing triangular glue blocks along the joint between the risers and treads. Look for areas of lighter coloured wood to show where the blocks have come loose. Saw some new triangular blocks around 75mm (3in) long. Use a piece of 50mm (2in) square timber and cut diagonally along its length to make the blocks. Fix to the stairs with PVA glue and one or two panel pins or screws to hold in place while the glue is drying.
3. Fixing a stair from above
Screwing the treads to the riser
If the underneath of the stairs is inaccessible and has been plasterboarded, you may be able to reduce the creaking by making clearance holes in the front of the stair tread and screwing into the riser beneath to tighten the joint.
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