Bravo Sir, I am still a young man at 56, and I have been noticing that life is speeding up. And I really don't care about the little things anymore. Life is too short. Cheers
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for this video. Husband and I have taken on a fixer upper with a 3 year old and a newborn, so we're keen to find ways to save money on the reno. We have a lot of enthusiasm but no real experience or knowledge with DIY. We assumed we'd need to get a carpenter in to tackle all the creaking floorboards and would never, ever, have thought PVA glue and water was a viable solution. It's worked a treat without the need for screws at all and we're so grateful that this video gave us the information and confidence to give it a go ourselves. :)
This is so informative and I am absolutely going to show this to my landlord so the apartment above me gets looked at! I could hear every move my neighbors made and it was wasn’t their fault at all. The squeaking drives me crazy.
hiya, I'm in the opposite position, and I feel really bad for my neighbours downstairs. I could easily have a go at doing this, its not like my carpets go anywhere near the gripper rod anyway !
Been there, done it!! I thought i was being helpful at my sisters house by putting a couple of screws through squeeky floorboards, punctured both feed and return pipes!!!
This worked an absolute treat! I had a squeak on some new boards. Builder clearly hadn’t used pva as I did as the video shows and sorted all the squeaking. Perfect! Thanks.
Thank you so much!! Bought a flat and the floor sheets squeaked horrifically to the point that i didn't want to walk around and annoy the downstairs neighbours. I had no idea where to start, but after watching this video and using your techniques I eliminated the noise completely! There had been a section cut out of the kitchen so was able to lift it completely and add straight PVA to the top of the joists too. Thanks again - silent bliss. The neighbours say thanks too!
I've actually tried this method with the PVA glue in my bathroom and spare bedroom and worked great. I used floor tite screws as well to put into the joists for extra support 👍👍 cheers Roger
I tried using this technique with my landing floorboards, after 15 gallons of PVA glue the floor no longer squeaks. Although changing the lightbulbs downstairs is now a little bit more challenging! 😂
Fantastic. We have just moved into a detached dorma bungalow and it was a late 1970's build. We have always lived in older houses with inner brick walls and proper wooden floorboards. My husband just used to screwe any creaky floorboards down. I must say this newer house isnt built as good. Dry lined hollow inner walls and chipboard flooring upstairs. These squeak so terribly and my husband was thinking he might have to relay the flooring! I'm so pleased I've seen your video. Something so easy and simple. I've subscribed for more hints and fixes!
I have just done this after watching your clip and it’s worked a treat. Only difference was I took up a couple of the noisy nails and put the screws in the same holes as I was too scared to put screws in a different location without knowing how long the nails where coming out. Saved me calling out a tradesman. Thank you 👍
Thanks, solved about 90% of the creaking - major life improvement for the folks downstairs! Needed to watch another video about getting wrinkles out of the carpet though. Respect to you though!
Thank you thank you thank you!!!! I screwed my floor down and there will still squeaks. It drove me mad. Then I watched this video!!! I used the pva as you said!!! No more squeaking!!!! Happy days. Thanks again!!!
Somewhere on here was a post saying on steps screw threw the riser on both sides into the stringing. No where else anybody said this... He was spot on and stopped the squeaking..... if i could find his post I'd give him big thumbs-up.
I've got exactly the same problem on exactly the same type of floor. Just moved in so cash is tight. Was gonna get a carpenter. But now I'm gonna try it myself. Thanks.
At first thought it was going to be a video without good explanation. But as the video goes on he does a very great job at explaining everything you need to do. Props on him. A great guy to learn from about that
i live in a studio flat. And the chipboard that’s on the floor, is driving me crazy… with creeks & cracking noises; in which happens, more or less all over the floor. But, after all this time of trying to find a solution; i now know what the problem is. It’s the joints.. where the chipboard panels are pushed together when laying the floor. i decided to run a Stanley knife down the joints of each panel… so that there is a tiny gap in between. And to my surprise… The creaking and cracking noises stopped. Hurrah! Would have been better though if i used that Dremel tool. Will buy 1 from amazon. Tuesday 3rd October 2023. Southampton England 🏴
Watched a number of skill videos and find them informative. Great skills and knowledge. Good natured skilled trades person. Shame on those others who have done the poor workman ship in the first place after owners spend good money to purchase the property.
I used the method where you drive a screw through the carpet and it worked, however it was a constant guessing game and the squeaks eventually came back. This shows you how to do it right, and this is what I plan to do to eliminate the issue for good. Thanks for the video.
Thanks so much for this video it is so helpful. We have a 90s house with chipboard flooring that was nailed down. Carrying out the procedures in this video on our house has made a huge difference to our landing.
Thank you for the great video. I was just looking at a company that claims they can remove all squeaks permanently. But their solution involves ripping up the entire floor and re-doing it all. It also costs about £1800!! I'm very much hoping your solution will do the trick so we don't need to go down the expensive route.
Thank you so much Roger. The PVA method works like magic and saved me the horrendous job of pulling up all the chipboard and replacing with ply, something I have put off for many years!
Skill Builder is absolutely right. You have to be very CAREFUL when trying to find the joist. After watching like 4 videos, I listened to Skill Builder, and went to the garage and cut a small hole about 1 square foot off the sheetrock ceiling near the estimated area that squeaks. Low and behold, there are 2 heat tubings right under the baseboard. If I were to just probe for the joist, I would be drilling into one of them for SURE. Then I drill a 4 inch wood screw from the ceiling of the garage upwards and went upstairs and found it. Then I measure and tape where the joist should be. I will still go down to HD and buy the anti squeak kit to screw it down. Thanks Skill Builder.
It really works!!! In my case, the squeaky sound comes from a joint that is perpendicular to the studs. I have nowhere to drive addition nails like most other videos suggest. So I applied some wood glue and used a hand trowel to work it in. The squeaky sound was gone the next morning. Thank you for this very useful tip!
Had squeaky bedroom floor for a couple of years, followed your method and what a difference! Not 100% cured but massive improvement. Only way to sort 100% is to lift and replace with ply. Hoping the addition of good laminate flooring will also help reduce any leftover squeaks!! Thanks!!
Even after adding hundreds of screws before our carpet was replaced about 10 years ago, the chipboard floors in our lounge were still driving us nuts, so I stripped out all the furniture and carpet to give this a crack yesterday. Here's a big caveat which should probably have been mentioned in the video - be very aware of what is below your subfloor! I diluted PVA 3:1 as recommended and painted it in with a brush, even pouring a bit extra in where it seemed to be soaking in nicely. After going over the joins once I checked the room below and found the watery glue was dripping out the ceiling onto the carpet and furniture in several locations! We have exposed joists with plasterboard in the room below so different than typical, but I didn't think it could drip through so easily. I was so gutted...had such high hopes for this technique after all the good comments. After we were done, the floor still creaks. Seems to be the damn nails that creak, and even though we screwed next to each one it still creaks. Probably no choice now but to rip the subfloor out and replace.
Great video. I just had to resolve the creaking boards in two rooms, prior to new flooring being put down. Followed your technique and it worked a treat.
Just screwing floorboards down at top of stairs. Lazy past owners tradesmen didn't so I'm screwing alot of floorboard back down. Didn't know about the PVA trick will use that now thanks
One thing that might help is to ensure that you drill a clearance hole through the board only for your first screw so that the screw can pull the board tight to the joist - then follow it up with a full thread screw so that the thread engages in your board and the joist to lock it in place - this might help to ensure the creak stays gone.
Found the channel 2 weeks ago, tons of useful advice and thorough considerations I can help my customers with! Much appreciated and keep up the great work :)
Sir...I cannot thank you enough for your video. My Husband and I are quite handy however, this one had us stumped! We did not have access to the basement so this solution worked perfectly!
I have this exact problem.... All builders tell me to screw and nail, did that, the squeaking is still there That is because, its in the yellow tongue as this legend says Well done mate, now i know how to fix it
Hugh Jazz use gorilla glue. Plenty of it let it seep in and it expands on curing. You can then use a simple window scraper to scrape the top off where it expands out the surface.
Ah ok, is Gorilla Glue liquid enough to seep on? I'll look it up, im in Australia, pretty sure ive seen my other trade friends with that product This: www.bunnings.com.au/gorilla-236ml-glue-bottle_p1662679
Thanks mate, i found it, it's sold in town here. I see using the flooring adhesive and a block underneath can also help Thanks for your tip mate, i will 100% be doing it.... My squeek is in Yellow tongue chipboard flooring, it is actually in-between the joists, it is the noise from the yellow tongue as the 2 sheets flex independently of each other in free space (nother under that point). So a glued block underneath and then fill the join from the top should work.
Brilliant presentation. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and tips.....and that's from a lifetime DIYer! Inspired by your approach, I would also consider drilling holes through the flooring in line with joist nail/screw run (every few inches) to a depth of the flooring (plus 1-2mm...these are modern times!) and feed your thinned PVA mixture into the holes. Then, as you did on the inter-board joints, you'll create a locally attached pool of adhesive, attaching the boards to the joists every few inches. Again, as you did, use movement to help capillary the adhesive into the thin gap between flooring and joist. FURTHER TIP: To create more work for tradesman and to inconvenience the customer (at some time in the future) I would wrongly mark the locations of pipes and wiring on the floorboards.... I'm joking I'm joking!!! No Axe
I used to work on construction sites. Squeaky floors on new build properties are almost certainly caused by the house being constructed in cold, wet weather, usually in the middle of winter. I've seen joist kits delivered to site,then left sat in mud, rain, snow for a fortnight before being craned up onto the house and assembled. The house may stay open to the elements for a further week or so before being roofed in. Later on, the plumber installs the central heating and switches it on- guess what, all the timbers shrink, hence squeaky gaps everywhere.
So frustrating what annoyance and extra work is caused for homeowners by laziness and cutting corners in the building trades. It's rampant. No one has time or takes pride in craftsmanship and doing things right anymore.
Yes, our builder even layed the floor and used it as a platform to lay the upper storey brickwork. Good for the bricklayers safety but it got rained on for weeks
@@stewartbridge5162 this is normal construction practice nowdays. The house is built in layers from the ground up, the roof being the last covering. Before that, the floorboards and ground floor are exposed and open to all weather conditions. The roof and windows seals the moisture inside the building and it takes weeks to dry out.
Thankyou! My flat's floor is terrible and I am at the point of distraction! Every single step is such a loud creak and I'm on 3rd floor so repair is more practical that replace. I am definitely going to try this! Thankyou.
One for creaking stairs I seen it on TH-cam, Gripfill and car jack which comes with your car. I have a wooden MDF staircase which creak like hell. Jack up the step a bit so you can get the gripfill in, don't cut the nozzle too much. It's a slow thing to do but works still good after five years.
Using the correct screws is also critical. You want to be using something like a spax chipboard flooring screw. Using a fully threaded screws won’t “pull” the board down, and will just result in the creak not going away or coming back.
Thank you so much mate, I fixed my creaking floor, did exactly what you said. Perfect job all creaking stopped.And I remembered to water the PVA right down to approx 5-1 Subscribed.
Funny fact why a lot of people go through the pipes when DIY is because plumbers and electricians never-ever screw/nail the boards back down when their done with their pipes/wires. Here is my two pennies, if you cannot expose the joists at-least partially buy cheap usb endoscope/inspection cam and 15-20mm hole saw drill/inspect/screw. Good tip with the diluted PVA hope it made a difference (PS them 75 mm screws were overkill ;]]])
Without a doubt use a camera if you can; I had/have squeaky floor boards. So I was able to lift them to ensure there was no pipes. Luckily I did this as under one, there sitting in a small notch in the top of the joist was a gas pipe! The workmen had even cut a notch in the floor board for the pipe to sit in. needless to say there is still a squeaky area :(
Good comment. And love the video too. If there is one important thing to find out and investigate, it is where the gas pipe runs! Fortunately in my case I had the chance to run it outside, rather than through, my property.
Thank you! I do like your videos, finding them friendly and informative. I must confess that I have, this morning done exactly what you get loads of call outs for.... We are having new carpets upstairs and so we have been lifting up the old ones cutting them and the underlay into manageable strips for the trip down to the tip. So, says Emma... Lets do something about the squeaky chip floor... Despite all the wonderful excellent build quality extolled by the builder our boards were just nailed, no sign of glue anywhere... Unfortunately I made the mistake of believing that all the pipes were in the joists... Sadly the central heating pipes were laying in a shallow cut on top of the joists, immediately below the floorboard... I got as far a four screws.... Have spent the rest of the morning cutting a chunk out of the chipboard to find the copper pipe and a mad dash to B&Q to fix it... On the plus side a good time to drain the central heating system and top up with water and, (I think) Fernox :)
Great information! I like the fact you didn't waste any time inflating your ego. My entire upstairs house creek's from the stairs all the way up, DRIVES ME CRAZY!! house was only built 8 years ago started creaking after 3 years really bad. Now I know how to fix it. Many thanks!
In old houses with creaky pine floor boards, it's usually those that have been previously lifted to fit gas, water, or electrics. I find its best to lift them and screw them down. The boards are often warped and putting some adhesive mastic under them helps.
Just finished relaying a floor for a customer in a bedroom who had issues with creaking. This was due to another "tradesman" laying the floor on top of 30mm of polystyrene directly onto the joists! In some areas the polystyrene had compressed so much I had a 20mm gap under my level......... Nice!
Diddy Wright I saw that a few months ago. The guy put down those trays that carry underfloor heating pipe. He laid them across the joists rather than in between and then laid the floorboards over the top. I looked and didn't say a word. Unlike me I know.
Skill Builder I struggle to understand the logic behind people's decisions at times but hey ho! Got the other bedroom to do in the new year due to the same "logic"!
Nice one bruvvah. The creaking floor boards in my house are doing my nut in, and it's gotten worse recently. I'm gonna give this a go. Can't see it going wrong to be honest.
@whose that I didn't get round to doing it. I split up with the lass I was with at the time and it was her place anyway so no skin off my nose. But for a quick fix short term solution, and it worked (kind of, for a bit anyway) was to get a bit of 3x2, an 8 inch off cut or summat and work out roughly where the nails were without taking up the vinyl flooring and give it a right good smack with my hammer. Poor dog shit herself, the neighbours thought I was knocking a wall down, ornaments fell off shelves in the living room and the cat nearly pulled the curtains off the pole trying to climb up them in total distress. But I was finally able to raid the fridge at 3am without waking the whole house up.
I had same issue with new house. Drove me nuts. Pva glue idea, sounds great, and would have been good to know. I drove 300 10gauge 65mm screws into lounge floor. Too many and big, i know, but i tend to get carried away.
Master craftsman?? Bloody amateur. 3 inch screws to fix down behave!! Take nails out screws out and replace with bigger shank not length or take flooring up to be sure. This guy is DIY. That pva does Jack shit!!
Thanks for that info, i have a 2 year old bungalow, the floors creak really bad, i will need to lift the laminate floor, but it will be worth it to stop the creaking 👍
I always just drill the depth of the board first and then try probing with a smaller nail to see if there is a void (notch) in the joist. I use screws 1.5 or 1.75" (whatever grips) to avoid going too deep into the joist. Always careful near radiators and power outlets and assuming most likely direction of pipe/wires at 90 degrees away or in line. Finally to know where the heating drain is in case sod's law prevails and to be ultra cautious you could shut bith valves on every radiator so just the pipework remains in water. If working under floorboards I always mark pipe and cable runs in black indellible marker with depths and other info like light fitting locations, junction boxes, pipe size/flow return, tees, bends, width of notches etc. But I am an amateur not a tradesman.
Thanks going to do this tomorrow. I tried to fix this before without the glue. The guy who built this side of my house half assed everything. Not only does the floor squeak. I feel like I am walking on a trampoline. I like the idea of putting a screw next to the nail. Another great tip.
Great video, really informative, thanks. Getting new carpet so thought I would fix the floorboards first, lazy ass house builders used nails and no glue, just like you said!!
Great idea and I love this mans work, but this did not work on my floor Even took all the nails out and replaced with screws used the PVA and left for 24 hours, small creeks did stop but unfortunately the bigger creeks remain, I recommend taking the stupid tongue and groove up and replacing with 20mm plywood
Hi Roger, I always enjoy your videos! The 2 chipboard flooring manufacturers that I am aware of (Caberfloor and Egger) recommend their own adhesive rather than pva. I have used the egger system to totally relay the flooring of a large property used in combination with 65mm spax screws and it worked well. Their adhesives are a much heavier duty product than pva and they actually expand so you don't have to keep pouring it/ brushing it into the crevices as it does the job for you. Once set you just scrape the excess away with a heavy duty scraper or chisel and it flakes off. I'm not a fan of chipboard, it is such a cheap and poor quality product. I dread to think of the problems in 5 or 10 years time with all of these new properties going up if the correct method is not being implemented by the builders.
I can confirm Egger D4 adhesive is an excellent glue product for chipboard flooring, however- NEVER, EVER get it on your hands! It turns black on your skin and will not come off for at least 3 weeks! I've tried everything to remove it, white spirit, sworfega, petrol, the lot.
Thomas Review and travel you can use expanding foam cleaner, comes in a can as a spray. As long as you use it as soon as you get it on your skin it gets the worst of it off... www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-foam-gun-cleaner-500ml/60133?_requestid=1296934
Popandu Yes you are right they recommend polyurethane glue but I find PVA works and it is what they always used to recommend before the started selling glue at 5 times the price.
When I lived in London I listened to LBC and I think it was Saturday mornings with possibly Clive Bull when the Fix-it Phone in was on the radio with ...Roger! Always gives good advice and I used to feel sorry for him back in the day giving out simple (Often repeated advice) to utterly inept DIYers. The patience of a saint!
It was Clive Bull and then Therese Birch. I enjoyed it a lot and it was not all about dIY, often people were just looking for someone to do the work who they could trust. Nothing much has changed.
'While you're here..' - That's a problem in every trade. I used to do computer tech support and it often took more time to get the 'while you're here' stuff done than the actual problem I was there to fix.
Yeah I had a while you’re here. There was a creaking floorboard in the bedroom, had a look and a plumber had lifted the boards and put the old cut nails back. Easy I thought , put some cleats under the boards and screw it. Lifted the board and the cut nail was through a. 22mm plastic pipe. It had been done 8 years ago. Loads more work I didn’t need.
Martin Hull A plumber lifts a floor board to plumb and then nails the board back down through the pipe under the board that I would imagine he new the pipe was under!
I attempted this with pva glue and it has improved the squeaking. Left it overnight and it does work!!!! I noticed the developer used cabre flooring in my case but did not screw or nail them to the subfloor. Believe me I looked for the screws or nails holes and could not see any. They must have thought the tongue and groove and wood glue would be ideal. Do you recommend I call somebody out to screw the cabre flooring to the joist. I don’t want to attempt this myself in case I miss the joist and hit a pipe. Thanks
Short heavy gauge screws across any squeaking joints held tie the t&g together also. Should do a video on the difference between wood on wood wood on metal and the accompanying sounds. Always screw soleplate of partitions down to joists. With nails as the house settles the floor board edge will rub on the shaft of the nail. No good.
A lot of floors come loose because they were nailed down. Nails come loose. I fixed Mum's floor by putting down screws next to the nails. I was fairly confident that Dad nailed into the beams when he built the house. He also used plywood on top of 1x6s. So I also used short screws, 3/4" screws, that could be screwed anywhere to draw the plywood into the 1x6s. It's important to know what the floor is made of.
Roger very helpful and informative suggestions. Especially not screwing onto carpets, beware of pipes and max length of screws to use. I like the tip where you dilute PVA glue and brushed into the seams. Thanks Roger. You good man.
Had a squeaky floor. Followed Rogers advice to the letter. I have either gone deaf or the squeak has completely gone. Great videos, second time I have used a Skill Builder video for advice. Can't fault.
Nice vid simple informative and to the point, far too many people post vids on youtube and really have no clue and people with even less of a clue actually praise them for their efforts. You obviously do this for a living as there was no humming and harring or mindless rambling, just nice simple clear explanation. thank for that you mow have another subscriber.
Only 2 things have worked for me over the years 1. If easily located you need to fix into the cross noggins in the floor ( had a floor 5 years ago drive me mad, this fixed it instantly ) 2. If 1. fails to do the trick you'll need to pop the skirting off. Its possible the PV5 flooring has been cut too tight. Once you move in the timbers can swell once the heatings on etc. Rarely see 2. due to how houses are built but can occur if solid walls continue through floors
Great guidance. I do not know if any builder who would take the time, care, and effort to do this sort of job properly. Here in Southampton it's a struggle to even get a quote from some builders, as they seem to be earning so well from smaller jobs that they just aren't bothered with any graft. Maybe the downturn in the housing market will change that with less people being able to afford the crazy high prices. Maybe.
Nice job ..love the channel 👍..what we would do to solve the squeak, first scan for pipes then use a catspaw to pull the nails out,drill a few holes over the joist ,insert a flex tube with " Advantech subfloor adhesive"...spray under the plywood and the seams, then screw down.....always works !... sometimes it's the joist hangers or joist hanger nails making the squeak...which sucks even more...
That is a great tip. I was thinking about how I could get some expanding glue under there. I will try it next time. When we come to the States to do some filming I will give you a call. A day out on site with you would be good.
Joe Framer It didn’t cross my mind that you can scan for pipes! That’s pretty cool and I’ve been wanting to get my parents’ old house fixed here and there.
Ex pro spark of many years: As the video made clear - experience and tech knowledge that enables plumbing, electrical (and to some extent joiner) trades employing a little guestimation "x-ray vision" is hard to beat. Even then - a detector does provide some extra comfort / risk reduction when screwing 'blindly' through floor boards. For less experienced / DIY - Don't scan for services (plumbing or electrical) using anything other than a detector from a blue chip, reputable manufacturer. e.g Bosch Truvo and even then - most are aimed at the wall detection market, where detection distance is usually less... and are rarely 100% reliable on flooring. Look for a spec that (at least claims) detection of non-ferrous metal (like copper pipes) and wiring at 50mm or more then use good double-countersunk multi purpose screws at 5 x 40mm. If you can, first shut down central heating and turn off relevant water valves, as well as circuit breakers/drawing fuses for services in the area (or just flipping main switch). That allows at least some controlled reaction margin at end of work if the worst has occurred. At the very least seek out those means of isolation, making yourself aware of their location. Also - most power tools are double insulated to protect users against shock... but it does no harm at all to wear work gloves with rubber/pvc grip surfaces while boring & screwing. In my experience a decent amount of well placed, quality screws alone has always sorted creaks. (notwithstanding joist/structural issues). Boards that needed glue, (but didn't get it originally) needed it on the underside mating to the joists. Though if another decent tradesman has found that glue dripped along board seams is a belt & braces help, I'm content to trust that too. I like SkillBuilder's attitude.
Guess you havent heard of squeak stopper screws. The head breaks off just below the plywood. Screw into floor joist through carpet or hardwood. Sold at home depot. Did my entire 1st floor. Works like a dream.
Can't wait to try this I have tried the extra screws and made it worse.. gave up thinking it's unfixable. It's mega annoying for my wife waking her when I have to get up in the middle of the night. Can't even bring her surprise breakfast in bed because of the squeaky floor 😂.
Just moved into a new house and the floors are so bad. First time I've lived in a house with chipboard flooring. Luckily the carpets are all coming up to be replaced so I can get it sorted. Thanks.
Take care, the pipes and cables should be below the screw depth but try to find out first. Best is to go down next to existing nails. If it is screwed down you can remove screws and glue joints then screw down with fatter screws.
@@SkillBuilder I lifted the old carpets over the weekend there, the boards are nailed, no sign of any glue either. Im going to try taking a few nails out and seeing if the hole will take a screw. I've ordered these floortite screws to see how they fair.
Hi Rodger, New build UK house? If so, same issue here so hope this info helps you... I replaced our floorboards exactly like this due to creaking. Same style...chipboard stuff without any screws in it. It took 3 carpenters 3 days to complete 3 (3.5 x 4 meter rooms). This method will not fix your problem...it’s a sticking plaster to a bigger issue. Let me explain... First do NOT randomly drill holes and screws into the boards as you don’t know what pipes and cables are under there. You need to get the boards replaced by professional carpenters who have tools to cut the interlocking boards without risking cutting through anything below them (they set the blades to be same width as the boards). What they found was that the joists under them are set at maximum legal width apart...if they had more joists closer together supporting the floorboards it wouldn’t have caused the creaking noise issue. To fix they removed all the boards and put in more timber support properly screwed together between the joists. Then, they glued the new interlocking floorboards together again plus they properly screwed them down so no movement could occur. In short...hold your hands apart and put a piece of paper on top. Then imagine pressing on that paper in the middle - it will flex down creating the noisy creaking noise. If you put your hands closer together and press same force down on the paper it won’t flex as much thus no noise. Your hands are the joists, the paper the floorboards. Since you can’t add more joists, the only option was to put more timber frame between them so the floor is better supported above. It’s very annoying and a lot of effort for such a stupid issue. Floors are all fixed now and are much better walking across them. Adding glue won’t fix this as it’s the distance of the joists supporting the floor underneath. Hope this helps.
@@DauntingGecko it was built in the early 90s. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the money to have someone come in and perform such a huge task before it gets decorated and carpeted, and I think the Mrs might actually bury me under the floor if I said I was having it lifted 😂 It's a good point about joist centres though, it probably does play a role.
Gotta watch out for any electrics , wires , junction boxes etc,( never know if there is a bodge under floorboards ) plus boards should be staggered , pva glued and screwed
We always used the paslode 1st fix gun on the chipboard floors when I was on house bashing - probably the worst thing you can do - as you say, the joists dry out, then the chipboard 'rides' on the nail. Half the time, it's that that's causing the squeeking. Screwing (with 5x60 screws) is best - but the prices we got for laying them were so poor we couldn't have afforded to do it, even if they'd supplied the screws. I've seen a lot of DIY jobs where they've used 40mm drywall screws - that's no good either - they're too thin and they often snap.
Great stuff, Roger. This is fine for chip flooring, but with traditional floorboards, its the nails which cause the creaking. Boards will usually 'cup', and can rock slightly when walked on, causing any nearby nails to be rubbed up and down the nail hole as the movement happens. Solution is to screw each board down close to, or outside of, each nail - of course taking due care to ascertain pipe runs as usual.
Really useful video - thanks! I actually was watching a bunch of videos where they were saying to lift the boards to check for pipes, use detectors, drill circles to check underneath, use a jigsaw to cut the joints etc etc etc - but I am finally glad someone is on the same wavelength, I was like 'WHY DONT YOU JUST DRILL A NEW SCREW NEXT TO THE OLD ONE SILLY SAUSAGE!! 😀😀😀😀 glad someone actually does this! Also -it actually seemed like you just drilled the old screw deeper in? which kind of negates actually buying nails?
I had the same issue, for years, now that im old and deaf, its fine now. Just give it time.
Hahahahaha classic
🤣😂🤣
Patience is a virtue 😂
Bravo Sir, I am still a young man at 56, and I have been noticing that life is speeding up.
And I really don't care about the little things anymore.
Life is too short.
Cheers
😂🤣🤣😂
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for this video. Husband and I have taken on a fixer upper with a 3 year old and a newborn, so we're keen to find ways to save money on the reno. We have a lot of enthusiasm but no real experience or knowledge with DIY. We assumed we'd need to get a carpenter in to tackle all the creaking floorboards and would never, ever, have thought PVA glue and water was a viable solution. It's worked a treat without the need for screws at all and we're so grateful that this video gave us the information and confidence to give it a go ourselves. :)
That guy loves what he's doing and that's awesome.
Nice
Heck yeah. 😎🌎✌️
This video saved my sanity, money and my marriage. What a fantastic video and idea, Brilliant. I cannot thank you enough
Saved your marriage??? 😂 us women are not that terrible.
@@jadejade5303 it was him that was constantly complaining about the creaking. Near killed the marriage
This is so informative and I am absolutely going to show this to my landlord so the apartment above me gets looked at! I could hear every move my neighbors made and it was wasn’t their fault at all. The squeaking drives me crazy.
hiya, I'm in the opposite position, and I feel really bad for my neighbours downstairs. I could easily have a go at doing this, its not like my carpets go anywhere near the gripper rod anyway !
Been there, done it!!
I thought i was being helpful at my sisters house by putting a couple of screws through squeeky floorboards, punctured both feed and return pipes!!!
This worked an absolute treat! I had a squeak on some new boards. Builder clearly hadn’t used pva as I did as the video shows and sorted all the squeaking. Perfect! Thanks.
Great to hear (or not hear) that Chris. It makes it worth doing these videos if we get results like that.
Thank you so much!! Bought a flat and the floor sheets squeaked horrifically to the point that i didn't want to walk around and annoy the downstairs neighbours. I had no idea where to start, but after watching this video and using your techniques I eliminated the noise completely! There had been a section cut out of the kitchen so was able to lift it completely and add straight PVA to the top of the joists too. Thanks again - silent bliss. The neighbours say thanks too!
@I Am it's perfectly safe, just depends whether you can put up with the noise!
I've actually tried this method with the PVA glue in my bathroom and spare bedroom and worked great. I used floor tite screws as well to put into the joists for extra support 👍👍 cheers Roger
How has the floors been treating you since?
Update please?
I tried using this technique with my landing floorboards, after 15 gallons of PVA glue the floor no longer squeaks. Although changing the lightbulbs downstairs is now a little bit more challenging! 😂
Is it still not squeaking?
Haha
Then you need to find a TH-cam video on changing lightbulbs. ?
Fantastic. We have just moved into a detached dorma bungalow and it was a late 1970's build. We have always lived in older houses with inner brick walls and proper wooden floorboards. My husband just used to screwe any creaky floorboards down. I must say this newer house isnt built as good. Dry lined hollow inner walls and chipboard flooring upstairs. These squeak so terribly and my husband was thinking he might have to relay the flooring! I'm so pleased I've seen your video. Something so easy and simple. I've subscribed for more hints and fixes!
I have just done this after watching your clip and it’s worked a treat. Only difference was I took up a couple of the noisy nails and put the screws in the same holes as I was too scared to put screws in a different location without knowing how long the nails where coming out. Saved me calling out a tradesman. Thank you 👍
Taking nails out and replacing them with screws is the best way to do it. Nothing can go wrong with that approach
This man is brilliant. I just found his videos. Feel very confident in him.
Ditto
Thanks, solved about 90% of the creaking - major life improvement for the folks downstairs! Needed to watch another video about getting wrinkles out of the carpet though. Respect to you though!
It's no wonder this and his other videos have so many views: this is a true professional and a great teacher.
Thank you thank you thank you!!!!
I screwed my floor down and there will still squeaks. It drove me mad. Then I watched this video!!!
I used the pva as you said!!! No more squeaking!!!!
Happy days. Thanks again!!!
That is great to know. Nice to have it quiet when you sneak in late
Somewhere on here was a post saying on steps screw threw the riser on both sides into the stringing. No where else anybody said this...
He was spot on and stopped the squeaking..... if i could find his post I'd give him big thumbs-up.
What a great solution. Wasn't sure it would work because the gap between the boards are very narrow but it did. Brilliant.
I've got exactly the same problem on exactly the same type of floor. Just moved in so cash is tight. Was gonna get a carpenter. But now I'm gonna try it myself. Thanks.
did it work for you?
At first thought it was going to be a video without good explanation. But as the video goes on he does a very great job at explaining everything you need to do. Props on him. A great guy to learn from about that
Well done I just tried this and tell you what it works really well. Thank you
Great advice as usual. If all trades people were like you then we wouldn't have squeaky floor boards in the first place!
i live in a studio flat. And the chipboard that’s on the floor, is driving me crazy… with creeks & cracking noises; in which happens, more or less all over the floor. But, after all this time of trying to find a solution; i now know what the problem is. It’s the joints.. where the chipboard panels are pushed together when laying the floor. i decided to run a Stanley knife down the joints of each panel… so that there is a tiny gap in between. And to my surprise… The creaking and cracking noises stopped. Hurrah! Would have been better though if i used that Dremel tool. Will buy 1 from amazon.
Tuesday 3rd October 2023. Southampton England 🏴
Watched a number of skill videos and find them informative. Great skills and knowledge. Good natured skilled trades person.
Shame on those others who have done the poor workman ship in the first place after owners spend good money to purchase the property.
I used the method where you drive a screw through the carpet and it worked, however it was a constant guessing game and the squeaks eventually came back. This shows you how to do it right, and this is what I plan to do to eliminate the issue for good. Thanks for the video.
Thanks, love the energy. You encouraged me to do it myself instead of nagging my builder.
Truly a skilled builder, very informative, educative and highly skilled. Love your videos. Keep it up mate.
And genres 👍
Thanks so much for this video it is so helpful. We have a 90s house with chipboard flooring that was nailed down. Carrying out the procedures in this video on our house has made a huge difference to our landing.
Thank you for the great video. I was just looking at a company that claims they can remove all squeaks permanently. But their solution involves ripping up the entire floor and re-doing it all. It also costs about £1800!!
I'm very much hoping your solution will do the trick so we don't need to go down the expensive route.
Hi Miles, did you follow the solution in the video and did it fix the noise instead of having to rip the entire floor and redo it?
Thank you so much Roger. The PVA method works like magic and saved me the horrendous job of pulling up all the chipboard and replacing with ply, something I have put off for many years!
Skill Builder is absolutely right. You have to be very CAREFUL when trying to find the joist. After watching like 4 videos, I listened to Skill Builder, and went to the garage and cut a small hole about 1 square foot off the sheetrock ceiling near the estimated area that squeaks. Low and behold, there are 2 heat tubings right under the baseboard. If I were to just probe for the joist, I would be drilling into one of them for SURE. Then I drill a 4 inch wood screw from the ceiling of the garage upwards and went upstairs and found it. Then I measure and tape where the joist should be.
I will still go down to HD and buy the anti squeak kit to screw it down. Thanks Skill Builder.
It really works!!! In my case, the squeaky sound comes from a joint that is perpendicular to the studs. I have nowhere to drive addition nails like most other videos suggest. So I applied some wood glue and used a hand trowel to work it in. The squeaky sound was gone the next morning. Thank you for this very useful tip!
I am glad it worked. I would always water it down so it flows in nicely
Had squeaky bedroom floor for a couple of years, followed your method and what a difference! Not 100% cured but massive improvement. Only way to sort 100% is to lift and replace with ply. Hoping the addition of good laminate flooring will also help reduce any leftover squeaks!! Thanks!!
Even after adding hundreds of screws before our carpet was replaced about 10 years ago, the chipboard floors in our lounge were still driving us nuts, so I stripped out all the furniture and carpet to give this a crack yesterday.
Here's a big caveat which should probably have been mentioned in the video - be very aware of what is below your subfloor! I diluted PVA 3:1 as recommended and painted it in with a brush, even pouring a bit extra in where it seemed to be soaking in nicely. After going over the joins once I checked the room below and found the watery glue was dripping out the ceiling onto the carpet and furniture in several locations! We have exposed joists with plasterboard in the room below so different than typical, but I didn't think it could drip through so easily.
I was so gutted...had such high hopes for this technique after all the good comments. After we were done, the floor still creaks. Seems to be the damn nails that creak, and even though we screwed next to each one it still creaks. Probably no choice now but to rip the subfloor out and replace.
I fixed mine once with TALCUM POWDER and IT WORKED GREAT ! still is now years later .
I've just moved in to my first owned house and this video was immensely helpful! Thanks so much!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video. I just had to resolve the creaking boards in two rooms, prior to new flooring being put down. Followed your technique and it worked a treat.
I'm going to do the same. Hope it works for me.
Just screwing floorboards down at top of stairs. Lazy past owners tradesmen didn't so I'm screwing alot of floorboard back down. Didn't know about the PVA trick will use that now thanks
One thing that might help is to ensure that you drill a clearance hole through the board only for your first screw so that the screw can pull the board tight to the joist - then follow it up with a full thread screw so that the thread engages in your board and the joist to lock it in place - this might help to ensure the creak stays gone.
Decking screws may help, they have two different threads so that as you screw down, it pulls them together.
Found the channel 2 weeks ago, tons of useful advice and thorough considerations I can help my customers with! Much appreciated and keep up the great work :)
Sir...I cannot thank you enough for your video. My Husband and I are quite handy however, this one had us stumped! We did not have access to the basement so this solution worked perfectly!
I have this exact problem....
All builders tell me to screw and nail, did that, the squeaking is still there
That is because, its in the yellow tongue as this legend says
Well done mate, now i know how to fix it
Hugh Jazz use gorilla glue. Plenty of it let it seep in and it expands on curing. You can then use a simple window scraper to scrape the top off where it expands out the surface.
Ah ok, is Gorilla Glue liquid enough to seep on?
I'll look it up, im in Australia, pretty sure ive seen my other trade friends with that product
This: www.bunnings.com.au/gorilla-236ml-glue-bottle_p1662679
Hugh Jazz you should be able to find alternative brands of expanding glue. Hippo also make one. They flow very well and the warmer it is the better
Thanks mate, i found it, it's sold in town here.
I see using the flooring adhesive and a block underneath can also help
Thanks for your tip mate, i will 100% be doing it....
My squeek is in Yellow tongue chipboard flooring, it is actually in-between the joists, it is the noise from the yellow tongue as the 2 sheets flex independently of each other in free space (nother under that point).
So a glued block underneath and then fill the join from the top should work.
Brilliant presentation. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and tips.....and that's from a lifetime DIYer!
Inspired by your approach, I would also consider drilling holes through the flooring in line with joist nail/screw run (every few inches) to a depth of the flooring (plus 1-2mm...these are modern times!) and feed your thinned PVA mixture into the holes. Then, as you did on the inter-board joints, you'll create a locally attached pool of adhesive, attaching the boards to the joists every few inches. Again, as you did, use movement to help capillary the adhesive into the thin gap between flooring and joist.
FURTHER TIP: To create more work for tradesman and to inconvenience the customer (at some time in the future) I would wrongly mark the locations of pipes and wiring on the floorboards.... I'm joking I'm joking!!!
No Axe
Excellent teacher. What an ingenious trick to solve floor squeaks.
It’s Hard to find a person like this now of days 👍🤛🙏
Thanks for this video, I have a very annoying squeaky landing floor, so now I know how to go about resolving the issue, thanks a million 👍
Joiner myself and this is exactly the way I would do this job
Great job.
I used to work on construction sites. Squeaky floors on new build properties are almost certainly caused by the house being constructed in cold, wet weather, usually in the middle of winter. I've seen joist kits delivered to site,then left sat in mud, rain, snow for a fortnight before being craned up onto the house and assembled. The house may stay open to the elements for a further week or so before being roofed in. Later on, the plumber installs the central heating and switches it on- guess what, all the timbers shrink, hence squeaky gaps everywhere.
So frustrating what annoyance and extra work is caused for homeowners by laziness and cutting corners in the building trades. It's rampant. No one has time or takes pride in craftsmanship and doing things right anymore.
Yes, our builder even layed the floor and used it as a platform to lay the upper storey brickwork. Good for the bricklayers safety but it got rained on for weeks
@@stewartbridge5162 this is normal construction practice nowdays. The house is built in layers from the ground up, the roof being the last covering. Before that, the floorboards and ground floor are exposed and open to all weather conditions. The roof and windows seals the moisture inside the building and it takes weeks to dry out.
Thankyou! My flat's floor is terrible and I am at the point of distraction! Every single step is such a loud creak and I'm on 3rd floor so repair is more practical that replace. I am definitely going to try this! Thankyou.
Just done this and fixed our squeaky floors. Thank you!
Great job! We are glad it helped. Sleep well
One for creaking stairs I seen it on TH-cam, Gripfill and car jack which comes with your car. I have a wooden MDF staircase which creak like hell. Jack up the step a bit so you can get the gripfill in, don't cut the nozzle too much. It's a slow thing to do but works still good after five years.
That worked a treat , have to finish off the entire upstairs of my house but it works happy day's
Great! I am glad it did the job that should have been done when they laid it.
Using the correct screws is also critical.
You want to be using something like a spax chipboard flooring screw.
Using a fully threaded screws won’t “pull” the board down, and will just result in the creak not going away or coming back.
Thank you so much mate, I fixed my creaking floor, did exactly what you said. Perfect job all creaking stopped.And I remembered to water the PVA right down to approx 5-1 Subscribed.
Thanks for the feedback. It is a good moment when you walk there like the first man on the moon and there are no squeaks.
Funny fact why a lot of people go through the pipes when DIY is because plumbers and electricians never-ever screw/nail the boards back down when their done with their pipes/wires.
Here is my two pennies, if you cannot expose the joists at-least partially buy cheap usb endoscope/inspection cam and 15-20mm hole saw drill/inspect/screw.
Good tip with the diluted PVA hope it made a difference (PS them 75 mm screws were overkill ;]]])
Without a doubt use a camera if you can; I had/have squeaky floor boards. So I was able to lift them to ensure there was no pipes. Luckily I did this as under one, there sitting in a small notch in the top of the joist was a gas pipe! The workmen had even cut a notch in the floor board for the pipe to sit in. needless to say there is still a squeaky area :(
Good comment. And love the video too. If there is one important thing to find out and investigate, it is where the gas pipe runs! Fortunately in my case I had the chance to run it outside, rather than through, my property.
This guy is the embodiment of the word Dad.
Thank you! I do like your videos, finding them friendly and informative. I must confess that I have, this morning done exactly what you get loads of call outs for.... We are having new carpets upstairs and so we have been lifting up the old ones cutting them and the underlay into manageable strips for the trip down to the tip. So, says Emma... Lets do something about the squeaky chip floor... Despite all the wonderful excellent build quality extolled by the builder our boards were just nailed, no sign of glue anywhere... Unfortunately I made the mistake of believing that all the pipes were in the joists... Sadly the central heating pipes were laying in a shallow cut on top of the joists, immediately below the floorboard... I got as far a four screws.... Have spent the rest of the morning cutting a chunk out of the chipboard to find the copper pipe and a mad dash to B&Q to fix it... On the plus side a good time to drain the central heating system and top up with water and, (I think) Fernox :)
It has happened to so many people. Emergency plumbers have grown rich off the back of this type of thing.
Any way of knowing ?
Great camera work when he was pulling up the carpet.
What, you mean you wanted to actually see what he was doing?
Great information! I like the fact you didn't waste any time inflating your ego. My entire upstairs house creek's from the stairs all the way up, DRIVES ME CRAZY!! house was only built 8 years ago started creaking after 3 years really bad. Now I know how to fix it. Many thanks!
In old houses with creaky pine floor boards, it's usually those that have been previously lifted to fit gas, water, or electrics.
I find its best to lift them and screw them down. The boards are often warped and putting some adhesive mastic under them helps.
Just finished relaying a floor for a customer in a bedroom who had issues with creaking. This was due to another "tradesman" laying the floor on top of 30mm of polystyrene directly onto the joists! In some areas the polystyrene had compressed so much I had a 20mm gap under my level......... Nice!
I have seen expanding foam used in the same way. It fills areas which are uneven and also insulates and excludes draughts.
Until it compresses under load!
Diddy Wright
I saw that a few months ago. The guy put down those trays that carry underfloor heating pipe. He laid them across the joists rather than in between and then laid the floorboards over the top. I looked and didn't say a word. Unlike me I know.
Skill Builder I struggle to understand the logic behind people's decisions at times but hey ho! Got the other bedroom to do in the new year due to the same "logic"!
Yes we have the same problem but thanks to your video hopefully not much longer. Thank you.
Great vid 👍🏾!
Ps: I always drive screws in at a slight angle so they can never pull out.
Nice one bruvvah. The creaking floor boards in my house are doing my nut in, and it's gotten worse recently. I'm gonna give this a go. Can't see it going wrong to be honest.
@whose that I didn't get round to doing it. I split up with the lass I was with at the time and it was her place anyway so no skin off my nose. But for a quick fix short term solution, and it worked (kind of, for a bit anyway) was to get a bit of 3x2, an 8 inch off cut or summat and work out roughly where the nails were without taking up the vinyl flooring and give it a right good smack with my hammer. Poor dog shit herself, the neighbours thought I was knocking a wall down, ornaments fell off shelves in the living room and the cat nearly pulled the curtains off the pole trying to climb up them in total distress. But I was finally able to raid the fridge at 3am without waking the whole house up.
Thanks Roger, this worked a treat on a floor that has been driving me nuts for years!
Glad it helped
Wow Thank You!
I am ripping out carpet and laminate and hardwood for vinyl planking and yeah I got creaks.
I’ll lookup PVA in Canada here.
I had same issue with new house. Drove me nuts. Pva glue idea, sounds great, and would have been good to know. I drove 300 10gauge 65mm screws into lounge floor. Too many and big, i know, but i tend to get carried away.
Did it solved the problem? My floor is driving me nuts
Another great video Roger. Always nice to see a master craftsman at work.
Master craftsman??
Bloody amateur.
3 inch screws to fix down behave!!
Take nails out screws out and replace with bigger shank not length or take flooring up to be sure.
This guy is DIY.
That pva does Jack shit!!
Dennis Pritchard screw should be 3 times length of board thickness. Sit down boy.
Thanks for that info, i have a 2 year old bungalow, the floors creak really bad, i will need to lift the laminate floor, but it will be worth it to stop the creaking 👍
I always just drill the depth of the board first and then try probing with a smaller nail to see if there is a void (notch) in the joist. I use screws 1.5 or 1.75" (whatever grips) to avoid going too deep into the joist. Always careful near radiators and power outlets and assuming most likely direction of pipe/wires at 90 degrees away or in line. Finally to know where the heating drain is in case sod's law prevails and to be ultra cautious you could shut bith valves on every radiator so just the pipework remains in water. If working under floorboards I always mark pipe and cable runs in black indellible marker with depths and other info like light fitting locations, junction boxes, pipe size/flow return, tees, bends, width of notches etc. But I am an amateur not a tradesman.
Thanks going to do this tomorrow. I tried to fix this before without the glue. The guy who built this side of my house half assed everything. Not only does the floor squeak. I feel like I am walking on a trampoline. I like the idea of putting a screw next to the nail. Another great tip.
MuckoMan
I should have used shorter fatter screws. These were too long but they worked.
Great video, really informative, thanks. Getting new carpet so thought I would fix the floorboards first, lazy ass house builders used nails and no glue, just like you said!!
Great idea and I love this mans work, but this did not work on my floor
Even took all the nails out and replaced with screws used the PVA and left for 24 hours, small creeks did stop but unfortunately the bigger creeks remain, I recommend taking the stupid tongue and groove up and replacing with 20mm plywood
Hi Roger, I always enjoy your videos! The 2 chipboard flooring manufacturers that I am aware of (Caberfloor and Egger) recommend their own adhesive rather than pva. I have used the egger system to totally relay the flooring of a large property used in combination with 65mm spax screws and it worked well. Their adhesives are a much heavier duty product than pva and they actually expand so you don't have to keep pouring it/ brushing it into the crevices as it does the job for you. Once set you just scrape the excess away with a heavy duty scraper or chisel and it flakes off.
I'm not a fan of chipboard, it is such a cheap and poor quality product. I dread to think of the problems in 5 or 10 years time with all of these new properties going up if the correct method is not being implemented by the builders.
He isn't advocating using the PVA for new construction, just in this type of repair to a squeaking floor.
I can confirm Egger D4 adhesive is an excellent glue product for chipboard flooring, however- NEVER, EVER get it on your hands! It turns black on your skin and will not come off for at least 3 weeks! I've tried everything to remove it, white spirit, sworfega, petrol, the lot.
Thomas Review and travel Oneshot works great for removing those hard to clean glues. Don’t leave it on your hands to long.
Thomas Review and travel you can use expanding foam cleaner, comes in a can as a spray. As long as you use it as soon as you get it on your skin it gets the worst of it off... www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-foam-gun-cleaner-500ml/60133?_requestid=1296934
Popandu
Yes you are right they recommend polyurethane glue but I find PVA works and it is what they always used to recommend before the started selling glue at 5 times the price.
When I lived in London I listened to LBC and I think it was Saturday mornings with possibly Clive Bull when the Fix-it Phone in was on the radio with ...Roger! Always gives good advice and I used to feel sorry for him back in the day giving out simple (Often repeated advice) to utterly inept DIYers. The patience of a saint!
It was Clive Bull and then Therese Birch. I enjoyed it a lot and it was not all about dIY, often people were just looking for someone to do the work who they could trust. Nothing much has changed.
'While you're here..' - That's a problem in every trade. I used to do computer tech support and it often took more time to get the 'while you're here' stuff done than the actual problem I was there to fix.
Yeah I had a while you’re here. There was a creaking floorboard in the bedroom, had a look and a plumber had lifted the boards and put the old cut nails back. Easy I thought , put some cleats under the boards and screw it. Lifted the board and the cut nail was through a. 22mm plastic pipe. It had been done 8 years ago. Loads more work I didn’t need.
Amazing how a nail or screw through plastic will hold that long
Martin Hull A plumber lifts a floor board to plumb and then nails the board back down through the pipe under the board that I would imagine he new the pipe was under!
I attempted this with pva glue and it has improved the squeaking. Left it overnight and it does work!!!!
I noticed the developer used cabre flooring in my case but did not screw or nail them to the subfloor. Believe me I looked for the screws or nails holes and could not see any. They must have thought the tongue and groove and wood glue would be ideal.
Do you recommend I call somebody out to screw the cabre flooring to the joist. I don’t want to attempt this myself in case I miss the joist and hit a pipe.
Thanks
Short heavy gauge screws across any squeaking joints held tie the t&g together also. Should do a video on the difference between wood on wood wood on metal and the accompanying sounds. Always screw soleplate of partitions down to joists. With nails as the house settles the floor board edge will rub on the shaft of the nail. No good.
A lot of floors come loose because they were nailed down. Nails come loose. I fixed Mum's floor by putting down screws next to the nails. I was fairly confident that Dad nailed into the beams when he built the house.
He also used plywood on top of 1x6s. So I also used short screws, 3/4" screws, that could be screwed anywhere to draw the plywood into the 1x6s.
It's important to know what the floor is made of.
Roger very helpful and informative suggestions. Especially not screwing onto carpets, beware of pipes and max length of screws to use. I like the tip where you dilute PVA glue and brushed into the seams. Thanks Roger. You good man.
Had a squeaky floor. Followed Rogers advice to the letter. I have either gone deaf or the squeak has completely gone. Great videos, second time I have used a Skill Builder video for advice. Can't fault.
Glad it helped
Nice vid simple informative and to the point, far too many people post vids on youtube and really have no clue and people with even less of a clue actually praise them for their efforts.
You obviously do this for a living as there was no humming and harring or mindless rambling, just nice simple clear explanation. thank for that you mow have another subscriber.
Only 2 things have worked for me over the years
1. If easily located you need to fix into the cross noggins in the floor ( had a floor 5 years ago drive me mad, this fixed it instantly )
2. If 1. fails to do the trick you'll need to pop the skirting off. Its possible the PV5 flooring has been cut too tight. Once you move in the timbers can swell once the heatings on etc. Rarely see 2. due to how houses are built but can occur if solid walls continue through floors
Great guidance. I do not know if any builder who would take the time, care, and effort to do this sort of job properly. Here in Southampton it's a struggle to even get a quote from some builders, as they seem to be earning so well from smaller jobs that they just aren't bothered with any graft. Maybe the downturn in the housing market will change that with less people being able to afford the crazy high prices. Maybe.
Nice job ..love the channel 👍..what we would do to solve the squeak, first scan for pipes then use a catspaw to pull the nails out,drill a few holes over the joist ,insert a flex tube with " Advantech subfloor adhesive"...spray under the plywood and the seams, then screw down.....always works !... sometimes it's the joist hangers or joist hanger nails making the squeak...which sucks even more...
That is a great tip. I was thinking about how I could get some expanding glue under there. I will try it next time. When we come to the States to do some filming I will give you a call. A day out on site with you would be good.
A nail puller. You need one, they are great
Joe Framer It didn’t cross my mind that you can scan for pipes! That’s pretty cool and I’ve been wanting to get my parents’ old house fixed here and there.
Ex pro spark of many years:
As the video made clear - experience and tech knowledge that enables plumbing, electrical (and to some extent joiner) trades employing a little guestimation "x-ray vision" is hard to beat. Even then - a detector does provide some extra comfort / risk reduction when screwing 'blindly' through floor boards.
For less experienced / DIY - Don't scan for services (plumbing or electrical) using anything other than a detector from a blue chip, reputable manufacturer. e.g Bosch Truvo and even then - most are aimed at the wall detection market, where detection distance is usually less... and are rarely 100% reliable on flooring. Look for a spec that (at least claims) detection of non-ferrous metal (like copper pipes) and wiring at 50mm or more then use good double-countersunk multi purpose screws at 5 x 40mm.
If you can, first shut down central heating and turn off relevant water valves, as well as circuit breakers/drawing fuses for services in the area (or just flipping main switch). That allows at least some controlled reaction margin at end of work if the worst has occurred.
At the very least seek out those means of isolation, making yourself aware of their location. Also - most power tools are double insulated to protect users against shock... but it does no harm at all to wear work gloves with rubber/pvc grip surfaces while boring & screwing.
In my experience a decent amount of well placed, quality screws alone has always sorted creaks. (notwithstanding joist/structural issues). Boards that needed glue, (but didn't get it originally) needed it on the underside mating to the joists. Though if another decent tradesman has found that glue dripped along board seams is a belt & braces help, I'm content to trust that too. I like SkillBuilder's attitude.
"instant edit - " _mating to the joists_ " Oops...Late night fatigue... I meant to tongue & grooves.
Guess you havent heard of squeak stopper screws. The head breaks off just below the plywood. Screw into floor joist through carpet or hardwood. Sold at home depot. Did my entire 1st floor. Works like a dream.
What happens if the boards need to be taken up?
Thomas Mack great, until some noddy goes straight through a copper pipe
'Oh, while your'e here'. How many times have i heard that!
3?
lol
Good method. Rog has informed us that its as easy as using the original nails as a guide to know where to screw down safely. thanks Rog!
Can't wait to try this I have tried the extra screws and made it worse.. gave up thinking it's unfixable. It's mega annoying for my wife waking her when I have to get up in the middle of the night. Can't even bring her surprise breakfast in bed because of the squeaky floor 😂.
A local joiner will fix that. Money well spent.
As always, very interesting and informative video.
Thank you. 👍👍
Just moved into a new house and the floors are so bad. First time I've lived in a house with chipboard flooring. Luckily the carpets are all coming up to be replaced so I can get it sorted. Thanks.
Take care, the pipes and cables should be below the screw depth but try to find out first. Best is to go down next to existing nails. If it is screwed down you can remove screws and glue joints then screw down with fatter screws.
@@SkillBuilder I lifted the old carpets over the weekend there, the boards are nailed, no sign of any glue either. Im going to try taking a few nails out and seeing if the hole will take a screw. I've ordered these floortite screws to see how they fair.
Hi Rodger,
New build UK house? If so, same issue here so hope this info helps you...
I replaced our floorboards exactly like this due to creaking. Same style...chipboard stuff without any screws in it. It took 3 carpenters 3 days to complete 3 (3.5 x 4 meter rooms). This method will not fix your problem...it’s a sticking plaster to a bigger issue. Let me explain...
First do NOT randomly drill holes and screws into the boards as you don’t know what pipes and cables are under there. You need to get the boards replaced by professional carpenters who have tools to cut the interlocking boards without risking cutting through anything below them (they set the blades to be same width as the boards). What they found was that the joists under them are set at maximum legal width apart...if they had more joists closer together supporting the floorboards it wouldn’t have caused the creaking noise issue.
To fix they removed all the boards and put in more timber support properly screwed together between the joists. Then, they glued the new interlocking floorboards together again plus they properly screwed them down so no movement could occur.
In short...hold your hands apart and put a piece of paper on top. Then imagine pressing on that paper in the middle - it will flex down creating the noisy creaking noise. If you put your hands closer together and press same force down on the paper it won’t flex as much thus no noise. Your hands are the joists, the paper the floorboards. Since you can’t add more joists, the only option was to put more timber frame between them so the floor is better supported above.
It’s very annoying and a lot of effort for such a stupid issue. Floors are all fixed now and are much better walking across them. Adding glue won’t fix this as it’s the distance of the joists supporting the floor underneath.
Hope this helps.
@@DauntingGecko it was built in the early 90s. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the money to have someone come in and perform such a huge task before it gets decorated and carpeted, and I think the Mrs might actually bury me under the floor if I said I was having it lifted 😂 It's a good point about joist centres though, it probably does play a role.
Great video and tips, I've just followed this to stop my landing creaking. Omg it really does work many thanks for doing this video. 👍
Gotta watch out for any electrics , wires , junction boxes etc,( never know if there is a bodge under floorboards ) plus boards should be staggered , pva glued and screwed
This was extremely helpful and informative. Thank you!
We always used the paslode 1st fix gun on the chipboard floors when I was on house bashing - probably the worst thing you can do - as you say, the joists dry out, then the chipboard 'rides' on the nail. Half the time, it's that that's causing the squeeking. Screwing (with 5x60 screws) is best - but the prices we got for laying them were so poor we couldn't have afforded to do it, even if they'd supplied the screws. I've seen a lot of DIY jobs where they've used 40mm drywall screws - that's no good either - they're too thin and they often snap.
Thanks. I should have used proper floorboard screws but it seems to have worked.
I have squeaky floorboards in my living room, will need to give this a go. I also want to get rid of the carpet anyway and lay some sound proofing.
Great stuff, Roger. This is fine for chip flooring, but with traditional floorboards, its the nails which cause the creaking. Boards will usually 'cup', and can rock slightly when walked on, causing any nearby nails to be rubbed up and down the nail hole as the movement happens. Solution is to screw each board down close to, or outside of, each nail - of course taking due care to ascertain pipe runs as usual.
Really useful video - thanks! I actually was watching a bunch of videos where they were saying to lift the boards to check for pipes, use detectors, drill circles to check underneath, use a jigsaw to cut the joints etc etc etc - but I am finally glad someone is on the same wavelength, I was like 'WHY DONT YOU JUST DRILL A NEW SCREW NEXT TO THE OLD ONE SILLY SAUSAGE!! 😀😀😀😀 glad someone actually does this!
Also -it actually seemed like you just drilled the old screw deeper in? which kind of negates actually buying nails?
This is SUCH a relief. I assumed it meant my second floor was about to fall down lol phew! Thank you!!!
@@BC-is2iu yep! I had someone check it out, he was able to secure the floor and all is well. Thank god lol it sounded ✨expensive✨