I'm about to replace carpet and want to fix some squeaky areas at the same time.
Since I can tear off the carpet to do this, I don't need to use those special snap off screws for carpet, right?
Can I just use a generic wood screw (countersunk flat head)? Is 2 inch about right length?
On 16 Jul 2015, Bob wrote in alt.home.repair:
I'll be interested in the answers to this, as I plan to do the same thing within the next few months. The carpet needs to be replaced, and that will be the perfect opportunity to fix the many squeaks in the floor.
I believe that you want a screw with a enough unthreaded section of shaft so that there are no threads in the sub-floor.
You want the head of the screw to pull the everything above the joist down tightly onto the joist and not end up with a gap between the sub floor and joist where the threads forced things apart.
If you have ever seen those tapered drill bits for pre-drilling wood screws, they will often be wider at the top near the head for this reason.
If you have access to the joists from below, you might want to have someone walk the floor while you locate the squeaks from below. Where possible, inject construction adhesive between the joist and sub-floor before screwing.
I'd use drywall screws. They're easy to drive in and don't need to be pre-drilled in plywood or joists. I don't actually use "wood screws" for anything. If I need small screws I use sheet metal screws. Better threads that drive better. Wood screws are designed for hand drilling and hand screwing.
If you're going through oak you'll need to pre-drill countersunk holes... and presumably be certain that you'll never want to have that oak showing again. :)
drywall screws arent designed to be strong, they may break, and the noise will return
deck screws would be better
I'll second the deck screws . The length should be long enough to put at least 1/2 the screw into the joist , minimum of 3" assuming 3/4 under and
3/4 decking . Do be sure to hit the joists , otherwise you're just wasting your time .
I put about 5 lbs of deck screws in my livingroom and diningroom floor before I installed the hardwood, and another couple of lbs in the hallway and stairway before replacing the carpet. IIRC I used 2 inchers -same screws used to put down 5/4 decking.
It all depend of thickness of your floor is it singular sheetrock or double only you can determine requirement. if your floor is 2" thick well you need
2" screw but if your floor is only 3/4 then you need 3/4" screw. However if plies are separating you got problem?I'm about to replace carpet and want to fix some squeaky areas at the same time.
Since I can tear off the carpet to do this, I don't need to use those special snap off screws for carpet, right?
Can I just use a generic wood screw (countersunk flat head)? Is 2 inch about right length?
| drywall screws arent designed to be strong, they may break, and the noise will return | | deck screws would be better
Deck screws are fine, but they're more expensive. Drywall screws only break when twisted. If they don't snap driving into something hard there's no worry that they snap off just from wood swelling. I'm imagining a plywood subfloor where the OP can afford to put in lots of screws.
I remember some thing about ring nails, less likely to pull out. But that's a rather old memory.
A 2 inch scew won't do diddly on a 2 inch thick floor. Ditto for a
3/4" on a 3/4" floor.
I tried drywall screws They are no good because they are threaded all the way, and you break too many of them trying to pull the subfloor down. I guess they'd be OK on an OSB floor - - -
Ring nails were used in the days before power screw drivers - and they don't hold any better now than they did then. It is because of ring nails that people now have squeaky floors to fix with screws.
On 16 Jul 2015, snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote in alt.home.repair:
How is that? Is there some problem with ring nails compared to regular smooth nails?
Nope - but ALL nails will loosen over time. Ring nails were better than plain nails, but not as good as screws. All of my flooring was nailed. Other than the hardwood in the bedrooms, ALL of my flooring is now screwed down. So are all the planks on my deck, and the Trex on my front porch..
The only squeaks in my floors now are in the bedrooms - one squeak in the master that gets worse in the winter when the humidity drops., and one intermittent squeak in the spare bedroom
I'm not saying where it would work and where it wouldn't work, or if it would work or even help on floors, but when one is using nails, if you don't want them to come out and you can do it, it's best to put the nails in at different angles, maybe as much as 90^ apart. Some leaning
45^ one direction and others leaning the other direction. That way, nail A keeps nail B from coming out, even if it gets loose, and nail B keeps nail A from coming out.I also don't know how floors and anything else are nailed but I can imagine a guy staying on one side of the work, putting in all the nails in exactly the same direction.
It's people like you who are causing the collapse of the wood-screw market.
My widowed sister-in-law invested all her money in wood-screw futures and now she can't pay the mortgage and is being evicted from her house.
Good point. You're forgiven, and I'll try to get my sister-in-law to agree.
Nailed floors are somewhat OK for floors covered by hardwood or carpet. Bu t nailed floors covered with vinyl tile or linoleum is pitiful! After some years every nail in the floor will show as a raised bump. That's because the rings are smaller than screw threads and will raise up faster with expa nsion/contraction with temperature/humidity changes. Believe me, I know fr om experience.
And unless the subfloor is glued down as well as nailed, it will squeak long before the nail-pops show through the vinyl or linoleum.
That said, I'd rather hit my head on a ring nail than a screw - I know what the ring nail feels like, and can only imagine how much more the nail would hurt. My head was hard enough to drive the nail up through the linoleum - and I'm sure it would not have been hard enough to drive the screw up!!!!
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