My neighbor's $5 trick for fixing squeaky stairs actually worked.

My neighbor Bob (retired carpenter, 70 years old) told me to just rub a bar of soap into the gaps between the tread and riser instead of using screws or nails. I laughed it off at first. Last week after three months of my stairs sounding like a haunted house, I grabbed a cheap bar of Dial from the dollar store. Rubbed it into four different squeaky spots on the staircase in my 1920s bungalow. It's been 10 days and zero noise. Not a single creak. Has anyone else tried weird non-traditional fixes like this that actually worked better than hardware?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_reed22d ago

Wait, the 1920s bungalow is the real detail that got me. I have a 1928 craftsman and I swear those old houses just have a mind of their own. I have a spot on my second step that sounds like a cat hissing every night around 11pm, no joke. I've been putting off fixing it because I hate the idea of drilling into that old wood. I might just try this soap trick tonight, with a bar of Irish Spring I have in the shower. If it works on a house that's almost 100 years old, that's honestly kind of incredible.

veramiller22d ago

Oh man, that is wild! I mean, I've heard of weird fixes like that but never would've guessed soap would actually work. My stairs have this one spot right at the top that sounds like a mouse screaming every time you step on it. Idk if I'm brave enough to try it, but maybe I'll grab a bar next time I'm at the store just to see. It's so nice when a cheap trick like that actually does the job instead of dropping cash on fancy hardware.