sqeaky floorboards

[bossychic]

Hi all can you tell me the best way to cure sqeaky floorboards they are driving me nuts.

 

[cobweb]

Screw them down!

Floorboard nails are fine - if driven at an angle and the ones at the opposing end are driven at the opposite angle - but if you have a squeak then screws are better. Countersink a pre-drilled pilot hole and drive the screw in. You can then use either woodfiller or a flexible filler (this being easier to remove should the need arise in the future) to hide the screwhead.

Before you drill and screw make sure that you are not going through any pipes or power cables.

 

[bossychic]

Hi there thank you, someone said try and put the screws as close as poss to the nails already in sure to get the joists is this correct,

regards Chrissy.

 

[Tin Gill]

Another handy trick to hide the screw heads is to get a piece of dowelling which is slightly bigger than the countersunck screw hole and hammer it in a little and then use a fine saw to hack off the end that sticks out. When you sand down the floor and varnish it, you get a near perfect finish.

 

[NBee]

I'm going to have a go at this too....

What size/type of screw would you recommend for this job?

And how many screws? On at each floorboard/joist intersection?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[breezer]

I would say at least 3 one at each end and one in the middle (more if it is longer) depending on board thickness at least 1 1/2 inch x8 screws.

If you can lift the boards first to see where any cables / pipes are. if not screw as close to nails as possible

 

[Graeme]

You can buy a box of screws that's meant just for the job, funnily enough they are sold as...chipboard screws!

 

[bossychic]

Thanks all for advice, have just started screwing the boards down got the screws as advis ed job is as good as done thanks again

 

[twinkly46]

Hi, I have been still having trouble with my squeaky board even after trying floorboard nails and just put in a copule of screws. Any other ideas anyone?

 

[breezer]

take the nails out and put in screws.

The boards squeak because they move, nails become loose over time, screws usually don't

 

[mgallagher]

Hi,

I had the same problem, after adding extra screws on top of the already nailed floor boards I was still getting the odd squeek. Until an old boy told me to put a bit of talcom powder on the noisy joint, it worked fine for me, apparantly talcom powder is a very good lubricant. You can only try !

 

[Bazza]

The basic steps are:-
Remove (or roll back) carpet & underlay. Take ALL the old nails out. Countersink the nail holes. Screw through the nail holes (this way you know there shouldnt be any wire/pipes in the way). Spread talcum powder. Walk on boards to ensure you've done the job. Replace underlay & carpet.
Note, if you want to, you can also buy a gizmo from e.g.Focus that will detect pipes and wiring.

Regards
Bazza

 

[sdelasal]

Bazza (or anyone !)- how do you take out al of the old nails without pulling up all of the borards to get them out? Looking at the nails in my floorbords, most are 1/16-1/8 " under the surface. Why not just add screws?
STeve

 

[breezer]

you can "just add screws" problem is where do you put them (should be close to the nails) reason being yes you missed the electric cable but hit the water pipe.

to get nails out you want a nail puller

other brands of nail puller are available