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Stopping Staircase Squeaks Using Lubrication

Expert Author Ed Raine

If you have a wooden staircase in your home and it bothers you by making squeaking sounds, then you probably want to know what the solution is. There is more than one fixing method, here you will find out about lubricating.

It is a good thing to first know a few basic things about staircases. The wooden ones will usually create problems because wood will expand when the humidity is high and it will shrink when the environment is dry. This responsiveness along with the pressures it is subjected to since people walk up and down the staircase lead to loosen up parts and squeaky noises.

Before fixing a staircase you should know its parts. The basic ones are: the tread (the part you step on), the riser (the vertical part next to the tread) and the banister (the side part that you hold onto while using the stairs). The intersection of two pieces of wood is called a joint.

First you must prepare your workspace. If you have a carpet on the stairs, then you must remove it before starting the fixing job. Remove the padding underneath the rug also. You must be careful when handling the furring strips so that you don't get hurt. These strips are narrow wood pieces that provide backing to support a finished surface. When they are used for carpeting, they are prenailed with carpet tacks so that they hold down the edges of the carpet. When it comes to stairs, they can be located at the top and bottom of the staircase and also wherever there are carpet seams.

The items you will work with are: painter's or masking tape, powdered graphite and a piece of cardboard. Walk up and down the stairs and mark the spots where the squeak sound occurs, using the masking tape. Take the graphite container and squeeze the graphite out into the problematic joint. Joints that are found between the upper part of the riser and the tread are more difficult to access. In this situation, squeeze some graphite powder on the cardboard, then blow it off this support into the affected joint.

This is the simplest repairing procedure and hopefully it will be all that you need.

About this Author

Ed is an experienced internet marketer and he is writing for http://www.safetyglassesprescription.org. You can find additional info about Ed by accessing Safety Glasses Sideshields website.

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