Squeaky Floors


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Old 01-05-12, 08:56 AM
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Squeaky Floors

My house was built in 1987 and I’ve only been living in it since 2009. Two things I notice when I bought the house, the walls were thin and the floor squeaked a bit. I have carpet throughout the second floor of the house and they have become extremely squeaky, especially in the master bedroom. The good news is the carpet needs to be replaced. The bad news is the price (I got a quote for $4,000 plus).

Would replacing the carpet and padding solve my problem with being able to hear what’s going on upstairs when you’re downstairs? How hard or easy would it be to pull up the sub-floor and add insulation?

I’ve done a little research on this product called Squeak No More, which looks to be pretty easy. I am a little concern using this product because I think I have ductwork underneath my floors.
 
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Old 01-05-12, 09:29 AM
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Often squeaking is movement between the subfloor and joists. If the carpeting is going to be up I would locate the floor joists (you should see lines of nails) and screw the subfloor down.

Your link is to another thread on the DIY forums. Not to a product.
 
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Old 01-05-12, 03:10 PM
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Since I can't edit my original post here is the link for Squeak No More/
 
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Old 01-05-12, 03:45 PM
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If you are replacing the carpet you don't need to bother. That's a gadget to allow you add screws through carpeting. With the carpet removed you are free to go crazy putting down normal, inexpensive screws.
 
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Old 01-06-12, 07:22 AM
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Hmm... I put a post in this thread yesterday but it's not here now....

Anyway, I'm with Dane - skip the squeak product if the carpet is coming up, just install a lot of screws to secure the subfloor to the joists below before the new carpet is put down.

Replacing the carpet and padding alone will do nothing for this.
 
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Old 01-06-12, 02:24 PM
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Thanks for the advice guys. I wish it was as simple as that, but the truth is I don't have the money to replace the carpet right now because we just had a baby (8 weeks). The baby is also the reason why I am looking to fix the squeaky floor, nothing worst than putting a crying baby to sleep just to have her wake back up because of a squeaky floor.
 
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Old 01-06-12, 03:42 PM
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I'm not a "be quiet so the baby can sleep type". Learning to sleep with noise will help her when she gets to college and has to deal with a roommate that watches tv till 2am every night.

What's your carpet like? If it has a deeper pile and you can locate the floor joists you can put screws through the carpet. Locate the joist and make a small incision through the carpet backing about 1/2" long with a very sharp knife and run your screw down through the slit. Run the screw down until it's head is flush with the subfloor. Stop at the first sign of a thread or piece of carpet wrapping around the screw, it will cause a run in the carpet.
 
 

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