So when we're finished creating this playroom or whatever we call it, we're going to and end up with a room that is 30 feet across and about 12 feet in width.
And you know plenty big, for a couple kids, for a playroom.
But, one are the problems with old houses.
We can hear it right here.
Is it they often have squeeky floors.
So our floor maven Howard Brickman is with us today, to give us a few tips on how you figure out a solution to the squeaky floors.
Hi, how are you?
Hi, Bob.
You are pinching the wood with a moisture meter, right?
Yes, the first thing we do on any job is we check moisture conditions to see if everything is within the normal range.
Now what role does moisture play in making a floor squeak?
Well, changes in moisture content cause wood to shrink and swell.
And so, when wood shrinks, it moves apart and it also makes fasteners loose.
And so it will contribute much to movement and shrinkage and squeaking that occurs as the fasteners and the boards move against each other when weight is placed on them.
Sure, sure.
OK, well this is.
Good opportunity to look at the elements of the construction here.
You're standing right over the cross bracing.
Correct.
Cross spacing or bridging.
The bridging is basically there to tighten up floor joists.
It's to keep them from swinging back and forth as a load is placed on them.
It makes a floor a little stiffer.
Right and then, the houses today are built with plywood as a subfloor.
This is an 85-88 year old house, so we've got regular spruce boards running across.
I can't tell what the species is, but it looks like one by ten boards placed perpendicular to the joice.
Its pretty common up until the 1950's.
In terms of plywood, and whether they laid like this perpendicular and angled, is one better than the other?
Generally speaking on the 45 or on the bias angle, it is superior because it gives a little more racking power or eliminates racking and movements.
Yes.
Makes for a very sturdy floor.
And OK, so then we've looked at joists, we've looked at cross bracing, and we've got sub-flooring on top of this, we're in the kitchen area, so it's an old maple floor, I think.
But whenever the home owners walk in this area, if you're down here, you know they're in there.
Yeah, it's a pretty noisy floor.
Listen.
All right, so that pokes two pins into the wood, and you just hold it there for a second, and then I'll give you a reading on the moisture, right?
Correct.
Can you get it there?
What's it say?
It says 14%.
That's a little higher than it should be, but it's a very rainy day today.
Right.
OK, but anyway, we know there's squeaking going on there, so what's the first thing to try to do to fix it?
Well, we tried to determine where the squeaking is occurring.
Right.
Is it between the sub-floor and the top of the joists, or is it between the wood floor and the top of the sub-floor?
Yes.
OK, we got two layers of board so it could be between the two layers Of boards.
Or it could be between the bottom of that, the bottom layer board and the joists.
Correct
What do you think?
From the noise you were just hearing.
By the timbre of the noise, it's a kind of a low moaning sound.
So it tends to be more of this, of a wood floor, sub floor noise.
Whereas, the noise that you would get between the top of the joist and the sub-floor is generally a nail being rubbed.
So that's got a higher pitch to it.
Right.
A lot sharper noise.
OK.
So what's an easy fix?
For , for, for this sub flooor noise we've got, we're going to try and suck the wood floor down tight against the sub floor.
So your going to drive some screws right through the face of the subfloor into the finished floor up above.
How many do you put per board?
I'd say about four per square foot.
Alright.
So that'd be four across.
Alright so, this could work for that problem, but what about if the problem exists between the top of the rejoice and the sub floor?
How do you tackle that.
One approach Bob, would be to take a piece of two by four blocking and fasten to the what, two and a half inch screws?
Yes, three inch, these are actually three inch screws.
Now OK, so that's one more solution.
What about stuff like shim shingles or even, you know, construction at ease.
Can that be of help?
I, really is helpful Bob, if there is a space between the top of the rejoice and the bottom of the sub-sole.
We would butter up the end of the shingle with construction adhesive and slide it between the top of the joist until it's tight and hammered in place.
Then, when the construction adhesive solidifies, It will take the stress out.
Sure.
Thanks Howie.
So Howard, I was going to ask you what you could do with an old concrete floor like this, to make it more waterproof, but it looks like you're just making it wet.
Well we're using water to make the material we're going to be putting on it more absorbent , and it's a sodium silicate with enzymes in it so that it penetrates into the concrete, and seals up the interstitial spaces in between the concrete.
Sounds like a very scientific approach.
So it just makes it denser so that moisture can't wick up.
As much as possible, yes.
And what do you call it again?
It's a product called Bone Dry and it's a sodium silicate.
Sodium silicate.
Thanks Howard for all the great solutions we're out of time.
Till next time, I'm Bob Vila.
Thanks for watching.
