Are you sick of crawling under the house, pulling out insulation and installing special fixtures or supports to eliminate a squeak in a carpeted floor? The drawing shows the method that we’ve used for the past six years to rid ourselves of a collection of annoying squeaks that developed under our carpeted floors.
First, find the joist. We use a finishing nail to probe around the suspected target until we find it. Next, poke a small knife through both the carpet and the pad. The cut should be between 1/4-in. and 3/8-in. long. Now insert a 2-in. to 3-in. screw and run it to within 1/4 in. of the carpet. With the help of a screwdriver, lift the carpet and pad over the head of the screw. Drive the screw the rest of the way, and you’re done.
We have dense, plush carpets that are about 15 years old. After fixing literally dozens of squeaks, we now have floors that are quiet, and we have never seen a stray piece of carpet yarn or any other damage. I would, however, think twice about using this squeak-repair method with flat-nap carpet.
Ida Lambert, Crestline, CA
