How do I stop floorboards creaking?

A creak is friction — two pieces of timber, or timber and a nail, rubbing as the board flexes under weight. Fixing it means removing the movement, so the first job is locating exactly where it comes from.

Find it precisely. Have someone walk slowly while you listen from below if there is access, or press each board by hand along its length. Mark the spot. Creaks are usually at a joist line or where two board ends meet.

The most common cause is a loose nail. Original boards were nailed, and nails work loose over decades, so the board lifts fractionally and rubs against the shank. The fix is to screw the board down into the joist rather than re-nailing — screws do not work loose the same way. Pilot-drill and countersink, and use screws short enough not to reach anything below.

Before drilling anything, check for pipes and cables. Heating pipes and electrical cables commonly run in the joist space directly under floorboards, and putting a screw through one is the classic and expensive way to make this job worse. Use a detector, and follow the line of existing nails, which marks the joists.

Board-to-board rubbing — where the creak is between boards rather than at a joist — can often be silenced by working talcum powder, graphite powder or a dry lubricant into the gap. This is a genuine fix rather than a bodge for tongue-and-groove that is simply tight.

From below, if you have access, driving a shim or wedge with adhesive into a gap between joist and board, or fitting a small block, removes the flex without disturbing the floor.

Under carpet you can screw from above freely; on a floor you intend to show, work from below where possible.