Type of nail for squeaky wood floor
Kimball_house
| Posted in General Discussion on
This house is ~100 years old with 3 inch pine plank flooring over diagonally laid tongue and groove subflooring. All the floors squeak. Everywhere. One can assign some squeaks to character, but I would like to fix the squeaks in the traffic pattern upstairs. I have to work from above. Can someone give me some advice on the type of nail I should use and technique? I’ve heard of some nails with heat activated glue, but I do not know a brand name or source. Is there a specialty nail that would be best? Finally, given the extent of the squeaking, I’m tempted to find out if there is a specialty nail that would fit in a nail gun. I have several. Thanks for the advice.
Replies
I saw an episode on "This old house" about 2 weeks ago where Tom used a system of special screws with a platform jig designed for squeakly floors. It would most likely work for your problem. Good luck
Senco 15-gauge finish nails have a bit of glue on them that is heated as they go in, and makes it hard to pull them, at least until you get them started... BUT... it's not the shank of the nail in the subfloor/joist you need to be concerned with, it's the section of the nail that penetrates the flooring itself. The squeaks are usually caused by the flooring moving up and down slightly on the shank of the nail, so holding the flooring DOWN is what is needed. I think I'd use slight headed siding nails if I really needed to solve the problem. Regular hand-drive finish nails will improve it but probably not solve it entirely. 3" ring shank framing nails from a gun will shut that puppy right up!
The ring shank siding nails could be good. 15GA finish are WAY too small for anything connected with flooring and are likely to cause more squeaks than they solve.
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All stick nailers use nails coated with heat-activated glue. That's what holds the sticks or magazines of nails together so you can load them into the gun. Some FRH coil nailers use coated nails, too, but I'm not sure about all of them. I don't use coil nailers.
However, I am not sure at all that nails are going to help much with your squeaky floor. Chances are pretty good that a lot of that squeaking is coming from movement in the subfloor(s) as well as the finish flooring. Face nailing from above isn't going to buy you much at all, because even a framing nailer setting a 3½" nail isn't going to compress those three layers of wood enough to stop them moving when a 150# person walks on them.
Unless you can get underneath the floor and use screws and wedges to pull/squeeze the flooring tight, I think you're going to have to live with the voice of your old floors telling you tales of days gone by....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
And squeaky floors have their advantages: Nightingale Floor
Those and the one step on a stairs that is different in height from the rest--the theory being that the castle owner when fleeing from an intruder would be aware of the different step, but the pursuer would trip on it.
In that case, if I ever have to flee an intruder here, I'm headed down the basement stairs.
That was the first full-sized staircase I ever built and I screwed up figuring where to put the plumb cut at the top. By the time I realised it--when I lowered the whole thing into place, of course--I was too tired/discouraged/pissed-off to do it all over again, so I decided to live with the top step an inch shallower than all the rest.
I've only gone down that staircase on my arse once since '95.....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
Well, in this house I'm golden--basement steps vary in rise by about an inch and a half and the porch (concrete) steps vary by several inches--every rise and every run is different! The stairs to second floor is pretty good, but has those piece of pie shaped winders at the landing. In all but the porch steps, the stairwell is too low, so I bang my head on a beam or doorway at the bottom about one in three times I use them! (So much for intruders--I'm 6'-2", so if the intruder is under 6', he'll be fine and I'll be laying out cold on the floor!)
Then there's the basement that has joists at about 6'-2", but the pipes and so on are below that! I have learned to avoid the wall sconces along the one side of the second floor hallway--I took them down once and when DW got home I'd replaced them with shallow little bubble looking things. Wife pitched a fit, so the old head gashers went back up.
Here's a link to the This Old House solution.http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/print/0,17071,203171,00.htmlNever used it but probably should on all my squeaks!Working from AboveWhen you can't get access to the floor joists from below, your only choice is to make the repairs from above. The trick, however, is to silence the squeaks without damaging the finished floor. Fortunately, there are two fastening systems, both manufactured by O'Berry Enterprises, that can do just that.Carpeting. The Squeeeeek-No-More Kit (about $30) can be used on carpeting laid over a wood subfloor. The kit consists of a screwdriver bit, pilot screw to help you locate joists, depth-control fixture and 50 specially designed breakaway screws. First, locate the joist nearest the squeak. Stand the depth-control fixture on the carpet directly over the joist. After wrapping transparent tape around one of the screws to prevent it from catching on the carpet strands, drive it through the fixture. Remove the fixture, tip it sideways and insert the screwhead into the slot in the top of the fixture. Rock the fixture side to side until the screwhead snaps off below the surface of the subfloor.Creaks under carpet1. Set the three-legged depth-control fixture over a joist, then drive in one of the special Squeeeeek-No-More screws. Be sure to wrap the screw with the transparent tape provided so it doesn't snag the carpet fibers.2. The depth-control fixture doubles as a snap-off tool. Insert the screwhead into the slot, then rock the fixture back and forth until the screw breaks off below the surface.Hardwood. The Counter-Snap Kit ($8) provides an effective, nearly undetectable way to stop squeaks in hardwood floors. The kit comes with a screwdriver bit, depth-control fixture and 25 breakaway screws. But, unlike the Squeeeeek-No-More system, the screwhead automatically snaps off when you drive the screw into the depth-control fixture.Start by boring a 3/32-in.-dia. pilot hole through the floorboard nearest the squeak. Next, put a screw through the depth-control fixture and into the pilot hole. Drive in the screw until it snaps off below the surface of the wood. To conceal the screw, fill the pilot hole with wood putty. It may not be possible to silence every squeak in your home, but with the techniques described here, you can certainly cut down the chatter to an occasional chirp.Hardwood floor1. After locating the squeak, bore a 3/32-in.-dia. pilot hole through the hardwood flooring; it isn't necessary to hit a joist below.2. Set the Counter-Snap's depth-control fixture over the pilot hole. Drive the screw down until it bottoms out and automatically snaps off.3. Fill the pilot hole with tinted wood putty. Allow it to dry, then lightly sand the spot. You can also use a crayon-type putty stick.
Thanks so much. I ordered them and will try. Cheers.
No problem. Let me know how they work out, I have a few dozen annoying squeaks in this house I should fix, but hasn't reached high enough on my list. . . yet!
Cool link. Kinda of gives you an idea why most Ninja were skinny little squirts who trained manaically until they could move so slowly no one could see or hear them.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
Kimball house,
Nails won't work to stop squeeks!
There is another way and the end results will be worth it but it requires more effort than simply driving a nail in. If you are interested I'll gladly explain it to you.
aww come on! quit teasing us and tell us what you think'll fix the problem
I don't think finish nails will help. How about trim head screws and filling the holes or regular bugel head screws with plugs?
I have used the screws that McFeeleys sells for this situation. You have to but the jig so you can put the screw in to the required depth, then you break it off. This may be the same thing that another responder saw on a This Old House show.
The screws worked pretty well, and in some cases required more than one or two within 6-8 inches to stop the noise. I have only used them where I have had a solid wood or a plywood subfloor to screw in to, I have no idea if they would work with OSB.