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What causes squeaky floors?

Floors squeak because something is moving. The main culprits are:

the edges of sheets of subfloor rubbing against each other (because loose nails are allowing the boards to move)rubbing between tongue and groove wood that has dried a little over time leaving a gap for movement floor joists shrinking away from floorboards overtime leaving a small gap that squeaks when you put weight on it.

The fix is simple, stop the movement and you will stop the squeak. You stop the movement by nailing or screwing the boards, shimming under the joists or adding bracing between the joists. The challenge is to figure the cause and get access to fix it.
Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/silencesqueakyfloor#ixzz1oLzG5jHJ

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Amanda had some good points. Are the floors squeeking or is it the subfloor underneith? Unless you have wood floors it is likely the subfloor. A carpeted squeeking floor is the easiest to repair. If it is a small area, you can drive small head ring shank nails through the carpet and pad layer to secure the subfloor and fluff the carpet over it so it's unnoticeable. If it is a large area pull the carpet, fix the problem and then have it reinstalled.

Is it a large area that is the problem? Chances are that the proper adhesive was not applied when the subfloor was installed. If you can get to both the top and bottom of it you can pry the subfloor up slightly, inject adhesive between the subfloor and joists, then re-nail (or better yet screw) the plywood down from the top. Then install your new floor covering. If this is between the first and second floor where both sides are finished you'll do a lot of damage to fix the problem. Just screw the plywood from the top wherever you find movement in the form of a squeek.

This can be an easy fix or a hard one depending on the size of the problem and what type of flooring you have. Look on Angie's List for reputable contractors in your area and get a few out to your home for their expert opinions and estimated cost to remedy the issue. Remember that short of completely redoing the subfloor with new adhesive they may not be able to get every squeek out if there are bubbles in the subfloor but should be able to get the majority taken care of.

Todd Shell
Todd's Home Services
www.thomeservices.com

We had floor squeak under carpeting. It drove me nuts. We pulled up the carpeting to put hardwood flooring in. I new we had to get rid of the squeak. I tried screwing from the top subfloor into the joyce. It helped but did not work. What worked in the end was 2"X12" bracing between the rafters in the basement. Some of the rafters (Joyce) were not square to the subfloor. I got a porter power tool from harbor freight to spread the joyce a little where it needed it so it was square to the subfloor and drove deck screws thru the joyce and into the end grain of the blocking. Not a squeak.