How to Silence Squeaky Floors

If you're getting busted on midnight raids to the kitchen because of a squeaky floorboard, here's your solution. Squeaks develop when wood moves against other wood or nails.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wood glue
• Ball-peen hammer
• Hammer
• Wood filler
• Wood shims
• Tack hammer
• Variable-speed drill

1. Track down the exact location of the squeak by bouncing on the area.

2. Tap a nail back into place with a ball-peen hammer, if that's the problem. If not, continue with these following steps.

3. Expose the board from above by pulling up the carpet and pad.

4. Drill a pilot hole at an angle.

5. Drive a spiral nail into the hole and set it below the surface with a nail set. Spiral nails turn like screws and hold tighter than regular nails.

6. Fill the recess with wood putty that matches the boards in a hardwood floor or tack the pad and carpet back into place. If this still doesn't fix the squeak, continue with these final steps.

7. Find the noise from below the floor by having a helper step on the offending floorboard.

8. Coat a wooden shim with wood glue and drive it into the gap between the subfloor and the joist.

9. Check the wooden bridges between joists. These are the short boards that run perpendicular to the joists. Sometimes they get pushed slightly out of place.

10. Tap the bridge with a hammer to snug it up and drive a nail into each end through the joist.

Tips & Warnings

• Vinyl floors are tricky. If you can't get to the squeak from below on a vinyl-tile floor, pull up a section of the vinyl, drive a couple of spiral nails into the board, and re-glue the floor.

[handymanstan]

on 3/14/2008 Get a Squeakender. They are the first squeaky floor problem solver ever made, cost under $8 and install in less than 10 minutes. This is a minute long installaion video to make your life easier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XHdfXYbegg

[handymanstan]

on 3/14/2008 get a Squeakender. They are the first squeaky floor problem solver ever made, cost under $8 and install in less than 10 minutes. This is a minute long installaion video to make your life easier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XHdfXYbegg

[mreneo]

on 12/30/2006 I have hard wood floors throughout my house. the squeaking is getting progressively worse. I do not have access from the floor below. HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!

on 12/19/2005 An alternative to spiral nails is to use drywall screws when securing the floor from above. This would probably be most appropriate when removing a section of tile floor or pulling back the carpet. When I did this I was careful to drill out a depression in the subfloor to sink the screw head and use wood filler to level (those heads have a way of coming back to haunt you - especially under tile).

I've seen some really great specialty fasteners that work right through the carpet and snap off flush to the floor.

on 11/22/2005 It's easiest to use or rent a nail gun and drive the spiral-type nails into the weakness in the floor at an angle. I had tremendous squeaks. I did this and it has been four years without a squeak. You can go through carpet, vinyl floors (use a quick path to cover the nail head), and even hardwood floors.