Silencing Creaky Floors

Tools:

knee kicker
circular saw
drill
hammer stapler
flat-head screwdriver
safety glasses
chisel

1. Using a knee kicker, stretch the carpet until you can pull it back under the floorboard and expose the subfloor (figure A). The creaking most likely comes from a problem under there.
2. Roll back the carpet until you expose the tack strip, and lift the carpet off the tacks.
3. Use a flat-head screwdriver to remove the staples, taking care not to damage the pad so it can be used again.
4. Once the staples are out, pull back the padding. Now it's time to investigate.
5. Henry found that Joan's creaky floors were the result of three things. Her subfloor had been stapled rather than secured with screws; there were no natural expansion joints where two pieces of plywood met; and there were multiple "cuts" or openings in the subfloor where plywood scraps had been pieced together.
6. First, reinforce the subflooring with screws. They provide more holding power than the staples that are sometimes used when the flooring is installed.
7. If you find that your subflooring was essentially pieced together with plywood scrap pieces rather than large plywood sheets, you'll want to further secure those pieces. Drill pilot holes and drive long screws through the plywood boards into the joists underneath. This will help hold the subflooring in place and prevent them from moving around, which causes the creaks.