squeaky hardwood floor

Hello, The whole upstairs of my raised ranch house has hardwood floors. The squeaks are everywhere. Every bedroom, hallway, etc. I have tried everything to fix these squeaks but to no avail. Today I decided to see what was under the hardwood floors. I used a spot in a closet so as to not make it too noticable. I cut out one section of the floor and found that there is a 3/4" gap between the subfloor and the hardwood floor. The hardwood floor is nailed to furring strips that are on top of the subfloor. 16" on center. Why would this be done? No wonder that my attemps to screw down the floor failed to eliminate the squeaks. I guess monster screws that could go through the hardwood floor, get past the gap and into the underlying joices might do the job, if I could find the underlying joices. Lost and confused. Jed.

Reply to
JEdwards
Loading thread data ...

Hi, Is humidity level in your house proper?

Reply to
Tony Hwang

That is a fairly standard approach to true hardwood floors. Lay down sleepers and then nail the flooring to the sleepers. I don't know why it was done on an upstairs floor that has plywood underlayment, but it is not out of the ordinary. I would have put the flooring directly onto the subfloor. If the floor was extremely wavy or unlevel, then the sleepers can be shimmed to make the floor level. That is the best reason that I can think of for doing an upstairs floor on plywood like that.

As for the squeaks, I will bet that it is the sleepers or the plywood that is squeaking and not the hardwood itself. I could be wrong, but that is my guess. Fixing the squeaks can be tedious to say the least.

The best way would be to take up the flooring, make sure that the sleepers and the plywood subfloor are both glued and screwed (not nailed) and then reinstall the hardwood. Very tedious and there will be flooring that cannot be reused due to breakage, etc.

The other option would be to face screw through the hardwood, through the sleepers and into the plywood. This could be dressed up with plugs or use finish screws and fill the holes with putty. Again, very tedious.

Another option would be to use an adhesive that could be injected under the flooring along the sleepers with very small holes drilled for the purpose, but this would be tedious also.

No easy way to fix that many squeaks that I know of.

Reply to
Robert Allison

One possibility is to enjoy the quaint squeeking, a reminder of a more tranquil and civilized past, a pean to the abilities of the builders.

Reply to
HeyBub

Reply to
Mark Witczak

Yep, same here. In fact, we have an old style screen door onto the deck with the claw that holds the door and self-closers in the hinges. The squeek and slam is the sound of summer to us and the squeek of the closers mean that even the cat doesn't get through that door without giving itself away.

Reply to
C & E

Gusss will have to live with the squeaks. Not gonna re-do the whole upstairs,

3 bedrooms, plus the living room. Thanks all. JE
Reply to
JEdwards

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.