How to eliminate the creak of a wooden staircase?

Many buildings built many decades ago, and those that are built today, have such a functional element as the staircase. It can be main or auxiliary, front, entrance or internal, screw or march - variants of mass, besides, they differ in the material of manufacture. For a long time it was wooden structures that were popular. Today they are made so well that they can decorate themselves with any exterior or interior. Moreover, the tree is an environmentally friendly, natural material that can make the surrounding atmosphere more cozy, warm, charming. In this article we will talk about how to eliminate the creak of a wooden staircase, because many owners of private houses face this problem.

to the contents ↑

Why is the wooden staircase creaking?

There is a huge number of reasons why a wooden staircase creaks. What to do in this situation? Actually, first you need to determine what is causing this, and only then to deal with the problem.

The main reasons are such natural processes, which are quite peculiar to the tree.

Shrinkage

Wood, one way or another, contains moisture, which in the process of exploitation begins to come out. So, if the design was collected from insufficiently dried material, then such a problem can not be exactly avoided.

Important! For a year, wood with a natural level of humidity shrinks by about 8%, which is enough to create small gaps between the elements of the staircase.

Therefore, when choosing material for building stairs, it is better to look at well-dried boards or logs from those rocks that give minimal shrinkage, for example, oak, maple, ash or larch. It is important that they are harvested in winter.

Important! From drying, the joints under the steps, the treads, the strings, the bowstring, the joints of the balusters with the handrails suffer the most.

Wear, destruction, deformation

Due to prolonged use, many things begin to suffer, naturally, wooden structures here are no exception. This is especially true for products that are in an aggressive environment with a high level of humidity, high permeability, low temperature.

Important! Usually a creak occurs in places where treads are connected with risers.

This process can only be prevented by the timely processing of the material with special protective agents that are recommended to be applied even during the preparation, during the assembly of the ladder, in particular this applies to all joints and seams.

Rejected components or loose fasteners

This is due to the use of a low-quality adhesive or the use of self-tapping screws for connection. Basically the parts are connected with bolts and nuts, which you can easily twist yourself, but you can not do this with self-tapping screws.

Important! The only way out to eliminate the creak of the wooden staircase is to completely replace them, but to install it in another place.

Incorrectly fitted

parts When masters neglect their work or have little experience in assembling such structures, such problems occur quite often. And immediately notice this is impossible, only in the process of using the parts begin to gradually loosen up. Therefore, if you decide on an independent assembly, then carefully study this process.

Important! When buying a finished staircase, be sure to check how well the main elements are connected.

The floor

is bent. It is very difficult to solve this problem, because in most cases it is necessary to completely disassemble the product. Considering this fact, long before the installation of the staircase, fix the floor, which is under its bearing, supporting, basic elements, with special compositions.

Almost all of the above reasons can really be prevented during assembly, because if you do not do it in time, then when you walk, the stairs will start to make unpleasant sounds, cutting your ears. Next, we learn how to remove the creak of a wooden ladder in the most common cases.

to the table of contents ↑

What if the staircase started to creak?

Because there are a lot of reasons for this trouble, there are also a lot of ways to eliminate it. Follow this instruction so that the process of identifying the problem and its elimination is successful:

• When attaching staircases to each other, you need to pay maximum attention to the joining of the main elements, take care that it is dense, could prevent the formation of backlashes. If the problem lies in the loosened connections, then, first of all, it is necessary to identify the problem areas.
• To ascertain the place of a squeak, walk the stairs several times. If it contains some elements of decor in the form of carpets, they should be removed. Thus, you greatly simplify your task.

Important! Having access to the reverse part of the structure, to carry out repairs better together. So, one person will be able to go down under it and mark problem points, the second one will walk up and down the steps.

• Once all the creaky steps have been marked, you can check how much the grounds are loosened, the connections of the bearing beams to which the string or strings are attached. Pay special attention to fasteners and connection elements. If necessary - it is necessary to install new rubber gaskets between the tree and bolts, to lubricate the metal parts with a special compound.
• More often it is because of the problems with the connections of the steps that the ladder creaks. What to do in this case? It should be noted that this is due to the strong pressure on them during the movement. Since they are fastened with nails in particular, in time they simply loosen. If the staircase has an open structure, then the steps should be fixed from below. With minor damage, it is enough to drive a couple of additional nails.
• If you are sure that there is a creak because of the loosened wedges located between the risers and the tear, or by the stringer, you can carefully remove them, remove the old glue, apply a protective agent and again with the glue to fix it in place.
• Seldom happens when the wedges are caused by wedges themselves, as a result of which it is necessary to change their shape, otherwise they simply will not fit the same size. Although, in such cases, they are completely changed.
• If the problem is more serious, because of the gap, a huge gap is formed, then do not rush to draw details to each other. First make additional slats or wedges. Seams should be treated with glue for wood, treads and risers should be tightened properly. If the repair occurs from the inside, then the parts should be aligned so that from the outside it is invisible.
• If the bowstring grooves are loosened, wedges will also be useful here. They are small in size, carefully smeared with glue, are driven from below into the grooves under the steps.
• Completely loosened steps are strengthened by installing additional stiffeners - bars, which pull off risers with a tear.
• Quite often the script has a seasonal character, as it increases only in the months of the year when the humidity in the room is growing strongly. As a result - the tree swells, the groove becomes larger, so the steps can no longer sit tightly. To prevent this, it is necessary to treat the ladder with a water repellent.
• Stairs with three oblique lines, as a rule, begin to creak in the middle element area. To eliminate the problem, the steps are fastened additionally directly to the main beam comb using metal fasteners or glue.

Now you know why the steps of the wooden ladder creak, what to do in each case. The main thing is to approach the process of eliminating the problem with the mind, in which case the unpleasant sound will leave quickly and for a long time. In addition, you can additionally restore the ladder, slightly change it externally.