• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Merrypad Features
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after, our current home
      • before + after, our first house
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

Getting Our Squeak On/Off

February 12, 2013

Our 1940’s foursquare home is abundantly squeaky. It’s situation that I happily ignored after a friend reminded me that no intruders would be able to enter unnoticed, and at that time I lived alone, and if a big dog wasn’t enough, the fact that the floors were squeaky did seem to make me feel more at ease.

This squeakiness is a factor of the home’s age and its old bones, likely due to the construct (there were noticible places in our basement ceiling where the subfloor wasn’t even resting completely on the joists), and possibly due to wear (I’ve refinished the floors once already, and surely they had been done in the decades before me, but because they’re not non-tongue-in-groove there were some spots throughout the house where the ends of boards bowed loose. Loose boards are squeaky animals).

Pete hates the squeaks. He’s managed to fix most of the problem areas on the first floor by working from beneath, in the basement, using shims and cross braces to reinforce the joists and improve the tightness between the subfloor and the joists, but the second story of our home is a different story since you can’t access the joists from beneath unless you want to get into removing drywall and plaster which, yes, he has seriously contemplated and I’ve seriously considered approving if it means that he’d stop pointing out all of the squeaks that were once so endearing to me.

What I’m getting at is, we’ve been on a mission to fix those second story squeaks. Pete came across a solution that we had to try, and bought a few boxes of these Counter-Snap products on Amazon. Note that there are two different products: One that is intended for use when you know where the joists in the floor are located and another is a product you can allegedly use anywhere, regardless if you can hit a joist through your hardwoods, or not. If you’re going to buy, search the store’s products closely because we found the descriptions and product differences to be confusing, but not confusing enough for us not to test them out for just $25 total.

Two kinds of counter snap screws from Amazon.

If you think about it, screwing through the floorboards is a pretty obvious way to correct bouncing and squeaky floors because you’re cinching that board back down to the subfloor/joist, reinforcing it into place and eliminating any bounce (and bounce so often = squeaks). The benefit to these screws is that the head of the screw is designed to break away, so you’re not left with unsightly phillips head noggins poking out of your beautiful floors.

Fixing squeaky hardwood floors.

Hardwood floors squeak at two places, on the joist, and between the joist (specific, huh?) but if you focus on exactly where the squeak is coming from (which usually involves bouncing around like a Teletubby) you can pretty easily target where you need to make the fix.

The process starts by predrilling a hole into the floorboards at the point of the squeak (the company recommends a 3/32 or 7/64 bit to prevent the floorboards from cracking. We also used this predrilling opportunity to see if we were going to blast into a joist or not.

Predrilling the floor to correct squeaks.

Using our impact screwdriver, we disregarded the manufacturer’s guide (the metal fixture beside the embedded screw in the next photo that helps DIYers screw just deep enough to satisfy the snap-off point). We winged it, having better luck setting the screw as deep as it needed to be visually.

Predrilling the floor to correct squeaks.

Even before we broke away the top of each screw to leave the working part counter-sunken, we did more Teletubby bouncing to test out the floors. I told you we needed a lot, each one made a big difference. The path between the bathroom and our bedroom was improved significantly.

Squeaky floor correction using counter-sinking breakaway screws.

Each screw broke away easily witha firm tap of the hammer (and to note, we found it easier to break away the screws when the metal fixture shown two photos above was not wrapping the screw).

Tapping the end of the screw off, leaving it counter-sunk in the hardwood floors.

I initally thought that the holes left behind would be really obvious (they are, after all, bigger than the small nails that hold each floorboard into place). Turns out, when you stand up and look down, they aren’t so gaping, hardly noticeable at all. If you had them drilled in abundance, maybe your floor would start to look like swiss cheese, but in the 20 or so places that we drilled into our second story, you don’t really notice the “damage”.

squeaky_floor_break_away_screws_7

If you’re looking for a quick fix, I hope one of these products sparks some inspiration and interest. After all, it wasn’t a challenging project for the result it provided. Good luck!

 

Share

DIY  / Flooring

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

5 Comments


Sara Aaserud
February 13, 2013 at 11:35 am
Reply

I had no idea that they make screws like that! Do you fill in the leftover holes, or just let them stay?



    Emily
    February 13, 2013 at 11:46 am

    I suppose they could be filled with wood filler, but we left them as is. The holes are much smaller than my macro images present, and I really don’t notice them anymore. Maybe they’ve just filled with dirt after sweeping over them a few times. (Gross) :)

Heather
February 14, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Reply

Interesting!! In (what will be) the new baby’s room, there are some SERIOUSLY squeaky parts of the floor right as you walk in the door. Not good when you are trying to sneak in and out of a sleeping baby’s room! I cringe every time I walk in there. I was wondering if there was a way to fix it since it’s on the second floor. Good to know! We may have to give these a try.



David Jason Nadolski
July 1, 2015 at 1:58 pm
Reply

I have been going batty trying to figure my floor out. That said, your blog has been helpful but I have a pretty big question. In the picture above you have a long silver screw and a shorter gold screw. The silver is way longer than the gold and on the pic you say that this is for between the joists (which makes sense to me), while the gold is said to be used on the joists. This was greatly helpful. However, when I clicked on your amazon links, both links seem to point to the shorter gold screws (one in a sort of kit, and the other being just screws). Are these the same? What happened to the longer silver screws? Was it just a mistake with the link?

Thank you so much for your help on this.

One side note. If you don’t want to leave the holes, I have found that Dap Plastic Wood does a great job with floors because it hardens. I’ve put that in the holes, lightly sanded after drying and then colored over the patch with a Minwax Wood Finish Stain marker (also SUPERB for floor scratches). This method has worked well for me. Now… if only I could get rid of the squeaks!

Finally, one may want to consider getting a stud finder ($20) to locate joists. Mine found an electrical box I almost drilled into under my floor… which has already been worth the money.

Cheers!

Dave



    Emily
    July 1, 2015 at 2:09 pm

    Sorry that the links aren’t correct anymore – they were right at one point but my guess is that the seller changed the product at the link. I went back into my order history and found the long silver screw product again:

    O’Berry 3137 Linoleum/Hardwood Squeeeeek No More At Joist Screws 50 ct

    Hope that works for you! Thanks for the plastic wood tip!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    Can’t believe I ever bought dumpling wrappers. 🥟 Pulse a few cups of flour in the food processor drizzling in cold water until it forms dough. Roll smooth. Use a conveniently large cookie cutter, or just trim out squares. The end ❤️ #hny #dumplings
    Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but her Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but here we are (now feat. recycled t-shirt layer for added softness and bonus-layer protection). #diy #amateurseamstress #diymask
    Get out there ☀️ Get out there ☀️
    The gang finally showed up. 👻 The gang finally showed up. 👻
    A record 233 cloves + 10 shallots 🧛🏻‍♀️ 
#merrypadathome #garden2021 #garlic #gardennotes #whatisnormal
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    Immeasurably tall, lanky tomatillos. #garden2020 # Immeasurably tall, lanky tomatillos. #garden2020 #tomatillos #nofilter
    32 oz., reserved for the brave 🌶🌶 😍#homeg 32 oz., reserved for the brave 🌶🌶 😍#homegrown #tomatillos #harvest2020
    Nothing says “let’s stay home all fall, too” Nothing says “let’s stay home all fall, too” like a badass custom fireplace on our patio. 🔥 #chiminea #merrypadathome
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • DIY sideboard rehab. Our Refinished Midcentury Buffet 37.7k views
    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. Cheap IKEA Drawers (And The Quick Fix) 37.5k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 32.4k views
    • DIY driveway removal. The Driveway Rocks 23.9k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 23.1k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 21k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Patio in One Day 16.5k views
    • Bedroom paint, freshened up with Snowbound paint. Painting Everything White: We Chose Snowbound, By Sherwin Williams 15.7k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. Tips for Dying Pasta Different Colors (+ A Special Halloween Recipe) 15k views
    • Finished stained kitchen cabinets. Javalicious, A Gel Staining Reveal (Update #3) 13.6k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • DIY Network
    • HGTV
  • Get Posts Via Email

  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad