I have carpet in my bedroom that when you walk on certain spots makes lots of noise. I am tossing the carpet and putting down hardwood flooring. I am using 3/4 in prefinished oak in widths of 3 1/4 inch.
I dont want my shiny new floor to be squeaky. What should I do to kill any noise in the current floor, sub floor, and new hardwood floor?
I have joists at 16" on center with 1/2 plywood layer on top and nailed down. This is my current floor after I got rid of the carpet that used to be there.
What do I do now, what steps do I take, what materials/ tools do I need?
EDIT: thanks all, i will 100% use screws and drive them in near each nail already in the plywood to hold things together well. then i will go around and knock each nail in good.
then add the paper and install hardwood on top.
Best Answer
Use screws instead of nails to hold the plywood down. If you can, screw it into the joists, not just the existing floor. You can also put down some glue betwen the plywood & subfloor to prevent the plywood from moving at all. Use tongue-and-groove plywood if possible.
If that doesn't help (and you should be able to do that & check to see if you still have squeaks before putting down the hardwood) you might need to beef up the joists, or add additional bracing, from underneath. Not so hard if the ceiling below is open, a lot of work if it's finished.