LESLIE: Heading out to Massachusetts where Tony is dealing with some squeaky floors. How can we help you today?
TONY: I have a little problem with the hardwood floor. As you – when you walk across, there’s some squeaking boards. I was wondering, any kind of remedy that I can solve this problem?
TOM: So, the reason those boards are squeaking is because there’s movement inside the board, like sort of the tongue and the groove of the board as they’re joined together and moving. What you have to do is secure those better to the subfloor and the floor joist below.
So the trick of the trade is this. You get a stud finder. Stud finders today can penetrate 2, 3 inches into a wall or a floor. And you use that to identify where the floor joist is going; it’s passing sort of below that floor. And then what you can either do is nail that floor down to the subfloor below and to the joist below that or you could use a screw to do that.
There’s a type of screw called a “trim screw” that’s only slightly wider than a finish nail. And if you pile it whole through the hardwood floor and then you install the trim screw, which you can do with a drill – with a Phillips bit inside of a drill – you can pull that floor down tight – that hardwood floor down tight – and that will stop some of the movement. And if you do that in enough places, in the right places, you can eliminate the squeak. Does that make sense?
TONY: Yes, it does, Tom. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
TOM: You’re welcome, Tony. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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