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Aaaaaaaargh!!!!!
I've just spent the half term week decorating our bedroom before the new carpet went in yesterday. Given the house has been replumbed and rewired during our ownership, I was well aware of which floorboards were loose or creaking, so I spent a considerable amount of time replacing the tiny offcuts that the sparky had put back and making sure everything was screwed down tight. Tested the whole floor and the wife signed it off, so for a moment, I was happy.
The carpet went in yesterday. I got home from work in the knowledge that my evening would be focussed on rebuilding the wardrobes. No hint of anything undue until.......
As soon as I'd refitted the wardrobes, I stepped back and heard it. A creak. Exactly where it was before I'd stripped the bedroom out. How? How does fitting a carpet or siting a wardrobe reintroduce the bloody noise? It's right at the end of the bed and gets stepped on every time the wife walks around the bed or either of us go to get clothes out.
More importantly, can a creaky floorboard be solved without lifting the carpet? And no, I don't just want to smash more screws or nails in.
Help....
You probably have the weight of the wardrobe bearing on the squeaky board, possibly cantilevering it higher where it squeaks.
Move the wardobe?
WD-40 poured all over the carpet around the creak should fix it 🤔😉. Ianacf.
Have you tried smashing more screws or nails into it?
You probably have the weight of the wardrobe bearing on the squeaky board, possibly cantilevering it higher where it squeaks.
This.
More importantly, can a creaky floorboard be solved without lifting the carpet? And no, I don’t just want to smash more screws or nails in.
Earplugs?
Thoughts and prayers?
A shim under each corner of the wardrobe?
I'd heard that talcum powder between the joints before you put the carpet down can help. Is the carpet dow.. Ahh...
Time for a new house.
The floorboards run parallel to the wardrobe but it could be weight on the joists.
The other oddity is the airing cupboard door now creaks as you enter the room, again, this must be the joists flexing. That's easy enough to fix with a plane and a bit of sandpaper though.
So dump some WD40 on the carpet then smash nails in it is. Or do I do it the other way round?
Burn the house to the ground, it’s the only way to be sure.
WD-40 poured all over the carpet around the creak should fix it 🤔😉. Ianacf.
Nah mate, Sudocrem
Exorcism? Right night for it.
The other oddity is the airing cupboard door now creaks as you enter the room, again, this must be the joists flexing.
If a door creaks it is because it is moving, adjust the keep so that it can't move when closed.
Your joists won't be flexing but your floorboards might be. A common cause of noise is the floorboard moving up and down but the nail, which is supposed to hold it down, isn't.
It is unlikely to happen if screwed down. Just lift the carpet and underlay, identify the moving floorboard, and screw down.
If you screw the screw a few millimetres from a nail you are very unlikely to hit a cable so no need to lift the board up to check.
If a door creaks it is because it is moving, adjust the keep so that it can’t move when closed.
Remove the keep altogether so that the door opens easily; that way as one door closes another one opens. It might still creak though
Bang a nail into where it squeaks. With luck you'll hit a water pipe and then the whole lot will have to come up.
I actually quite like creaky floorboards. Its my early warning system from imminent bundling by the kids