Hush Baby Hush: Silencing Squeaky Floors

Do you have Squeaky Floors? Do you wake up your baby every time you walk across the room?
If you live in an old house in Toronto or across the GTA (like many of us) you probably know what Squeaky Floors are. That awful sound the floor makes when you walk inside your home. It probably wasn’t a big issue before. But now, that you have a baby and maybe an older kid who is playing around, it might be a problem. It is good to know that there is a solution out there for families like yours

I was determined to fix my Squeaky Floors

We live in a bungalow built in 1940. It’s a lovely little home with some original finishes, including the hardwood floors on the main level.

Before we had Luke, my husband and I never noticed just how squeaky the floors were. But after we had a baby to keep from waking, we found ourselves tip-toeing around the house like a couple of ninja ballet dancers. It seemed like each step we took, the floors would creak so loudly that Luke would wake crying… and I’d be up with him all through the night… again!

My husband’s response: do nothing. “The baby will just have to get used to it,” he said. “It will make him tougher.” Typical, right? He’s not waking up every hour or two.

Something had to be done. We had to fix these floors. My sanity hung in the balance. So, I did what most Moms of newborns do when they should be sleeping…I researched!
I was determined to fix these old floors.

People told me it is impossible. “You have to go in from underneath,” people told us. “Your basement ceiling will be destroyed,” they said. “No one can fix squeaky floors!” I grew more determined.

Hush Baby Hush: Silencing Squeaky Floors

Finding a solution for our Squeaky Floors

Finally, I came across a local company, called Squeak Knights. They claimed to have a much less invasive method of fixing squeaky floors. In fact, they do it from the top-down, not from underneath.

I used my powers of persuasion and convinced my husband that spending a bit of money on fixing the floors would go a long way toward a mutually agreeable existence. Moms…you know what I’m talking about. What’s that old saying again? A happy wife is a happy life…

We booked a consultation with the owner, Lev Remennik. He spent about three hours explaining in detail the process he uses to remedy squeaky floors. He walked around the main level of our home and identified all the trouble spots – pretty much a pathway has worn over the last 78 years from the bedrooms to the bathroom, and a loop from the kitchen to the TV and back toward the bathroom.
No wonder we couldn’t step anywhere without making noise.

The solution: three days of drilling fine holes and filling them with an adhesive to stop the floors from moving when stepped on. When I say fine holes, I mean exactly that.

Baby sleep means I can sleep

When the work was done, we couldn’t see the holes at all. In fact, we almost didn’t notice how silent the floors were once the work was complete. Lev’s crew did it! We actually had quiet floors. The prospect of sleep was on the horizon. We scrapped our plans to install a zip line to Baby’s room.

Now we just walk there like normal people. Well, at least one of us is. With all the baby strollers I see along Lake Shore these days, I’m guessing I’m not the only Mom out there struggling with squeaky floors.