TWEAKING THE SQUEAKING

       Fixing a squeaky floor is a little like playing a game of rock-paper-scissors.Finding the right remedy can be a guessing game which is why so many squeaks are left to linger.
       There are several different causes of squeaks, said Tim Carter, a columnist and the founder of askthebuilder.com, a homeimprovement website. You have to try to locate the problem by trial and error and use the easiest fixes first.
       One type of squeak is caused when the subfloor - the material beneath the flooring or carpeting - moves up and down. As you walk across the floor, your body weight pushes the subfloor down, Mr Carter said. The squeak comes from the subfloor moving on the nail.
       Floors can also make a noise if the floorboards were not properly nailed and, as a result, rub against each other.
       A third cause, Mr Carter said, is improper installation of the cross bracing - the oneby-threes positioned beneath the subfloor in an X-pattern between the joists to keep them from twisting. One brace in each X is supposed to be slightly higher than the other,leaving a small amount of space between the two braces. If the bracing was installed incorrectly, he said, the braces can rub against one another and make a squeak.
       If the bottom of the subfloor is accessible,you can see if the cross braces are touching.The braces can then be sanded or chiselled,Mr Carter said.
       A device called Squeak-Relief (US$18 or 614 baht at squeakyfloor.com) can help keep a subfloor from rubbing against a nail. Jim Riesberg, who owns the Accuset Tool Company of Troy, Michigan, which manufactures the device, said it was designed with do-ityourselfers in mind.
       Squeak-Relief is an aluminium brace that holds the subfloor tightly to the joist by fitting into the 90-degree space formed by the subfloor and the joist on which it rests. A set pin is hammered into the joist through a pre-drilled hole in the brace. A screw is then drilled through another hole and into the subfloor at a 30-degree angle. Then a longer screw is drilled up through a third hole and the joist and into the subfloor.
       Since the pin and the screws will only fit the holes they're supposed to go in, its idiotproof, Mr Riesberg said.
       If the floor's underside is not accessible if there is no basement or the cross bracings are covered by the ceiling of the room below - the guessing game begins.
       The easiest remedy is to shoot finish nails through the floor and into the subfloor - or,for an even stronger hold, to use screws with small heads.
       Varouj Nersesian, the owner of the Floor Sanders Company in Boston, said that in either case, the nails or screws should be driven just below the floor surface and the holes concealed with a filler in a colour that matches the floor. The whole floor could then be sanded and refinished, but if you're not too fussy, you can just sand and refinish the holes, Mr Nersesian said.
       For floors covered by wall-to-wall carpeting,a kit called Squeeeeek No More ($19.95 at squeaknomore.com) allows screws to be used without removing the carpet. The kit, sold by OBerry Enterprises, a tool company in Ringwood, Illinois, includes 50 thin screws,a drill bit and a screw with special threading to detect when contact is made with a joist (other joists can then be located because they are spaced 40cm apart).
       The screws are drilled through the carpet,into the floor and down into the joist. Their heads are designed to be broken off with a tool that comes with the kit, leaving the threaded section of the screw in place below the floor surface. Because the screws are thin, the repair is usually invisible (or the carpet fibres can be fluffed to hide them).
       If, after all this, a floor with an inaccessible underside is still squeaking, it probably means that the cross braces are touching. Tearing the floor apart to get to the source is, of course, an option. But Mr Carter offered different advice: get over it, he said. Live with the squeak.