Squeaking Floor Board help please!!!!

[Marion W]

I live in WA and have an older A frame home which has wooden floorboards upstairs covered over with carpet. The house is on the market but the Agent is saying that the biggest objection is the noise of the squeaking floor boards upstairs! I can't afford to have the carpet taken up and try and fix the noise that way and the only thing I have found that may help is produced in the USA - Squeaky Floor and a similar product.

Des anyone know if this is either available over here or if there is another product or even another solution that isn't going to cost an arm and a leg?

Any bright ideas or suggestions would be gratefully welcomed.

Thanks, in hope,

Marion

[artful bodger]

If you can see the joists the floor boards are attached to from underneath/downstairs you may be able to drive in small wedges where the floor boards have come loose from the joists. This is often what causes squeaking. The squeaky floor product smells a bit like snake oil.

[Marion W]

Thanks artful bodger,
No - don't think I can actually see the joists - all of the downstairs rooms have beams and there doesn't look to be an space where a wedge would fit in - thanks for the thought though.

[rwbuild]

If you can locate where the floor joists are, as previously posted are they visible from underneath, or, peal back the carpet in 1 corner about 600mm and you will see the rows of nails then measure from there 450 centres, just a question, is it sheet flooring or strip flooring. You can then either screw straight through the carpet or nail (galvanised, they grip better) at an angle about 10 deg from vertical. Also it can be fixed by using a nail gun (fitout, not framing) set the depth adjuster to maximum and shoot straight through the carpet into the floor and joist again at an angle off vertical.

Using wedges is an option BUT MUST BE GLUED and do not over drive them, just tight enough to stop the squeak. Cut the tail off flush with joist when glue is dry.

[artful bodger]

What is attached to the top side of the beams?

[Marion W]

If you can locate where the floor joists are, as previously posted are they visible from underneath, or, peal back the carpet in 1 corner about 600mm and you will see the rows of nails then measure from there 450 centres, just a question, is it sheet flooring or strip flooring. You can then either screw straight through the carpet or nail (galvanised, they grip better) at an angle about 10 deg from vertical. Also it can be fixed by using a nail gun (fitout, not framing) set the depth adjuster to maximum and shoot straight through the carpet into the floor and joist again at an angle off vertical.

Using wedges is an option BUT MUST BE GLUED and do not over drive them, just tight enough to stop the squeak. Cut the tail off flush with joist when glue is dry.

Thanks rwbuild,
I would not have a clue about the floor underneath and my huge learning curve has not got me into drills, joists and screws or nail guns! I am going to obviously have to find someone to do it for me I think but the people I have spoken to over here so far don't seem to have any idea apart from pulling the carpet up which is going to be a major expense that I can't really afford. Thank you for the ideas - had I been 20 years younger I might have tried to tackle this myself but have only just managed to work out reticulation problems!!!
Thank you anyway, I will keep that in case I find anyone who could tackle it
Cheers,
Marion

[Marion W]

Plasterboard - would that be right?

[artful bodger]

Plasterboard - would that be right?

I doubt it would be plasterboard if you can see the beams from underneath/downstairs. That would suggest there is plasterboard between the beams and the flooring above which does not make sense. Maybe the flooring is a sheet type flooring rather than floorboards and the underside has just been painted.?
If you were to get someone walk slowly around upstairs where you know it is creaky while you watch and listen carefully downstairs you should be able to see and hear where the creaking is coming from. If you can detect this annoying source of creaking then try packing a bit of suitable material on top of the beam and under whatever it is that sits on the beam to take up the slack. It is not rocket science and should be a pretty simple thing to do.

[Marion W]

I doubt it would be plasterboard if you can see the beams from underneath/downstairs. That would suggest there is plasterboard between the beams and the flooring above which does not make sense. Maybe the flooring is a sheet type flooring rather than floorboards and the underside has just been painted.?
If you were to get someone walk slowly around upstairs where you know it is creaky while you watch and listen carefully downstairs you should be able to see and hear where the creaking is coming from. If you can detect this annoying source of creaking then try packing a bit of suitable material on top of the beam and under whatever it is that sits on the beam to take up the slack. It is not rocket science and should be a pretty simple thing to do.

Ah - well - I will have to wait until I get a visitor for the walking around. I managed to get on a small step ladder and tried to put a piece of paper between the beam and the ?board but there doesn't seem to be any gap. I will have to try and take a photo of the downstairs ceiling to see if that gives you a better idea - sorry - I am def not a handyman!!!

[Marion W]

Not the best of photos - do these help though?

[aldav]

A long way from your usual home ground rwbuild and the photo's could be clearer, but could that be caneite between the ceiling joists? It would seem likely that those ceiling joists are also the joists for the upstairs floor in which case your suggestion for a remedy sounds like a cracker to me.

Isn't it interesting that potential buyers of this property are put off by such an inconsequential problem? I wonder about people sometimes, they are perhaps concerned about the squeak being an indication of a more serious structural problem, but REALLY! And then they'll go and buy a place infested with termites.

Cheers,
David

[Davo888]

If it is a timber strip floor, sometimes talcum powder spread over the floor and between the boards can stop squeaky floors.... of course you need to get yo the boards... Cheers

[artful bodger]

Hard to tell from the pics exactly what is going on. However I reckon if you do get someone to walk around on the squeaky areas upstairs while you observe closely from below you may get more of an idea of where that wascally creaking is coming from.
Wait till you get an obliging visitor.
Don't give up and good luck.

[Marion W]

A long way from your usual home ground rwbuild and the photo's could be clearer, but could that be caneite between the ceiling joists? It would seem likely that those ceiling joists are also the joists for the upstairs floor in which case your suggestion for a remedy sounds like a cracker to me.

Isn't it interesting that potential buyers of this property are put off by such an inconsequential problem? I wonder about people sometimes, they are perhaps concerned about the squeak being an indication of a more serious structural problem, but REALLY! And then they'll go and buy a place infested with termites.

Cheers,
David

David - I so totally agree with you about the potential buyers - this is a hardiplank? home with a tin roof - it is quirky and full of character - as afar as I am concerned the house "talks to me" - I am sorry if I sound so ignorant but my lovely husband used to deal with all of these things and was knowledgeable about everything about the home (plus many other things). I have tried so hard to learn many things in a short period of time - including how much it will cost to replace the cowl on the chimney which my husband easily replaced 10 years ago!!! I hate having to ask people for help or information but I am trying hard!! If you need better photos I can take them tomorrow with a different camera - just let me know if it will help. Thank you to everyone so far for your help - it is appreciated I promise you.

[artful bodger]

Marion W. If you have had potential buyer who has tried to haggle on price because of squeaky flooring or chimney cowling etc. You could just ignore them, tell em to look elsewhere. Neither problem is diabolical or un-fixable and as you said the house talks to you. So you must have liked living there. Next punter will find some thing else to pick at.
Patience. Some one will just love it and have to buy it eventually.