How to Quiet Squeaky Carpeted Floors | Ask This Old House, by This Old House on YouTube. 4 min 46 s.
- Video length
- 4 min 46 s
- Time to do it
- 1 to 2 hours
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Tap the carpet with a hammer and listen for a dull thud instead of a hollow sound. A dull thud means a floor joist is underneath.
Chuck the long screw from the kit into your drill and drive it through the carpet and subfloor to confirm a joist is there. If it misses, back it out and try again.
Leave the screwhead sticking up about an inch. Measure 16 inches along the wall and drive another marker screw, repeating across the room.
Repeat the tapping and screwing on the opposite wall so you have marker screws on both sides of the room.
Tie nylon string to the first screwhead and stretch it across the room to the matching screw on the far wall. Loop it around and run it along the next joist until every joist is marked.
Put the kit's special driver bit in your cordless drill. Stand the depth-control fixture over the string and directly over a joist.
Drop a scored screw into the center hole of the fixture. Push down on the fixture and drive the screw until it bottoms out.
Slip the protruding screwhead into the slot in the fixture and rock the fixture side to side to snap the head off flush with the carpet.
Move 12 to 16 inches down the string and drive another screw. Snap it off and keep going along each joist line until the squeaks stop.
Tips and common mistakes
Drive screws only where the string marks a joist, or the screw will hit nothing and the squeak will stay.
Snap the screwheads off with the fixture, not by bending them by hand, so the cut stays flush with the carpet.
Vacuum the carpet after the job to lift any metal burrs left from snapping the screws.
If a squeak remains, add another screw a few inches away along the same joist line.
Questions
Can I do this without a floor-squeak repair kit?
The scored screws and depth-control fixture are what let you snap the heads off flush through carpet. A plain screw will sit proud and can catch feet or a vacuum.
Will the screws damage my carpet?
The screws pass through the pile and the heads snap off below the surface. Any small marks in the carpet usually lift after a vacuum.
How far apart should the screws go?
Space them 12 to 16 inches along each joist line. Add more in the spots where you hear the squeak.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
