Getting new stair carpet next week and taking the old one up this weekend. I'd like to fix some creaky steps. There is no access to under stairs due to it all being plastered up and not wanting to un-do any of that. What can I do from the top side to get them fixed down properly? Is banging in a load of nails or screws where possible a bad idea?
Yes, probably should have got a professional out but money, time, pride, cannae-be-arsed, etc.
I had one step which was cracked - I flattened a piece of steel drum and screwed it down over a gorilla glued crack.
Timba has it. The creaking is caused by the tongue on the riser rubbing in the groove of the tread as the tread pushes down under the weight of a person.
With no access underneath you need to fix eighth ply on the riser so that it is tight under the tread, that will stop the tread from pushing down.
If you want to try to screw through the tread into riser that might work too although with time they might work loose, which will be a pain to deal with after stair carpet has been fitted. I would suggest you use narrow screws with plenty of bite like those below
Thanks all. I shall be busy on Saturday.
I would screw them down liberally and also use an expanding polyurethane glue such as Gorilla glue where you can wipe it in.
I did this on ours and it worked a treat.
Did this to our stair and son's stair, also worked a treat
We did it with PVA, it worked temporarily so Gorilla glue would probably be better.
A reminder it's a job for me this weekend as we've just stripped the old manky carpet of the stairs on our 'new to us' 50s house and they're creaky as hell now.
Glue and screw, and happy I just bought an impact driver too.
remember to dampen the glue space if using the gorilla expanding polyurethane glue.
Glue and screw, and happy I just bought an impact driver too.
Tbh 1/8th ply would be quicker**, easier, and pretty much guaranteed to permanently stop the creaking.
** Assuming that you have a sharp handsaw and can cut straight!
The ply needs to be a tight fit though (top to bottom that is not necessarily side to side). Then PVA glue with a few pins to hold it flat against the riser until the glue goes off.
It might be, but I'll have to have a look as SWMBO has decided we're having a central runner, so wouldn't want to see plywood poking out either side where she's already stripped and painted...
Well do it fairly tight side to side then and paint it. 1/8th ply adds very little so it shouldn't be noticeable, other than it might look newer!
Alternatively do it to all the risers!
the gunable PU glue is good for this as it has the consistency of porridge so great for gap filling. Excess can be picked of with your finger nails. risers also come away from the back of the treads below when grippers are nailed on too enthuisiastically.
I did mine last week - in my case the front of the step onto the riser (where you’d fire screws into) wasn’t the issue at all - all the noise was from the back of the step onto the riser above. I also couldn’t get behind the stairs as it’s the curved plasterwork of the downstairs loo ceiling - and balls to re-doing that
I used a big screwdriver to lever the riser off the back of the tread so I could gun a load of this stuff in. I then left it 24 hours before using the stairs again so it had loads of time to go off. New carpet fitted today and my repair seemed to have survived the gripper rods getting fitted. Huge improvement on what was previously a horribly bouncy and noisy staircase.
https://www.toolstation.com/5-minute-polyurethane-wood-glue-gel/p78519
Timba has it. The creaking is caused by the tongue on the riser rubbing in the groove of the tread as the tread pushes down under the weight of a person.
Not always. On my stairs the nails through the bottom of the riser into the back of the tread had slowly been wriggling out over the 70odd years since built. So it was the back of the tread flexing unsupported rather than the front of the tread moving on the top of the riser. So my case it was taking the plasterboard off and using screws and blocks the pull treads and risers back together again. Luckily in my case the plasterboard on the rear is inside a cupboard so not a big deal to reinstate
So with the carpet off its worth moving your weight about on the treads and seeing where the movement actually is.
If you can't / don't want to take the back off then you might have luck with a gap filling glue as above.
It might also be the case that gap at be back of the stair is the reason for the noise but not the source of the creak because the treads and rises aren't actually touching each other. The noise might be the flexing tread being pushed in about out of the tighter joint where the tread sockets into stringer. So rather than gloopier / gel-like expanding glues a 'D4' type glue might work there, which has a thinner consistency more like PVA (and can be watered down) that has a bit of flow might get into tighter joints better. D4 also expands (fractionally) as it sets so still has a gap-filling property in the context of a very small gap
I've used this Gorilla-alike glue a fair bit. You get it from Toolstation or Screwfix.
It's very good and cheaper than Gorilla.
You get a 5 minute or 30 minute set version. As mentioned above, you need to moisten the area which is what makes the glue do it's thing.
Just to warn about the gel PU adhesive, it will continue coming out the nozzle for several minutes even with the pressure released on the gun...don't lay the gun down anywhere you're going to regret later! I'm no longer a fan of the Gorilla glues, the PU takes ages to set and excess goes really hard, the PVA goes lumpy in the bottle at moderately low temperatures.
