There's an area about 3 to 4' wide that squeeks pretty badly. There's a finished basement below that is going to be used to house my wife's grandmother so we'd really like it to be quiet for her and it's rather annoying anyway.

I tried putting some screws into the joist but after about 20 of them I gave up.

Any other suggestions?

If your floor, and the ceiling under the floor are both finished, it may be difficult to eliminate the squeak. I had a squeak like you - 3 to 4 foot area, used short nails, long nails, screws - nothing stopped the squeak. So I cut out the floor board. There it was - a cross brace that was cracked and causing the squeak. Replaced it, and the floor board, and no more squeak. But I could not have done that with a finished floor.

If you can get at it from in the basement, look for a bad cross brace or blocking.

Good luck,
Ken

Hmm. It's plywood awaiting hardwood and below is a finished garage that will be made into a mother-in-law apartment here shortly. There's also a ton of insulation in that space so it might be a bit icky to get at from below...

How did you patch the floor? Was it a big deal to do? And how did you fix the joist; attach a sister to it?

Well, if its plywood, it might not be so bad.... Find the squeak, or about where it is in the floor area. Then mark the floor joists on either side - you might have to go out one or 2 joists just to be sure the squeak is within the area. Set your circular saw for 3/4 inch (or the thikness of the plywood). Cut along the side of the floor joists (the sides closest to where the squeak is) (call these the side cuts). Then connect the side cuts with cuts at the top and bottom. It will be a little easier if your cuts line up with an existing edge or two of the plywood. You have to get that square piece of floor up - its not going to be easy if it was glued and nailed (screwed) down. Once its up, check those cross braces or blocking and fix the squeaking one. To make the patch, sister 2x4's or 2x6's to the floor joists - glue and nail (screw) these sisters to the floor joists. Make them a little longer than the opening so they go under the existing floor (helps get the height correct). Glue and nail the existing floor to the ends of these sisters. (don't want to create a different squeak) Then if the existing plywood came out in one piece you can use it to put back down, if not, cut a piece of plywood to fit the opening. Glue and nail (screw) the plywood down. Now cross your fingers.... see if you fixed it.......and the squeak is gone.

Ken

It really isn't that hard to pull up a full 4x8 sheet of plywood, out in the middle of a room. When it is under a wall is where it gets very tricky.

Assuming it's not T&G, no?

I'll have a chance to check it out tonight. I *really* want to get this stuff done so I can get moved in. The last thing I needed right now was another delay. Not that you pros can't relate to that...

No assuming... It is T&G. What would it matter?

If I installed the decking, you will have to buy a new sheet to replace it with, anyway!! Because it ain't coming out in one piece, since I glued it to the joists.

DAMN you guys and your knowledgable answers...

Yeah, T&G on the sides but not the ends. You're good; really good.

I noticed that after pulling the linolium(sp)/plywood up that the sqeek area got larger. I pulled the nails tonight and the area grew quite a bit more. I haven't pulled the subfloor (just the nails for one piece) but to pull more would entail dealing with cabinets and a wall, or at least cutting around them.

I think I stated previously that there's a garage below that we're considering converting into a mother-in-law living space. There's an equal chance that we'll be extending further to the back of the basement (partially finished at this point) instead of the garage.

I have no idea how much subfloor I'll have to pull at this point to find the squeek. At this point I'm planning on putting some screws back into the existing subfloor and hope for the best. It's not *that* noticable right now and nobody below will hear it in the immediate future.

If we decide to convert the garage then I'm going to have to do other work on the ceiling, so if it squeeks too much then I'll pull down the sheet rock and attempt a fix then.

It pains me to blow this off now as I know even the slightest squeek will bother me for as long as I live there especially knowing I could have stopped it before. I have quite a few other fires I have to put out before I can start the flooring, though, and time is really pressing for us to move into the house.

And if it bugs me too much, I can attempt a fix from below here in the near future.