Creaky Wood floors in Victorian House

[SD25]

We have original wood floors which look great but they are very creaky. It's not ideal now we have a baby. Has anyone dealt with this? Can you really put screws in everywhere or is carpet the only answer? They also creak when heating comes on! Any similar experience welcome

All 4 of my kids were born and raised in this Victorian house with very creaky floorboards - never even thought about it as an issue just how gorgeous they look and how practical and zero maintenance they are. However we do have a runner on the stairs. Creaking has never woken my kids as they dont know any different.

They will creak under the carpet and still be noisy. We had our handyman lift and redo a lot of floorboards before we got new carpet, it made a massive difference.
Most floorboards seem to be nailed not screwed.

Lift and replace the creaky ones. Or I've seen that sometimes creaky boards just need tightening and that works. I'm in the same boat so planning to test the latter next year when I can muster up the energy to lift carpets!

We have no carpet anywhere and agree @kitchensrus it looks great just worrying about practicality but maybe you're right. To be honest it annoys me the noise!
@justwonderingifyou it seems screwing in screws alongside the nails is one way to reduce creaking. Can see previous owners tried this.

Screwing will reduce the creaking but if you are doing it on each plant twice at each joist then only an option if you are then going to cover in carpet.

We stayed in a old three storey Victorian house once. All wooden floors and it was just gorgeous but my god the noise !! And the more quiet you tried to be the louder it was 😆

It depends what nails they have. If they're lost head nails you need to take them out and replace with cut clasp nails, which won't loosen so fast.

Creaky floorboards are just the nails coming loose, that's it. You could get a punch and re punch the nails, but if they're lost head they'll just slip again

best to take the boards up, as they will have pipes and cables beneath which will be penetrated by screws and nails.

I definitely prefer screws which can be tightened if necessary, and the boards lifted without damage. Carpenters prefer nails which are quicker and cheaper.

If you take the boards up you may discover and replace or repair joists that are loose, cut or damaged. You can also add insulation between the joists, lad pipes, run extra cables, clean out the airbricks, and remove a hundred years of rubbish and dead rodents.

Squeaky boards are most common where they have been hacked about and carelessly replaced by plumbers or electricians. As a homeowner you can take the care needed for a better job.

You might possibly have chipboard flooring which is especially suitable for bonfires.

It's not chipboard! Obviously we'd avoid the pipes and cables. Taking them up feels like a big job but maybe worth doing and insulation would be a bonus.

I used to creep backwards down the stairs after putting dd to bed but I’d still managed to find a previously unknown creak.

I actually enjoy the sound and it means no one can surprise you.

We had a pipe leak after a floorboard nail went through it, and yes, most creaky floors are where work has been done and tradesmen haven't reseated boards properly. If you do get a leak, the crap under the floor boards ends up in such a mess it becomes a bigger job to sort. We had soggy bits of plaster, random bits of wood, 130 years worth of dust mixed to a lovely sludge.

Mind you, I worked as a chamber maid in a posh old hotel when I was young. Hotel was frequented by many rich Americans and the hotel actually added a creak to the floorboards in the main areas because it added 'older worlde' ambience