How to Make Stairs Not Creak

Dealing With Squeaking Stairs:

Screw down loose treads.
Nail down loose treads.
Add a moulding or quadrant for support.

How Do You Walk Quietly on Creaky Stairs?

Walk in a slightly crouched position, engaging all of your muscles as you move. This lightens the amount of force that hits the ground each time you make contact, enabling you to move much more quietly. Keep your body compact, and distribute your weight evenly so you don't clunk your feet noisily against the ground.

Treads are the horizontal surfaces where you put your feet.
Risers are the vertical surfaces in between the treads.
Stringers are the sawtooth-shaped boards running up the sides of the risers and treads to keep the staircase together and provide support. Stringers on interior staircases are sometimes hidden inside the drywall.
Banisters are the handrails running the length of the staircase.
Balustrades are the posts that support the banisters.

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How to Silence Your Squeaky Stairs

There are lots of reasons why you don’t want your stairs to squeak. It announces to the entire family, for one, when you’re heading down to the kitchen in the dark for a midnight snack. Not to mention the fact that it can be a bit spooky in the dark. So unless you rely on your stairs to let you know about tardy teenagers coming home past their curfew, you probably find the squeaking a constant irritation.

It takes dozens of separate pieces to build a hardwood staircase. Stairs are made up of treads and risers—the flat steps and vertical kick plates you can see—as well as stringers, the saw-tooth pieces of wood that support the stairs from underneath.

Lubricate the Joint

For a squeak that is located near the back or side of the step you can muffle the sound by using a dry lubricant such as talcum powder, powdered graphite, or even baby powder to fill the space between the riser and the tread below it. The tread is the flat surface on the step where you put your foot. Do not use an oil-based lubricant, which can cause the wood to warp or cause the step to be slippery.

To put the lubricant in the crack, pour the powder into the crack all the way across the back of the tread. Then, work the powder as deeply as possible using a finger or old paintbrush. This technique won’t stop the tread and riser from moving against each other, but it will remove the friction that is causing the squeak. If the noise comes back, you may have to add more powder to the crack.

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Remove Treads

Squeaky stairs are easy to fix from underneath—provided they’re exposed. A simple fix is to tap shims into voids between the treads and the stringers and add some glue. Then screw the stringer to each stud. But most stairs are finished on the underside with drywall or plaster. Squeaks in these stairs need to be fixed from the top. That’s why the perfect time to fix them is when you’re replacing the carpeting—you can remove the treads and get at the squeaky culprits. (If you’re not replacing the carpet, but you have a squeak that’s driving you nuts, see below for how to fix tread squeaks right through the carpeting.) Here are four easy steps to permanently fix the treads that squeak and keep the rest from ever starting.

After you’ve removed the carpet, use a flat bar to pry off the treads, working from the top down (Photo 1). Since you’ll be reusing the treads, remove the nails and any leftover carpet pad and staples. Screw the outside stringers to each stud with 4-1/2-in. screws (Photo 2). Starting with the bottom tread, apply a bead of subfloor adhesive along the top of the riser, the stringers and the back of the tread, and press the tread back into place. Next, drive three 2-1/2-in. screws through the top of the same tread into each stringer (Photo 3). Then, drive a 2-in. screw through the riser into the back of the tread between the stringers (Photo 4). Repeat these steps with each tread, working your way to the top of the stairs.

Know Your Stairs

Expect them to consist of three main parts: treads, risers, and stringers. A tread is the horizontal piece of wood that you actually step on. A riser is the vertical piece of wood rising from the back of each tread. Stringers are the framework that your treads and risers rest on.

Expect your staircase to have at least three stringers: one on each side of your staircase, plus one running down its middle.
Very wide stairs may have additional stringers for extra support.

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Stick a Shim into Tiny Gaps

When your partner steps on a tread and causes a squeak, look for a gap between the tread and riser or the tread and stringer. If you see a small one, worm a shim’s thinner edge in between the two parts. Use a hammer to gently tap the thicker end until the shim is firmly in place.

Be careful to insert the shim only far enough to fill the existing gap. Avoid driving it in to the point that the thicker end begins to separate the stairs’ parts even more.
For extra security, apply carpenter glue to both sides of the shim before inserting.
A shim may also be referred to as a wedge.