Nothing beats the feeling of successfully laying your three-month-old down for a nap. As you carefully tiptoe out of the room and pull the door shut behind you, gleefully anticipating what you are going to do with an hour of freedom, a deafening 'SQUONK!' emits from one of the door hinges. Your foolish dreams are instantly shattered by a lusty wail and you curse the fickle gods of door hardware. Don't let this happen to you. A squeaky hinge is an easy fix, one you can accomplish in no time and with materials you probably have on hand.

What You Need

Materials
• 1 squeaky hinge
• Some type of lubricant. There are a hundred different opinions on what works best, from cooking spray to hair gel. I chose an all natural beeswax and olive oil based hand balm to eliminate the possibility of any nasty chemical vapors seeping into the nursery.

Tools
• Hammer
• 8d nail or nail set

Instructions

1. Remove pin by inserting nail or nail set in the bottom of the hinge. Tap firmly until hinge pops out. This may take a bit of effort, especially since it is probably squeaking because the hinge pin is bone dry.

2. Smear on a generous amount of lubricant.

3. Gently tap pin back into hinge assembly. You may have to wiggle the door a bit if the hinges became a bit misaligned, but see how smoothly the pin slides in now? Very nice.

4. Wipe up any excess with a rag.

5. Treat the other hinges while you are at it.

Additional Notes:
If the hinge continues to squeak, the pin may be bent, especially on older doors which have a history of overzealous arms manhandling them. You may have to purchase a new pin and replace.

(Images: Richard Popovic)