Carpet Squeak Floor Repair Tip

Squeaks in the wood or plywood subfloor under carpeting can be very annoying, but they’re usually not that hard to fix.

To stop floor squeaks under carpeting:

1. Locate the squeak.
2. Separate the carpet fibers above the squeak.
3. Drive a trim head screw through the carpet and into the subfloor.
4. Fluff the carpet fibers up over the screw.

While it’s best to drive the screw into a floor joist, it will often stop the squeak even if it only goes into the subfloor. Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

• Stopping Squeaks Under Carpet (video)

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Joe Truini: Squeaky floors can be annoying and difficult to repair, especially if you don’t have access below the floor. In this case, we’re on a second floor bedroom that’s carpeted, so we can’t get below to fix the squeak.

So we’re going to do it from above using a trim head screw. Trim head screw is simply a really narrow wood screw that has a very tiny head that you can drive through the carpeting and into the subfloor.

So the first thing you need to do, locate the squeak and then separate the fibers of the carpet, so that they don’t get wound up around the screw shaft. Then push the screw down tightly to the floor, and then simply a matter of driving it in. You know, drive it all the way down through the carpeting and into the subfloor.

Because it has a nice small head, it goes all the way down, and you’ll never see it. Well, there you go. Now, it’s best to drive that screw right into a joist, then it really holds tight. But even when you don’t, you just go through the subfloor, this will solve the squeaks almost every time.