Silencing Squeaky Floors

Story #15

One benefit of remodeling our whole house is that we can rebuild it to our top-notch quality standards. We moved nearly every wall on the main level and are replacing all of the flooring. With an unfinished basement ceiling below, we took the opportunity to eliminate all the squeaks on the main level before installing new floors.

Compare the sounds of the nails in this short video of Mim removing them from the subfloor. You can hear which ones were causing the floor to squeak. It was so satisfying to find and remove those squeaky stinkers!

We worked as a team of detectives to find and eliminate all the squeaky spots on our subfloors before the new engineered hardwood and tiles were installed. Josh popped up the row of nails on the left by hitting them back out of the floorboards from the basement ceiling below. Then, Mim pulled up all the nails with a prybar and discarded them, like the row of scattered nails on the right.

Look up! Before the basement ceiling was drywalled, we could see rows of nails (outlined in yellow in this picture) poking down through the subfloor in between the floor joists, instead of securing into the joists.

THINGS WE LEARNED

We both assumed that squeaky floors were caused by the wood creaking, but we discovered that the sound is caused by tiny movements of any nails that go through the subfloor but not into the floor joists below. Next time, we will remove these nails much earlier in the project. We planned to address the squeaky floors before the new floors were installed on the main level and the basement ceiling was drywalled, so we had access to the subfloor and floor joists. However, new ducting, plumbing, and electrical lines were installed already and sometimes blocked access to the nails. Now we will consider this step as part of the demolition stage of home remodel projects.

← First, the Money. Then, the Rest… Digging into Egress Windows & Legal Basement Bedrooms →

OTHER STORIES

Revealing Hidden Costs of Remodeling

We accounted for the big-ticket items, like countertops and subcontractors, but it also felt like we were always adding things to our rehab budget. Little changes can add up quickly!

Reuse As Much As Possible When Remodeling

To protect the environment & our budget, we reused many of the original materials in our first house even though we completely remodeled it.

Homebuyers, Look for These Clues to Potential Costly Repairs

Homebuyers, you don’t need any construction knowledge to spot these clues to potential, costly repairs.

What the Heck are Floating Floors?

Our flooring services are only for snap-together products that can be installed as a floating floor. We explain what that means and why we chose it for our first home.

What the Heck are Floating Walls?

Building codes in Colorado require floating basement walls, but you don’t need magic to make that happen.

Some Things Didn’t Go Smoothly

Even though we regularly work with other contractors on clients’ projects, we still had issues with some of the new-to-us contractors & vendors we used to remodel our first home.

The Best-Laid Plans…

If you expect your plans to change, you may be able to roll with the design changes without freaking out.

When a Wall Has Got to Go

You don’t have to live with a wall you hate! See what a HUGE improvement we made by removing walls in our main living area.

Moving the Stairs Maximized Our Space

We knew the first time we saw the house that we wanted to move the stairs, but it took longer to come up with the best new spot for them.

Digging into Egress Windows & Legal Basement Bedrooms

With “Basements” in our company name and window installation as an expertise, we are asked to add egress windows a lot. Let’s dig into what an egress window is and why it matters.