squeaky floor

When I built my house in 1989 the flooring was a single sheet of 3/4 plywood on the joists. The framing crew used adhesive on the joists but applied it far in advance of placing the flooring sheets thus a poor bond was achieved. Two areas in my main bedroom squeak and I have not been able to remedy this using the special screws designed for this purpose. Also, with a finished basement ceiling below, I have no reasonable access to use shims to stop the squeaks.

Since its time to replace the carpet I am thinking of removing a portion of the carpet/padding before the carpet crew arrives and cut out the squeaky areas with a circular saw and replace those areas. I do not plan to replace full sheets of flooring. My joists are on 16" centers.

Any thoughts or suggestions to make this a success will be appreciated. I am a little concerned about weakness between the joists unless I glue/screw a support piece between the spans. Will this be necessary?

Thanks.

 

Before cutting up the subflooring mark the joist lactations in the squeak area. Then you can use proper screws to really attach the subflooring. This is super easy and quick. And, you can always remove subflooring if it doesn't work.

I've fixed some floors by injecting glue. After the carpet and pad are up mark the studs in the squeak area. Then drill holes through the subfloor sheeting ONLY. The size of hole you need to drill depends on the size of tip on the syringe. You want a tight fit. Blow out the sawdust. Next put wood glue into a dispensing syringe. Put the tip of the syringe into the hole and inject/squeeze glue into the small gap between the sheeting and joist. Unfortunately you need to allow time for the glue to dry to see if it worked.

If you do remove subflooring you can cut down the center of the joist leaving half to support each edge of the subfloor. Obviously this means your cut has to be reasonably accurate. And, it leaves only about 3/4" of joist to support the edge of the sheeting. Scabbing on wood to the side of the joist can broaden the support area or is an easy fix if your saw cut isn't down the center of the joist. Just make sure to glue and screw the support/scabbing wood to prevent it from squeaking as well. And of course glue & screw down the new subflooring.

 

Pilot: Thanks, some very good ideas. After reading your idea on gluing, I thought of the following: Why not drill an inch or so into the joist and drive in a dowel rod with wood glue on it?

 

With the carpet off you should be able to pinpoint the squeak. It might be friction between the plywood sheets especially if the subfloor is not T&G.

Are you sure that the screws that you put through the carpet actually engaged the joists? Once the carpet is off you can layout the joist locations If screws through the subfloor into the joists didn't fix the squeak it's possible that the joists themselves are deflecting. .They could be undersized or inadequately blocked. I think a glued dowel through plywood might introduce more squeaks.

 

All you really need is a box of 2 1/2" general purpose screws (like drywall screws).

Your pad will be removed and with the layout of the sheets and existing screws it will be easy to see where the joist are and just install 5 screws (2 & edge and 3 in the middle spaced 12") actoss each 48" sheet of subfloor.

Do it across the entire room and you will have a squeak free room!

 

Some squeaks are caused by subfloor nails that either missed or that have worn loose and are rubbing. In these cases you just need to pull the offending nails out. I agree that this will be easier once the carpet is out and you can see what's what.

But to ensure that you don't misunderstand, marq isn't saying to use drywall screws, use what's commonly called construction screws. They are stronger and the heads won't torque off when you tighten them. Here is an example: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Grip-Rit...GCS1/204959257.

 

Thanks, fortunately the squeaks are limited to two small areas.

 

Since you will have access do the whole floor, never know what will develop later or you may find the bad spots were masking something else!