How to Fix Squeaking Office Chair: 7 Best Ways

The office is the place where you need a peaceful and quiet environment. Different office work and tasks require a lot of your focus and attention, and if any noisy thing or unpleasant sound like a squeak happens in the office, it breaks momentum and diverts your attention.

Although a noisy office environment affects productivity and disturbs the overall office environment, one must know the origin of noise and try to avoid it to maintain a calm office experience. Most of the time, the noise that irritates the most in offices is the squeaking of an office chair.

A good office chair can easily have a life of 5 years depending upon it is used sensibly, in load capacity, chair movements, and improper use of inclines, and casters. A few possible reasons can make a squeaking chair, but it happened due to poor quality, bad load management, rough use of reclining features, and casters.

Reasons behind chair squeaking:

As mentioned earlier, there can be a few possible reasons behind the squeaking of a chair. An office chair comprises many parts working together in harmony, providing ease in movement, comfort, and other features. But every part has its life span, and after a prescribed time, these parts require repair or proper maintenance.

It all depends on the materials quality used and the durability of the chair; there may be some wear and tear that causes the unpleasant noise.

Besides pushing your office chair backrest to the extreme limit, putting load above its bearable limits and rough overall use with poor maintenance is another reason. Below are some reasons and their fixes.

Loose Components (Nuts and Bolts)

Any object that involves different components requires these components to perform efficiently for the proper functioning of that object.

Similarly, if any of the components are out of order in the office chair or work improperly, then there is a chance that the chair may produce unpleasant noise or start squeaking. There are three possible reasons for nuts and bolts to squeak.

Un-Tightened Nuts and Bolts:

Negligence in tightening the nuts bolts properly while assembling your chair or delay when they require tightening is one of the reason that causes squeaking of the chair; it also unbalances the chair and makes your sitting uncomfortable.

Loosening of Screws:

Rough use, constant weight pressure, or poor weight management is behind this factor. It causes the bolts and screws to loosen up with time.

The load causes the nuts and bolt to undergo friction; this friction then turns into torque, and if the nuts are not tightened enough or with time, it pushes the bolt and makes it lose.

External Factors:

Many external environmental factors are also responsible for loosening nuts and bolts. Especially temperature is crucial; it makes the metal contract or relaxes, which may be the reason.

Mostly at room temperatures, nut and bolts metalwork is fine, but if the temperature rises or drops from room temperature, it may cause the loosing.

Related article: How to Make Your Office Chair Higher

How to Fix this Problem

Here is the step-by-step procedure for getting rid of squeaking chairs caused by loosening nuts and bolts.

Take your chair and turn it upside down.

Inspect all the screws, nuts, and bolts by checking your hands.

If you find any loose screw, you can tighten it with the help of a flat head screwdriver.

In case of rust, apply some WD40 or use oil or grease to prevent it from further deterioration.

Repeat the same process in the case of nuts and bolts.

If all screws, nuts, and bolts are tightened properly, use oil or grease to lubricate them.

One thing to take care of is the upholstery; cover it with some cloth and protect it from any oil or grease stains.

Shaky Joints:

Weak or shaky joints other than those involving any screws, nut bolts like the cylinder mechanism junction, the swivel base junction, and components or places around them can also make a squeaky sound if there is any fault.

A constant movement of the office chair or bearing and holding body weight for longer can disturb the friction mechanism between joints, and they may lose their alignment, which causes the squeaking noise when these joints rub against each other.

How to Fix Feeble Office Chair Joints:

Here are some methods to follow to fix your squeaky office chair.

• Before turning your chair upside down, ask someone to sit and check the squeaky noise.

• Once you make your observation and know about the possible reason behind office chair squeaking.
• Now turn your chair upside down and locate your chair joints.
• Check them by applying some pressure on the joints.
• Apply some lubricant or WD40 on them.

• Again check them by putting some weight and moving your chair.
• Remove or wipe extra lubricant if needed.

Related article: How to Clean Smelly Office Chair

Office chair Wheels or Casters:

Office chair wheels or casters consist of metal posts covering the chair’s wheels. A wheel axle and screws over which wheel rolls, over time, these wheel post, axle, or screws are worn out, and when a chair moves, the wheel produces a squeaking noise.

Other reasons that can make your chairs wheel noisy are:

Worn Out Tread:

Worn treads make the wheel movement uneven, producing an unpleasant sound and making the movement difficult. One has to drag their chair when moving their chair.

Flat Tread:

A flat tread makes the wheels move freely, without any grip. Their freeness causes the chair to slide on the floor and cause your office chair to squeak.

Cracks in Tread:

Cracks in wheel tread make noise when they move over any surface. If the surface below them is harder, they will produce louder noise than softer surfaces like carpets.

How to fix office chair casters:

The solution to fix a squeaky office chair due to wheels or caster is doable by following the below steps:

• Flip and turn upside down your office chair.
• Unscrew the wheels with the help of a screwdriver, and de assembles the metal posts.
• Now clean them by applying WD40 first and then clean them with a dry cloth.
• Lubricate all the parts with any lubricant like gel, grease, or oil.
• Assemble them and put them back together.

After fixing them back, check if the squeaking is gone; if not, consider replacing the wheel after figuring out which wheel or its part is making that noise.

Seat Adjustment:

Sometimes, the squeakiness is due to wobbling in the seat caused due to worn-out or loosening of screws or nuts or bolts that hold it tightly and placed it firmly with the base or shaft of the chair. You can inspect it by flipping over the chair or, firstly, by sitting and making sure that the seat wobbles when you move your chair.

How to fix it:

• Once you confirm it, then flip over the chair
• Check all the holding components that hold the seat firmly with the base of the chair,
• Lubricate them all, tighten them if needed and make sure that they firmly hold the seat with the base.

Hex Shaft:

One possible reason behind your squeaky office chair is the hex shaft and its loose connection with the swing arm or sometimes friction between them.

How to fix it:

• It can be easily fixed by applying lubricant, removing any rust with WD40, and cleaning the extra lubricant from the surface.

Fixing of Gas Lift Mechanism:

One of the potential reasons for squeaking the office chair is the gas lift cylinder problem. Damage in the gasket on the piston shaft from the pneumatic cylinder produces the sound.

How to Fix Noisy Gas Lift Mechanism:

• Flip your chair.
• Open the gas lift cylinder by applying a little force.
• Lubricate the entire component, including the piston shaft.
• Assemble them back and clean any excess fluid or grease.

Seat Tension Spring:

Last but not least, the seat tension spring can make a squeaky office chair. The tension spring is located at the bottom of the seat. The tension spring is held by turning knob housing. A rust or spring friction due to stiffness or loosening can produce squeakiness.

How to Fix It:

• The procedure is simple. Just clean the housing at the bottom of the seat.
• Loosen the turn knob of the tilt mechanism.
• Apply lubricant and lubricate them properly.
• Put it all back together and tight it.

Conclusion:

A squeaking office chair can disturb the peaceful environment of the office and breaks the workflow or momentum by ruining the calmness of the office. It eventually affects your overall productivity in the end. Therefore it is necessary to fix your squeaking office chair.

Many possible reasons can make a squeaky office chair. We try to cover all the reasons and how we can fix them. You only need some basic tools, lubricants, and a little skill in assembling an office chair. If the squeakiness doesn’t go after applying all the fixing techniques, it’s better to change the components or whole office chair if it’s irritating or affects your workflow.