The squeaking floor has a brand new carpet on it, so I cannot drill nails in there or access the floor from below. Any suggestions on improving this problem would be appreciated.
2006-07-31 05:49:51 · 9 answers · asked by xdwcpsd 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
the floor was not creaking before the carpet was installed. Well, the carpet is like 3 months old (according to me that is still very close to brand new). The house is more like 20 years old.
2006-07-31 07:48:16 · update #1
Well, Ive repaired a lot of squeaky floors, over the years, doing warranty service for mobile homes... And Ive crawled into some pretty tight spaces to do it...
Squeaky floors, in newer home construction (say, within the last 50 years) is usually due to the sub-floor rubbing up and down, on a staple or nail. Not really a critical problem... just annoying, lol. (Especially if it's right in front of the fridge! lol)
In my experience, the best approach, is to repair the problem from underneath, using a special bracket, brand name "Sqeek-Ender". This bracket attaches a small plate to the bottom of the subfloor, and is bolted to the bottom of the floor joist, using a 'J' bracket. These "Squeek-Enders" usually cost about $6 to $8, and can be found in the flooring section of places like Lowe's.
There is another type of application to secure a loose sub-floor ply, to the floor joist... I don't recall the name, but Ive used it... I remember I found it in the hardware section of a Menard's store, so, Im sure others have it too.... It consisted of a small kit, which included a round plate that had 3 prongs, a special screw bit, and some very narrow necked screws. The way it was used.. I would locate the joist, place the 3 prong device on the floor (prongs down), and shoot one of these special screws right thru the carpet, into the floor joist... the special bit, would only allow the screw head to go so far...the prongs would actually hold the head of the screw up off the floor an inch or so... then, using that 3 prong device, you could break off the screw head. Simply tug the carpet then, and the anchoring screw is below the carpet.
This devise was ok, but the Squeek-Enders was my favorite approach.
You can also try using some very narrow head screws, and driving them thru the carpet into the floor (no larger than a #6 head...Ive found that square drives work the best)
Naturally, another approach is to pull the carpet back, and get at the floor that way.
The whole idea between all of these approaches, is to stop the sub-floor from moving up and down on the fastener.
Now, if you do live in a mobile home... there is one other kind of squeek that you can run into.... and that's from the lag bolt going into the floor joist, at the steel frame. With practice, lol, you learn to tell the difference between this type, and the subfloor. In this case, you would simply tighten the lag bolt...again, stopping the wood (in this case, a floor joist) from moving.
Even tho you have new carpet... you CAN drive a fastener thru it. I have yet, to see a carpet that was woven so tightly, that you couldnt get a screw thru it, without harming the carpet. Do NOT use nails.... as the nail will back out.. and then your squeak is back, lol. Stick with a screw, or the Squeek-Ender.
Good Luck!
2006-07-31 06:23:02 · answer #1 · answered by thewrangler_sw 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Creaking floors usualy occur when there is a change in temperature or humidity causing the wood to expand or contract. I would leave it alone for a few months and see if it changes with the weather. If after a couple seasons it doesn't go away, then contact a flooring professional.
I doubt it had anything to do with the carpet installers, although the new carpet is providing insulation that could be the cause of the change in temp or humidity.
2006-07-31 10:33:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Squeaking floors occur when a floor board is moving up and down on a loose nail. It may sound like a big deal, but its actually very easy to pull back the carpet and nail (or better yet, screw) the offending boards down.
2006-07-31 12:18:05 · answer #3 · answered by rrrrandog 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sqeaky floorboards are just boards that are loose .
There are only two courses of action.
Lift the carpet and renail it
or
Leave it until next time.
Its not going to harm the floor but depending on how far the board moves, it may harm the carpet over time.
Is there a reason why you didn't nail it down before you laid the carpet?
Did it not sqeak before?
Maybe the carpet fitters have removed summat . Can't think what but its a maybe.......
Chris
2006-07-31 06:04:10 · answer #4 · answered by kipp[axkid 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Creaky Floors
2016-09-28 03:45:34 · answer #5 · answered by debbra 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, maybe you should have worried about it BEFORE you put the new carpet down. Not much you can do now if you don't want to pull up your carpet.
2006-07-31 07:05:34 · answer #6 · answered by Jeffrey S 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Drive a finish nail into the sucker and your creeks will be solved. Otherwise... unless the creek gives you away when trying to sneak around the house, don't worry about it, at least not until your foot goes through.
2006-07-31 06:03:13 · answer #7 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Put another carpet on it..that may help
2006-07-31 05:51:39 · answer #8 · answered by celine8388 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dont worry unless it bends severly. just enjoy it when you step on it, or steparound.
2006-07-31 06:18:17 · answer #9 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋