Fixing a Squeaky Floor

By: Merle Henkenius (Page 1 of 5)

For a Hold-Down Bracket:
1. Hold the Squeak-Ender's steel mounting plate against the joist, then screw it to the plywood subfloor.

2. Tighten the nut with a wrench until the subfloor is pulled down snug against the floor joist.

For Glue-Coated Shims:
1. Tap a wood shim into the gap above the floor joist after smearing the shim with carpenter's glue.

2. Drive a drywall screw at an angle up through the joist and shim and into the plywood subfloor above.

2. Set the Counter-Snap's depth-control fixture over the pilot hole. Drive the screw down until it bottoms out and automatically snaps off.

For hardwood floors:
1. After locating the squeak, bore a 3/32-inch-diameter pilot hole through the hardwood flooring; it isn't necessarily to hit a joist below.

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Squeaky floors may alert you to kids sneaking in past curfew, but they've got little else going for them. Annoying floor squeaks, common in many homes, typically occur after the house has settled and flooring lumber has dried out and shrunk. As you walk across the floor, boards rub against each other or slide against nail shafts to produce a cacophony of squeaks and creaks. Loose subflooring -- both solid-board and plywood types -- will also emit high-pitched chirps.

Traditional hardwood strip flooring is the most susceptible to developing a case of the squeaks, but all types of flooring can make annoying noises. The good news is that it's easy to silence nearly any squeak in a matter of minutes -- if you know a few tricks. Here, we'll show you how to eliminate squeaks when working below the floor and above it. We even include tips for quieting carpeted areas and noisy stairs.