Creaking and loose floorboards

The short answer

Creaking is movement between boards and joists, or between the boards themselves. A joiner secures the boards with the correct fixings, packs the joists where needed, and lubricates the joints. It is a half-day for a room. In a flat, check for pipes and cables under the boards before anything is screwed down.

What the work involves

Locating the movement, screwing rather than nailing boards to joists, packing shrinkage gaps, easing tongue-and-groove joints, and checking for services below before fixing.

Rules and responsibilities in Scotland

No certification applies. In a tenement, impact and airborne noise between flats may be covered by the title deeds or by nuisance provisions; some tenancies require floor coverings in upper flats.

What commonly goes wrong

Nailing blind into a board and hitting a heating pipe or cable, and screwing down a board that hides a live junction.

What it usually costs

Indicative ranges only, to help you judge a quote. They are not an estimate for your property — only the business doing the work can give you that.

• Usually priced by the half day per room.
• Lifting and relaying a whole floor is a much bigger job.
• Acoustic underlay adds cost but resolves neighbour complaints.

What to do, in order

1. 1Walk the room and mark every creak.
2. 2Check drawings or use a detector for pipes and cables.
3. 3Have boards screwed and packed, not nailed.
4. 4Consider acoustic underlay if a neighbour is below.
5. 5Re-check after the heating season.

Local detail for the Lothians

• Edinburgh tenement floors carry the services for the flat below in some conversions, so lifting boards needs care.
• Original pine boards are often worth sanding and keeping rather than covering.
• Some tenement deeds require carpeting in upper flats — check before laying hard flooring.

When you need a professional

Springy or sloping floors, rather than creaky ones, suggest joist problems and need a surveyor.

Common questions

Can creaking floors be fixed without lifting them?

Often yes — screwing down from above into the joists, with the right screws, fixes most creaks.

Is a bouncy floor serious?

It can be. Deflection points at joist spacing, notching or decay, and should be looked at properly.

Related pages

• Skirting and facings repairs

  Repairing or replacing damaged skirting and door facings to match the original profile.

• Doors that stick or will not close

  Easing, planing and re-hanging internal doors that have dropped or swollen.

• Shelving, storage and flat-pack assembly

  Fitting shelving and wardrobes securely into stone, lath-and-plaster or plasterboard walls.