Save my marriage. With pictures

[Loosescrew]

Hi Team
I have wooden internal stairs that all creak when you walk up them. This started to happen after the wife mopped them with God knows what. They are slide in stairs which I think may have been glued in. There does not appear to be any screws.

Thanks Cam

[wheelinround]

welcome
Save your own marriage
ask wife what she used
crawl under the stairs and have a look maybe nailed by a pro.

[seriph1]

get under it and take some pics so folks here can see what construction methods were used .... also, get someone to walk on it when you're under it and locate precisely where the creaking is coming from ..... finally, stop your wife from cleaning .... things just get dirty again anyway

:D:D:D:D

[Honorary Bloke]

As said, better take a dekko underneath. Creaking is caused simply by wood rubbing against wood or a fastener rubbing against wood. If you don't have any screws now, you will when you fix the creaking. :D

Make sure the treads are completely dried out before undertaking any repairs. If you post pics, we may be able to give you specific advice. :)

[Loosescrew]

PLease Any advice team on how to stop these flamin stairs from creaking everytime we walk on them. After the wife mopped them with God knows what they all started to creak everytime we walk on them. Please help me.http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=59642&stc=1&d=1194398813
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=59641&stc=1&d=1194398801
Camhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=59637&stc=1&d=1194398014
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=59638&stc=1&d=1194398014

[Ashore]

Try some baby powder and brush it in well the silica in the powder acts as a dry lube , works on floor boards,
Rgds

[wheelinround]

Good now we can see what you got
Still the same answer from me save your own marriage ASK swmbo what she used.:doh: stop being a whimp:~.

They have been nailed I can see the nail holes which have been filled in the first photo and last using putty over the top. They will have been put in at an angle. So when you step onto the step they will tend to pull.

looking at the last photo you can see either shrinkage has pulled the step away from the side.

So did you do what one of the other fellows suggested get someone to walk over them bounce on them while you were under taking photos an watch for the movement.

You could go over each and every nail using a punch and drive them in further and refill with putty sand the whole staircase and refinish it would get rid of the paint spater also.

[Christopha]

I agree with the powder.... but it ain't "silica" in there it's TALC! ;)

[Ashore]

Whatever Chris but it works :2tsup:

[journeyman Mick]

Cut some thin wedges and drive them into the gap underneath the tread to tighten it up in its housing.

Mick

[Make it work]

Dry lube silicone spray works on everything and lasts for a while too. Just be aware that you may need to remove the silicone from the surface with prepsol or some other wax & silicone remover if you want to re lacquer in the future.

[pawnhead]

I like Mick's idea. Lots of sharp hardwood wedges from underneath. Don't drive them in deeper than the rebate, and keep an eye that you're not bashing the stringer out.
You could try some galvanised (galv grips better) bullet head nails1.5>2.5 gauge, driven in the corner from underneath the treads, on an angle up into the stringer. When puttied over they'd hardly be noticed. More solid, but more noticeable would be countersunk screws.
But if there's a gap, or even a small crack, then I'd drive a wedge in and chop it off flush.

[journeyman Mick]

Applying any type of lubricant to the tread/stringer joint will only mask the problem, not fix it. Driving in wedges will tighten the joint and fix the problem rather than just mask it.

You may also need to tie the two stringers together at one or two points, this will make the whole assembly more rigid and thus less likely to creak. There's two ways I can think of to do this, one way is to use threaded rod, the other is to tie some of the treads to the stringers with timber blocks and screws (on the underside obviously).

Take the time to fix it right, once or keep re-applying lubricant, what would you rather?

Mick

[Make it work]

I say all of the above is overkill!!!

If you have a squeaky hinge, would you remove the door, replace the hinges and put it all back? NO, you would start with putting some lubricant on it to stop the squeak, if you have to do it again in 6 or 12 months, big deal.

Being timber it is going to grow and shrink with the weather or the mop, so you could go to all the trouble and pack and wedge and screw and fart around and the next change in the weather cracks or creaks develop.

I rest my case your honour.

[journeyman Mick]

Except that a hinge is a part that is supposed to move whereas treads aren't supposed to move in the stringers, they're two very different problems requiring two very different solutions, trust me I've fixed quite a number of squeaky staircases for people who've tried all the usual wax/talc/silicone spray tricks.

Mick

PS there are no short cuts in building work, do you really think that any tradesman is going to do anything that's not absolutely neccesary to get the job done?:no:

[boban]

I would go with the hardwood wedges as well, but I would also consider a screw and plug from the outside of the stringer. A bit of work, but it would be a long term fix. Only problem is that you can only get to one side. That said, I would pull them apart and start again. I don't think it would take more than a weekend.

The other option is to use a pocket hole jig underneath each tread and use two screws from each side. Again access wont be too easy on the lower treads but the pocket hole method is very strong, quick and easy. The jigs are cheap enough.

[pawnhead]

It's not as if it would take that long, and a packet of nails/screws wouldn't cost any more than a can of lube/baby powder, if you've got a hammer and a saw to cut wedges out of some scrap. It's probably only a few of the treads that are squeaky anyway.

[Make it work]

Fair enough, I agree with the "Correct" methods but Cam originally asked for a marriage saver. I'd hate for the poor guy to be in the doghouse for pulling the staircase apart to fix a squeak when a quick, cheap and simple solution was on offer.

KISS principle.

[wheelinround]

Fair enough, I agree with the "Correct" methods but Cam originally asked for a marriage saver. I'd hate for the poor guy to be in the doghouse for pulling the staircase apart to fix a squeak when a quick, cheap and simple solution was on offer.

KISS principle.


You mean like a divorce

[Make it work]

You mean like a divorce

EXACTLY!!

[Ivan in Oz]

Dry lube silicone spray works on everything and lasts for a while too.
Yep!!!

Watch the OVERSPRAY!
That Silocone is Slippery stough [Stuff].
Not good on the Step Treads.

Else someone might go 'A Over' :-:-:B

[Christopha]

Mick is absolutely right, fix it the way he suggests and be done with the problem. Squirting silicon about timber is not really the best way.....

[pawnhead]

It looks like we've got two distinct camps going here:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/holgerdanske/1377-1.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/holgerdanske/HillbillyOveralls1.jpg

edit: A picture tells a thousand words. :wink:

[Terrian]

1) squeaky stairs are bad
2) wooden stairs squeak
3) new steal staircase FTW
:)

[Make it work]

I think we scared Loosescrew (Cam) away and he's not playing with us any more.

Edit: maybe he doesn't have a computer in the dog house.

[wheelinround]

Here's an excellent link Loosesrew http://www.diydata.com/carpentry/staircase/stairs_repairs.php

I'd be more worried of why she HAS to have them squeak free who's sneaking around the house.

[pawnhead]

Unfortunately that's a closed riser staircase and wouldn't help much in his situation.
Good advice there otherwise though.

[Studley 2436]

I like the wedges. You could get your Japanese saw open it out a touch for the wedge which you have planed to fit like a glove and drive it in.

Back to people that haven't spent too much of their time mucking around with timber what about one of those expanding glues that fills the gap? Squeeze it in and then just shave the top off with you chisel or even a stanley knife should do it?

Studley

[Carry Pine]

[quote=journeyman Mick;620531]
You may also need to tie the two stringers together at one or two points, this will make the whole assembly more rigid and thus less likely to creak. There's two ways I can think of to do this, one way is to use threaded rod, the other is to tie some of the treads to the stringers with timber blocks and screws (on the underside obviously).

Agree with this one. The pictured housing joint has opened up (maybe the cleaner dissolved the glue) and the tread is coming away. If there is any way of getting at both sides a threaded rod would pull this together.

Carry Pine

[wheelinround]

Unfortunately that's a closed riser staircase and wouldn't help much in his situation.
Good advice there otherwise though.

I guess it would be hard to use on risers that aren't there but between the stringers and tread no problem.

[TEEJAY]

Pull the stringers together using the new Bessey clamps you just bought then from the underside of each tread secure the tread to the stringer with the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig you have just bought and then flush cut the dowels with the Japanese flush cut saw you have just bought.

THAT'S WHAT I WOULD DO :D:wink::D

Of course if you managed to find access a bit tight then a Festool C12 would soon fix that :p

Gotta protect that marriage

[Loosescrew]

Thanks for the advice, I see myself as the bloke on the left but my wife sees me as the bloke on the right when it comes to handyman work around the house.

[Tas_Dean]

Yep!!!

Watch the OVERSPRAY!
That Silocone is Slippery stough [Stuff].
Not good on the Step Treads.

Else someone might go 'A Over' :-:-:B
At least then the divorce wouldn't be necessary and the wife will have stopped whinging :2tsup: