Squeaking Floors

[Dennis Puskar]

How do you stop squeaking hardwood floors ?

[K. L. McReynolds]

Depends on the type of hardwood flooring. Floating can be pulled up and roofers felt or rosin paper put down under it. The squeaks can also orininate in the subfloor. Delaminating plywood/OSB can squeak. Loose connections between the subfloor and floor joists can squeak.

Delaminating subfloor is difficult to desqueak. Have seen epoxy injection tried with minimal success. Shims driven between the subfloor and joists can work. There are metal wedges that are screwed into a joist and the subfloor.

If it is traditional 3/4" nailed down wood flooring, there are a couple of ways.

If you can get to the underside of the sub floor, the cheapest first try is to use screws about 3/8" shorter than the thickness of the subfloor and the wood layer. Screw the screws in where the squeaks are. That actually solves two problems---squeaking subfloor and squeaky wood floors.

The other method is much more difficult. That involves installing the screws from above---drilling a hole for the screw about 3/8" deep in the wood, installing the screw, and plugging with a plug. Strong grain woods(oak, ash,some exotics) are fairly easy to plug and match the grain well enough for the plug to be difficult to see. Not so easy with maple and similar woods.

That method also requires refinishing.

[Dennis Puskar]

Thanks for the great advice, I have lots of work to do.

[live4ever]

Great advice.

[Allen]

Sometimes you can just sprinkle a little baby powder along the joint where the squeak is and rub it into the joint. The powder lubs the area that is rubbing together and the squeak stops. If you can get to the underside easily you might want to try something like this.
http://hardwareonlinestore.com/index.php...CFQGTaQodG1ADzA

Al

[Robert Adams]

Only thing to add is that unfortunately most subfloor are put down with nails and they have nothing to do but get loose over time. Any time you have the flooring up get a screw gun and long screws and fasten the crap out of the floor. Spare no screws and you will stiffen and stop squeaks.

If you have a floor with a subfloor and plywood over it IE carpeted etc screw it down and even if you only hit the random joist it'll at least get the two layers together and grab a few joists.

I speak from experience on my house and others I have worked on. Our house has 1" (full inch) x4 tongue and groove fir 45* and 5/8 fir plywood over it. They nailed it all so 65 years later those nails have worked loose.
Same goes for drywall never use nails...

[JoethePro]

I've seen where it's more of a problem with nails that barely miss the joist - they float and rub the joist and create a squeak.