Creaking floorboards under new carpet: what to do?

avuncular

Had new carpets fitted in our new home and now realise some floorboards are creaky so should've been sorted before carpet laying.

Do I need to hire another carpet fitter to take up an area of the carpet & underlay in order to get to the boards and screw them down (assuming that's what's needed)?

Or is it safe and straightforward to do this myself? More concerned about getting carpets back on neatly/tightly without proper carpet tools.

Gastines3

Old problem.Often came across this and used to advise homeowners to get boards fixed before I fitted carpet/flooring.Offered the service of doing it but at homeowners risk. Plenty of problems when Microbore piping was the rage as plumbers would often just cut a notch in TOP of joists and bend it in all directions.If you are going to screw the boards down recommend you lift them first to see what's underneath.Pipes/Wires/Cables.

tacpot12

Get a carpet fitter to unhook the carpet and come back to refit it when you've sorted the floor boards. It won't take them more than 10 minutes per room to unhook it, so they can do it at the end of a day's work.

Sicard

If you're going to use hammer and nails be careful or you'll have to call out the plumber as I did many moons ago.

Chanes

It's been said so you are advised - check what is underneath the board before screwing it or nailing it, a burst can be avoided!

tonyh66

you get some bad advice on here, you will pay throught the nose for a carpet fitter to come out and unhook the carpets, even if you can find one that will do it.
you need to lift the carpets find where the nails are in the floor (this is where the boards are nailed to the joists), drill a hole through the board (but not into the joist) in line with the nails, then use a screw which fits the hole easily. You then fasten the board to the joist with the screw.
Creaking is normally caused by the board being loose on the nails.
If you have microbore piping then you need to make sure there is none where you put the screws.

shaun_from_Africa

tonyh66 wrote: »

you need to lift the carpets find where the nails are in the floor (this is where the boards are nailed to the joists), drill a hole through the board (but not into the joist) in line with the nails, then use a screw which fits the hole easily. You then fasten the board to the joist with the screw

And what happens if someone has cut a notch in one of the joists and there is a heating pipe running through it right below where the OP decides to screw down the floorboard?

You are correct in one thing you stated and that is that you do get some bad advice on here, your "advice" being a prime example.

tonyh66

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

And what happens if someone has cut a notch in one of the joists and there is a heating pipe running through it right below where the OP decides to screw down the floorboard?

You are correct in one thing you stated and that is that you do get some bad advice on here, your "advice" being a prime example.

try reading the last sentence of my post smarta**e from africa.

Le_Kirk

If you take out the existing nail and use a screw instead IN THE SAME PLACE, it is unlikely you will hit anything, pipe or cable (unless of course you use very long screws!) Use countersink head screws and countersink the floorboard to make sure the screw head is below the level of the floorboard. Sometimes creaking is due to one board rubbing against an adjacent board. I find a little talcum powder works wonders ............. and it's also stops the squeaking!

JJ_Egan

As above never had a problem sticking a screw in to replace the nail .Just pull out an old nail and you will see the length .

missbiggles1

Presumably you weren't bothered by the creaking before the carpets were laid so you could just carry on living with it.