12 Quick Fixes

1: Silence Squeaky Floors (and Stairs)

Your overnight guests don't need to know about your midnight refrigerator raids, so tighten up those creaking floorboards and stair treads before they wake up the whole house. Squeeeeek-No-More screws, available at home centers and hardware stores, draw flooring tight to joists, or stair treads to stringers; then their heads snap off, leaving a 1/8-inch-wide hole in the finished surface. "The holes disappear in carpeting," says This Old House general contractor Tom Silva. "For wood floors, fill the holes with a wax filler stick in a matching color."