Fixing squeaky floorboards without lifting carpets

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Lizard1977

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#208468 13-Feb-2017 14:47

Our 1920s california bungalow has a lot of squeaky floorboards throughout the house and it's driving me nuts. Our 2-year old is especially sensitive to noise, so I have become quite the practised ninja darting around the house to avoid the dreaded creaks and squeaks, but they seem to be multiplying.

After a particularly bad squeak last night I started googling something that can be done without lifting the carpets and came upon this - http://www.nzsqueakyfloors.co.nz/ It's a kit that includes special screws and a tool that lets you drive screws down into the joists, and the head then snaps off below the carpet level. I found a video on Youtube here which demonstrates it (American, but it looks like the same tool) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gUW-IhSMBc

What I want to know is, is this a good approach? Has anyone used it and can vouch for its value? As someone who isn't particularly handy, it looks reasonably simple to use (once you've located the joists in each room), but is there a better approach?

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#1719438 13-Feb-2017 14:56

Don't know about doing it without lifting the carpet.

Dad and I spent a couple of weekends some years (20ish??) back de-squeaking the upper floors of his place. Basically rolled back the carpet in each room, went along each joist with an all-in-one drill bit that did the pilot hole, main hole and countersink in one go, then followed along putting about 1500 screws in.
Once completed, got a carpet layer in to spend a couple of hours re-stretching and laying the carpets back down.

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xcon

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#1719441 13-Feb-2017 14:59

reminds me of the episode of The Big Bang Theory and their squeaky floor boards and a baby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2RFwJtnGdc

BlueOwl

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#1719442 13-Feb-2017 14:59

I haven't tried to do this myself, but one trick I heard of was to sprinkle talcum power over the area, on top of the carpet, and leave it to settle in (don't vacuum it out for a week or two). Apparently as the powder settles though the carpet and underlay it lubricates the joints and nail areas and stops them from squeaking. Might be worth a try, it certainly won't cost a lot.

jimbob79

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#1719444 13-Feb-2017 15:14

Mitre10 Mega sells a US product ($44~) which you drill a small hole into the carpet using very long special screws and using a tool breaks the the top half of the screw off. Thus leaving very minimal evidence of a hole.

jimbob79

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#1719448 13-Feb-2017 15:22

jimbob79:

Mitre10 Mega sells a US product ($44~) which you drill a small hole into the carpet using very long special screws and using a tool breaks the the top half of the screw off. Thus leaving very minimal evidence of a hole.

I've realised I've jump straight into answering your question before actually looking at your question.

Batman

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#1719450 13-Feb-2017 15:23

xcon:

reminds me of the episode of The Big Bang Theory and their squeaky floor boards and a baby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2RFwJtnGdc

I was thinking the same thing

MikeAqua

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#1719451 13-Feb-2017 15:25

How do you know where the joists are without lifting the carpet?

Also beware of the toughness of timber in older houses ...

In very tough timber the screw head may torque off may be reached before the screw is all the way in leaving a protruding headless screw to extract ...

Mike

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Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#1719456 13-Feb-2017 15:26

I feel your pain! I am a night owl but my girlfriend goes to bed well before me on some nights. What makes my situation particularly iritating is that during the day and early evening, the floors make almost no noise. But by midnight, nearly every footstep creates a symphony of creaking and I ALWAYS wake her up before I even reach the bedroom door.

That product you linked to looks interesting, but I have sisal carpet and I'd be terrified of the carpet strand getting caught in the screws whilst drilling them in, unravelling the pile of the carpet in the process, although there is mention of taping the end of the screws to prevent this in the instructions.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

MikeAqua

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#1719457 13-Feb-2017 15:31

Wheelbarrow01:

I ALWAYS wake her up before I even reach the bedroom door.

So "Are you awake babe?" would be redundant phrase in your household then!

Mike

Wheelbarrow01

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#1719459 13-Feb-2017 15:34

MikeAqua:

Wheelbarrow01:

I ALWAYS wake her up before I even reach the bedroom door.

So "Are you awake babe?" would be redundant phrase in your household then!

Indeed....

Lizard1977

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#1719466 13-Feb-2017 15:46

jimbob79:

Mitre10 Mega sells a US product ($44~) which you drill a small hole into the carpet using very long special screws and using a tool breaks the the top half of the screw off. Thus leaving very minimal evidence of a hole.

Thanks for this. I did look on Mitre 10's website to see if they sell a similar product, but obviously my search term ("squeaky") was too specific, and I should have searched for "squeak" and I would have found it. It's more expensive than the identical product on Trademe, but after shipping it's closer in price, and I can get it straight away to try this week when I have some time off.

Is there likely to be any issue with hitting pipes or electrical cables when using the joist-finding screw, or are they nowhere near the floor joists?

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#1719469 13-Feb-2017 15:49

Can you get at the floor from underneath? If you can get someone to walk around and make the squeaks you could probably spot them and add shims or fasteners from underneath to stop the squeaking boards... just a thought

edit: or just whack a bead of construction adhesive along the sides of the joists

Lizard1977

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#1719474 13-Feb-2017 15:59

There is some underfloor access, but not a lot. I wouldn't be able to get under there comfortably, which means probably paying someone to do it. That's why I figured the screw kit seemed like a good idea, because the outlay is pretty small to at least give it a try...

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#1719488 13-Feb-2017 16:26

You could probably get away with some small jolt-head nails and a nail punch, rather than mucking around with special screws. But depends how much movement there is.

If you can identify where the existing nails are you might just be able to give them a whack too. A magnet would work to find them. May also be useful to identify where the joists are if you go down the special screw route.

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#1719491 13-Feb-2017 16:33

Wheelbarrow01:

I feel your pain! I am a night owl but my girlfriend goes to bed well before me on some nights. What makes my situation particularly iritating is that during the day and early evening, the floors make almost no noise. But by midnight, nearly every footstep creates a symphony of creaking and I ALWAYS wake her up before I even reach the bedroom door.

That product you linked to looks interesting, but I have sisal carpet and I'd be terrified of the carpet strand getting caught in the screws whilst drilling them in, unravelling the pile of the carpet in the process, although there is mention of taping the end of the screws to prevent this in the instructions.

Hmm I don't have a problem with waking people up. In fact my house provides entertainment to all my guests who without being asked, would provide symphony of creaks by walking over all the squeaky boards on purpose

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