Squealy Stairs, Door Drafts
And More Home Repair Questions
Answered by Beth Hodge

Q. How do you get rid of creaks in stairs? There is no access to the treads from below.

Climbing them it sounds like an orchestra tuning up! Can anyone help, please?

A: One easy way I have seen is to sprinkle them with baby powder and "walk it in".

The other way, since there is no access from under, would be to try nailing small finishing nails into the creaking spots until they are quiet.

Then you can tap the nail heads in just past the surface and fill the tiny holes with a bit of wood putty and you will never see them.

Q. Our front door is out of alignment - the frame is not really square. How can we stop the drafts from the top and side (we have a rug at the bottom gap). We can't seal it off as we need to use the door.

A: Without doing the harder work to square the opening, there is a wide array of weather stripping (felt, foam and rubber) and threshold sweeps that are easy to install and pretty effective. All found at home improvement stores.

Q. I have had upvc double glazed windows fitted, but now the weather has changed the have started to steam up.

Can you please tell me why and how to fix this problem

A: This usually happens when the gas between the panes of glass has escaped.

To temporarily fix try using a hair dryer on the glass from inside to warm and rid the area of the condensation that is build up.

To permanently fix, new gas needs to be injected between the panes of glass.