Hi I live in a flat where we're aggravated by squeaky flooring upstairs. I have managed to convince the landlord to address the problem however he has asked for my advice on how best to remedy it. The flooring is large sheets of hardboard (?)rather than actual floorboards. Nailing seems the obvious answer but I would welcome any other suggestions? Thanks in anticipation. Missyah
If youre floors are made of sheets of hardboard, youve got more to worry about than squaky floors! try lifting one of the sheets at the corners and see what youve got underneath, probably timber floors
9 times out of ten squeeky floors are due to improper nailing or screwing...just lift floor covering identify where the noise is coming from and nail with ring shank nails or screw the boards into the joist with long enough screws.. if this is not the problem then it may be that edges of the chipboard(if that's what you have) are rubbing against each other..a quick fix for this(pedantic tradesmen turn away now)..is identify where boards are rubbing instead of lifting floor and fixing properly put a line of woodglue along the edge of the board and rub into the crack after this rub in some fine sawdust or talc whatever is handy, leave to dry for a couple of hours before walking on..this should sort you out.
Could be that the joist has cupped! we've got one in our gaff and the effective height of the joist has dropped with out the joist physically dropping (i.e. no damage to the ceiling below). You'd need to pack it out in the case with some thin shims. or put in some meaty screws. But check for any pipes or cables in the floor first.
I've got a horrible vision of your landlord lunging at nails with a very large hammer and little regard for your ceiling. If he goes for nailing, make sure he uses a nailer - you would like to keep your ceiling above you, not joining you in front of the telly. I do, however believe ~StevieB~ has probably hit the nail on the head [so to speak]. I had a similar situation, removed the carpet and walked where the squeak was - low and behold it was a nail which had come loose and the board was rubbing on it. Nail removed and problem solved - NIL COST which your landlord will like.