[nwk]

I have an area in one of my rooms, which is carpeted, that always squeaks in the summer months. How can I stop this without having to have the carpet taken up?

[schwim]

If you can get to the underside of that floor, that's the place to resolve the issue, as there are fixtures you can use to lock the subfloor down.

If you can't get to it from the side of the floor joists, then I would suggest cutting small slits in the carpet over the joist, and fastening screws through every 6" or so, in an attempt to lock the subfloor to the joist.

Thanks,
Json

[glavine]

Go to Lowe's and they say... I think its called stop squeak. The way this works is a small headed screw is drove down into the subfloor and into the joist, then the head will snap off below the carpet. The kit cost about 15 to 20 bucks

The squeaks most likely are coming from the sub floor rubing up and down on the nails

[MOWERMAN2468]

Try what glavine suggested. Yes the problem is from beneath. And you should not cut slits in your carpet as schwim suggested. The slits will lead to the carpet becoming unravvelled and looking bad. The item that glavine suggested will not hurt you carpeting.

[schwim]

My process has worked fine multiple times including in my living room, where it has been walked on for 4 years and has outlived the life of the carpet as a whole. Although, it should have been said, I did not intend for you to strap a razor to your right foot and run through your house. However, spreading the nap back and cutting one strand of the backer will allow you to place a screw without pulling the nap onto the shaft of the screw.

The reason for the slit is because of carpet damage. The other suggestion in this thread is telling you to drive a screw as well, although it's a fancier and more expensive screw. When making no attempt to pull back the nap before driving a screw through carpet, it will often earn you a "runner" which is when part of the nap gets twisted into the screw that is being driven.

Cutting one strand of the backer will NOT ruin your carpet. Twisting 7 feet of nap onto a screw WILL.

Hehe.

Thanks,
Json

[harleyds]

As schwim said, spread the carpet fibers apart and cutting a small inch long cut will not damage the carpet. When you do make your cut, make sure you know where your floor joists are. Otherwise, putting a screw in to the floorboard with nothing underneath will not do anything. Try using a stud finder. I'm not sure how well it will work through carpet. You may need to borrow, buy or rent a more advanced one that will work through carpet.

This is the cheaper method. Buy the specialty screws from Lowe's or HD is the more expensive method. Either way will require to be careful and spread the carpet fibers apart. If they get snagged by the screw and start winding around, you will have a mess mess on your hands.

If you have berber carpet, be VERY careful as it can pull the whole strand like someone mentioned above. Regular twisted fiber carpet won't pull like berber, but it can still get tricky if snagged.

Good Luck

[antipode12]

Has anyone heard of spreading baby powder over the offending boards and working them into the crevices? I've *heard* that works.

[schwim]

It's acting like a lubricant(think graphite) and is a very temporary solution if it works at all.

Thanks,
Json