Easy Fixes for Rugs and Squeaky Floors

A loose rug or squeaky floor can be annoying, if not hazardous. Many flooring issues are minor and can be easily fixed at home. Follow the below tips to ensure your floors and rugs stay in good condition.

Make it safe with an old inner tube

A sliding rug can be a real hazard. A quick and temporary way to stop it moving across the floor is to spray the underside of the rug with hair spray. For a more permanent fix, try the following.

• Cut an old bicycle inner tube lengthwise and flatten it out. Use a rubber-based adhesive to glue the rubber strips to the edges of the rug.
• For the best, if not the cheapest, solution, buy a roll of rubber mesh from a carpet store, cut this to the size of your rug and place it between the rug and the hard floor. The mesh provides a little space between the floor and the rug, allowing it to "breathe."

Restore it with salt treatment

If your rug has started to look past its best, you can refresh it with a salt wash. Before getting started, test the process on a corner of the rug to ensure colour fastness.

• Thoroughly vacuum the rug.
• Stir around 240 grams (one cup) of table salt into four litres (a gallon) of warm water.
• Wet a microfibre cloth in the concentrated salt solution. Wring out the cloth — it should be damp, not dripping.
• Rub the rug vigorously with the damp cloth; allow it to dry thoroughly and vacuum it once more to remove any salt crystals.

Get some peace with powder and a brush

Noisy boards are easy to silence — when you can get at them. If they are covered by carpet or other flooring materials, don't risk putting a nail or screw through "blindly" as you could hit a water pipe or an electrical cable. Move the carpet out of the way before getting started.

• Walk slowly over the floor to locate the source of the squeak. Sprinkle talcum powder between the floorboards in the squeaky area; this will help boards move past one another silently.
• Boards will squeak if they are not fixed firmly to the supporting joists. Find the loose board and try hammering the nail back into the joist. Use a nail punch to help you to drive the nail below the surface of the board. If it will not hold, drive a new nail into an adjacent area of wood.

Keep your rugs and floors looking their best with a few simple preservation techniques.

• Protect vulnerable floors by gluing felt pads to the underside of chair legs.
• Place rugs in areas where people are likely to drop heavy objects — for example, on the floor in front of a pantry.
• Clean up quickly after a spill of liquid — even water.
• Don't place old bottles on the floor — traces of liquid they contained may run down the outside of the bottle, making stubborn rings on the floor.
• Keep your leftovers in a designated box in the garage or a cupboard. Pieces of flooring, carpet, and curtain or upholstery material can be invaluable when it comes to patching up damage.