Floor repairs you can do yourself

Floors take more wear than anything else in the house. Most floor problems, from a squeak to a gap between planks, come down to wood moving with the seasons, a floor that can't move freely, or grit and furniture doing slow damage.

Where to start: A squeaky floor is usually the subfloor rubbing against a joist. Laminate and vinyl plank floors float, so they need room to move: gaps between planks and a floor that peaks or buckles often trace back to how the edges were finished, which is why quarter round gets nailed to the baseboard, not the floor. For hardwood, scratches and gaps between boards each have their own fix. At doorways, a loose transition strip usually just needs reseating, and carpet that's lifting can be hooked back onto its tack strip.