Clicks and Creaks and pops and squeaks, what has gotten into my house!
Have you ever wondered why your house keeps groaning, creaking, rattling, squeaking, and clicking when the winter season begins? Especially during the night when the typical hustle and bustle of the day gets dialed down, giving you the impression that maybe your house is haunted?
The sounds have a straightforward explanation, which thankfully does not involve a ghost in your attic! Houses can be noisy during the winters, whether they are newly constructed or old. The different materials used in the construction of the house, like wooden frames, metal, glass, nails, plywood, ducts, and plumbing pipes, tend to contract and expand at varying rates, thus rubbing against each other. Especially when the house becomes cooler on a cold winter’s night, thus causing your house to crack, pop, squeak and groan. These sounds make it appear like your house has been possessed by The Canterville Ghost, who is adamant about not allowing you to have a good night’s sleep.
Well, fortunately for us, the solution to silencing these creaks and squeaks is pretty simple and, most of the time can be taken care of without even having to call the pros. The high-pitched squeaks coming from a creaky door in your house is a demand of sorts to be fixed. There are several reasons why your doors may start squeaking out of nowhere.
What leads to a squeaky door?
To address a squeaky door, first, we need to understand what makes a door squeak. There are a couple of reasons why a door squeaks uncontrollably. First, it can be due to the wood of the door rubbing against wood, or most commonly, the squeaks can be caused by the friction in the door’s hinges. Friction in a hinge can be due to rust, dirt build-up, or the lack of lubrication within the metallic parts of the hinge, like the hinge pin and the hinge itself. Metal rubbing on itself this way can cause extremely annoying and loud sounds that need to be fixed for us to retain our sanity!
Lubricating a squeaky door: How and where
Lubricating a squeaky door is the most common and easy way to stop a door from squeaking. Since the most common cause of a creaking door is the metallic hinge rubbing against its metallic surface, this is where the lubricant needs to be applied. Lubricating a door hinge doesn’t require you to take the entire door apart from the door frame; simply dropping a liberal amount of lubricant while constantly opening and closing the door will do the job. You should be able to see the instant results then and there. In some cases, oiling the hinge doesn’t do the trick, in which case, lubrication can be applied after removing the hinge pin from the door. It is, again, pretty easy to remove a hinge pin. The trick is to use a hammer on the bottom of the hinge pin with something like a nail.
An effective way to stop the door hinges from squeaking
If you have decided to lubricate your door to stop it from squeaking and are gearing up to go and get the supplies, don’t go just yet. You will find that the quickest and easiest solutions to tackle your squeaky door problems can be found within your home. All you need is a substance to clean the dirt build-up in the door hinge and an effective lubricant to eliminate friction from the hinge to get your door moving without squeaking.
Your lubrication options to get rid of a squeaky door
Lubricating a squeaky door is extremely quick and easy. Getting a lubricant for your door is even easier as you don’t have to visit a DIY store, mainly because there are many options for you to choose from, and the majority of those options are your average, daily use household items.
For your reference, we have listed down some of the best door lubricants that can be readily found in your home. For stubborn squeaks, however, you will need to visit a DIY or a hardware store.
Here are some frequently used lubrication options that you may have around the home.
Hairspray: Hairspray is a quick way to fix the squeaking of a door in the short term. It comprises polymers that stop the door hinges from loosening and rubbing against each other and creating squeaking sounds by forming a seal around them. Spraying twice on the noisy hinge and then spreading the hairspray around by opening or closing the door should do the trick.
Organic soap: A bar of soap is comprised of fats, and that nicely helps in lubricating those noisy hinges. Especially an organic bar of soap, which is rich in fats, can cure a squeaky door by rubbing it into the door hinge and then moving the door hinge to spread it around, and voila, problem solved!
Olive Oil: Olive oil is yet another quick fix for resolving the squeaking door hinges.
Apply a few drops of olive oil using an oil can or equivalent to ensure you don’t have to deal with much spilling over and onto the floor.
Petroleum Jelly: Petroleum jelly makes an excellent lubricant for door hinges, and it could be the answer to your squeaky door problem. Apply lots of petroleum jelly on the door’s hinges to reduce squeaking. Remove the hinge pin apply some petroleum jelly to it before inserting it back for a thorough job.
Some more lubricant options to resolve a squeaky door are Paraffin Wax/Candles, GT85, Silicone Spray, and Lithium Grease, which get your door squeak-free in a matter of minutes. The best lubricant to fix a squeaky door is either lithium grease or a silicon spray, which are not only cheap but are convenient and easy to apply as well.
Conclusion
A point to remember is that these lubrication solutions may only prove to be short-term if the underlying problem is a poorly or incorrectly fitted door, in which case, you will have to face a squeaky door again very soon. In such a case, rehanging the door or replacing the door hinges may be required to fix the problem in the long term