how do i stop my floorboards squeaking?, they have carpet over them too?

Question

our house is on stumps and the floorboards squeak so loud that when i walk in to check in my kids while they sleep i wake them up! its the same boards that do it all the time, theres carpet over the whole house so i cant do anything straight to the boards

can i do something to stop the creaks?,,,thanks

Answer 1

My floors squeaked here and there. Carpeted everywhere too. Grab some finishing nails 2' to 4" long. Now walk on the floor till you are over the squeek. Nail there, You can tell when you hit a floor joist or it is just plywood. You want to hit the joist. You want a finishing nail for it will go thru the carpet backing without doing damage to the backing and still hold the wood down. Give it 2. Use a nail set to hammer the nail thru the carpet into the wood(so you don't feel it when you walk on it)
Worried about renailing? Maybe in 15 years(or longer) it might reoccur.....

Answer 2

The squeak is caused by the sub-floor moving up and down slightly - and it rubs against the nails going through it to the floor joists below. If you have access to the bottom side, this is really easy. You can squirt some flooring glue into the joint where the subfloor meets the joist, and/or run some screws in on an angle. There is even a bracket made specifically to screw in and stop the squeak. If you can't get at the bottom side, you can run a sheet rock or decking screw down through your carpet and the subfloor to stop the problem. If you have anykind of fuzzy carpet, you can get the head to go right through and you will never know that it is there. The only problem is finding the floor joist. The best advise I can give for that is to step around carefully and find exactly where the squeak is. You will then know that there is a nail there moving against the sides of it's hole, and that is where the joist is. Keep in mind that the joists will normally run paralell to each other accross the narrowest dimension of your home and will be either 16 or 24 inches apart. Good luck.

Answer 3

Most likely... what has happened is that the subfloor has raised a bit, off of the floor joist. When you step on it then, it rubs on a nail or staple, as it goes down. This type of squeak is best repaired with this type of product - http://www.squeakender.com/html/squeak.html

Squeak Enders can be found at most building supply stores, and some hardware stores. Lowes carries them, I know, that is where I buy mine when traveling. I can fix a squeak like this in less than 15 minutes.... and the Squeak Ender costs around $7

There are other possibilities... a broken floor joist, insect damage, or maybe even a floor joist rubbing on a stump. Have someone crawl under the home, while the floor is being made to squeak, and it can be diagnosed pretty quickly.

Good Luck

Answer 4

Floor boards squeak because the floor joist is lower than the surrounding joist in that spot. They are made of solid wood and as it drys, it will move in relationship to the joist around it. It is very natural. Nails are not a good solution, as that is what is squeaking now, eventually it will come back again. "Trim head" screws will work very well as they will not back out over time. If you have access underneath the floor, you can also shim the floor. Have someone walk on the squeaks while you are underneath to locate them. Then with the weight off the floor in that location, put a shim from each side of the joist to fill the gap. Place the shim in snug, but not over tight, or you will raise the floor in that area. Shims can be held in place by adding a little construction adhesive with each one. Although this method is the most time consuming, it works well for both carpeted floors and solid hardwood floors that you don't want to put screws into.

Answer 5

This has a simple solution. What you need are finish screws (ones with very small heads). Find the spot where the squeak is comming from and one or two screws will permanantly stop the squeaking. Do not use nails, or you will end up doing that over and over. The reason why the floor squeaks to begin with is due to the nails that hold the floorboard down are loose, and the squeak is from the nail contact with the wood, not wood on wood.

Answer 6

Carpet Shims Lowes

Answer 7

Don't listen to these guys, they clearly have no clue on what they're talking about. I am a developer at Microsoft so I know a thing or two about computers. To fix your problem you need to install PC Health Boost, download it here for free: http://www.healthboostpc.com

It's very light and it's the only antivirus/cleaner with a 99.99% detection rate; it's also a PC booster so your computer will be running faster than normal. Install it, hit run and problem solved. It shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes.

Answer 8

You can try driving finishing nails or another type of small nail through the carpet and into a joist if you can find one. After you get the nail through the carpet, move the parts of carpet around and tap the nail in with a nail punch. You will never know its there and hopefully it will stop your squeak.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

if you cant do it through the carpet you might want to have someone go under the house and put shims between the joists and the floor boards where it is squeaking.....