How to Fix a Creaky Carpeted Floor

Walk over the creaky area. Find the perimeters of the creaking. Border the creaky area with pieces of tape. If you have a room full of creaks, you must remove the furniture to access all the loose joists.

Tap the floor near the tape. Listen for a dull thud that indicates the location of the joist. A hollow sound means there is no joist. Place a joist finding screw into a drill. Drill through the carpeting and subfloor to the joist. If there is a joist, the screw will hit it and sit above the carpeting. If there is no joist, the screw will go all the way through the carpeting without hitting anything.

Set a tripod-shaped alignment tool on top of the carpet where the drill found the loose joist. There are specially made tripod-shaped alignment tools available for fixing loose joists under carpeting. This tool is designed to stop the screw once it has drilled through the joist and leaves the top of the screw above the carpeting. Place the screw through the hole on top of the tripod-shaped alignment device. Screw down to the joist. The screw will stop drilling through the joist and part of the top will sit on top of the carpet.

Remove the alignment tool, and turn it on its side where there is a slotted end. Place the slotted end over the screw. Snap off the top of the screw with the tripod-shaped alignment tool. Throw away the top of the screw.

Measure 16 inches from the first joist to find the next joist. Repeat the steps with the tripod-shaped alignment tool on each joist you find until you reach the tape border. Walk over the entire area to make sure you have eliminated the creaks.