Squeaky Floors

Living with a squeaky floor is an unnecessary annoyance. Whether you've got hardwood or carpet floors there's a simple solution to eliminate the squeak in just a few minutes.

Your squeak is most likely caused by a loosening of the floorboards or subfloor and the sound they make rubbing against the flooring nails.

   

If you've got hardwood floors first determine the exact location of the squeak and try to locate an adjacent joist below the floorboards by tapping along the floor (this may be difficult if there is a solid subfloor). Then use a product called >Counter Snap which comes in a kit that contains special flooring screws that are designed to snap off once fully drilled into the floor leaving the screw countersunk 1/8" below the surface. You can use a colored wax crayon to fill in the gap.

For carpeted floors there's a similar product called Squeeeeek No More. It operates on the same principle as the Counter Snap by driving a screw through the carpet, and securing the subfloor to a joist below. The head of the screw then snaps off leaving the screw countersunk into the floorboard beneath the carpet leaving no exposed screw head.