How to Fix Creaking Carpeted Floors

Pulling Up the Carpet

• 1

  Press a pry bar between the carpet and the wall in one corner of the room. Loosen the carpeting from the strips. Pull up on the carpeting. Roll the carpet as you remove it from the strips.

• 2

  Use needlenose pliers to remove staples holding the carpet padding to the floor. Roll up the padding.

• 3

  Walk over the creaking area. Place tape around the perimeter of the area that creaks. Typically, there are two rows of nails that give you an idea where the joists are located. Joists are spaced 16 inches apart. Once you locate the site of the creaking joist, drill a 1 1/2-inch pilot hole at a 45-degree angle using a drill bit slightly larger than a shank.

• 4

  Drill a screw through the pilot hole that reaches 2 1/2 inches deep through the subfloor and flooring to the joists. Drill another screw at a 45-degree angle on the other side of the joist in the same fashion. Move on to the next creaking joist.

• 5

  Lay the carpet padding back down on the flooring. Staple the carpet padding every 6 inches. Unroll the carpeting. Use a knee kicker to attach the carpeting to the tackless strips in one corner of the room and along the adjacent wall. Place a carpet stretcher on the other side of the room and attach the carpeting every 18 inches.

Drilling Through the Carpet

• 6

  Walk around the room to find the creaking area. Place tape on the creaking parts of the room. If it is the entire room, remove furniture.

• 7

  Use a hammer to tap against the floor to find a joist. A hollow sound indicates no joist, while a thud indicates the joist's location.

• 8

  Drill through the carpeting into the joist with a joist-finding screw. If the drill doesn't hit anything, move on to another location in the creaking area.

• 9

  Place a triangular alignment tool on top of the carpet where the joist is located. Place a screw designed for fixing joists under the carpeting through the hole on top of the triangular alignment tool.

• 10

  Drill the screw through the hole until it stops. The top of the screw should stick up above the carpeting. Lift up the triangular alignment tool. Use the notch side of the triangular alignment tool to cut through the screw, making it flush with the bottom of the carpeting. Throw away the top portion of the screw and move on to the next loose joist.