Whether you live in a new or old house, you may be experiencing a squeak when you step on a certain area of floor. What the heck causes that you ask? More importantly, how can I fix it?

The cause of the squeak is almost always two pieces of wood rubbing together. In antique homes, flooring boards were nailed directly onto the floor joists. In newer homes, there is a layer of plywood on top of the floor joists and then the finished floors are installed on top of the plywood. The plywood level is the common flaw in today’s construction. Not the plywood itself, but the installation. If any of the edges of the plywood are not on top of a floor joist and/ or not nailed and glued sufficiently; the result is some slight movement under pressure. Therein lies the squeak.

Now onto the repair ideas. Hopefully, there is access to the bottom of the floor structure. If you live in a one floor ranch with an unfinished basement, this fix will be easy. After locating the squeak, you can add some additional blocking on the side of the floor joist using construction adhesive. If this doesn’t make any sense, hire a carpenter for a small job. If your squeak is on the second floor of a colonial style home, your squeak is above a finished ceiling. The earlier repair will not be as easy without opening the sheetrock ceiling. This is not a home owner repair. Your contractor will figure out exactly where the floor joists are located under the finished floors. They will then install very thin finished screws into the finished floors to tie together the loose plywood, floor joist, and finished floors.

In future columns I will be discussing Where are my main utility shut off’s, and Please insist on a Building Permit. Please email questions or suggestions for future articles to sspurrell@nbict.us

Neighborhood Builders, Inc (NBI) has been building and remodeling on the shoreline since 1986. No job is too big or too small. Please call Stephen Spurrell at 203-453-3777. Connecticut Home Improvement #522685 New Home #8

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Related posts:

1. Building and Remodeling: Can I Make My Basement Into Living Space?
2. Building And Remodeling:Finished Flooring-So Many Choices
3. Building And Remodeling: What Are These Allowances In My Contract?
4. Building And Remodeling: Why Not Call The Plumber,Electrician,etc. Myself?
5. Building And Remodeling: Residential Fire Alarms