Home repair advice?

[Richard K]

Got a spot in the master bedroom where the floor sqeaks and drives my wife nuts (and she's driving me nuts over it. Of course the basement is finished below it. Looking down the chase for the heating duct from the mechanical room, I see where they missed the joist when they nailed the sub-floor down but I can't get to it. Is there a reasonably priced stud finder that will detect the joist through and beneath the carpet, padding and sub-floor?
If so, I can run screws down from the top though the carpet. Any experts out there?

Thanks,

[ronaldrwl]

Dumb question but have you tried a regular stud finder? I have one if you are in the area.

[Richard K]

Dumb question but have you tried a regular stud finder? I have one if you are in the are.
Yeah, I tried two different ones and niether is sensitive enough (or powerful enough) to go through the carptet, padding and plywood sub-floor.
Thanks for the offer.

[Marlin]

Hmmm, most of those have just enough oomph to go through one sheet of drywall. Hell, I don't even trust 'em to do that good.

Even screws through carpet can be tricky, 9 out 10 times you'll catch a thread and end up with a line in the carpet.

What type of finish is on the ceiling in the basement? Could always cut a hole and do it from below and refinish..

[Richard K]

Hmmm, most of those have just enough oomph to go through one sheet of drywall. Hell, I don't even trust 'em to do that good.

Even screws through carpet can be tricky, 9 out 10 times you'll catch a thread and end up with a line in the carpet.

What type of finish is on the ceiling in the basement? Could always cut a hole and do it from below and refinish..

The spot I'd need to get to is over the downstairs bathroom which has a drywall ceiling with knockdown texture. If I can't cure it from above she'll just have to keep whinning about it LOL.

[vim]

I saw this on This Old House or some similar show.

If you know the direction of the joists, that will help.
You can use a stud finder or measure out from the wall and experiment till you find one, then use a tape to find the rest.
If you do that at both ends of the room, you can run strings between them along the joist lines.

There's a specialized screw that you can drive in and then snap off below the carpet.

Hope that helps a little.

ETA: right here (http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,203171,00.html)

[StagLefty]

^ This.

[Marlin]

Quick and dirty, may not last forever. But, if the spot that you could look at it through is big enough and the joist is close enough. Get some Great Stuff triple expanding foam, and try and shoot it between the joist and the floor.

I have another but, it's a little hard to explain...

[Irving]

Got a spot in the master bedroom where the floor sqeaks and drives my wife nuts (and she's driving me nuts over it.) Of course the basement is finished below it. Looking down the chase for the heating duct from the mechanical room, I see where they missed the joist when they nailed the sub-floor down but I can't get to it. Is there a reasonably priced stud finder that will detect the joist through and beneath the carpet, padding and sub-floor?
If so, I can run screws down from the top though the carpet. Any experts out there?

Thanks,

Translation: My wife has been complaining about the floor squeak, so I suggested that if she loses some weight, the floor won't squeak when she steps on it. Now I have a black eye and took Friday off. Can you guys help me fix this over a three day weekend?

That was the way a similar exchange went with my grandparents anyway.

lol

[scratchy]

I'm kind of anal about squeaky floors. I have refinished all of the 2nd story rooms in this house. In the process, every nail holding subfloor down was replaced with a deck screw. A PITA for sure but the floors don't squeak.

A regular black and decker stud finder should be able to do the job. You can probably pull the carpet up and sink a screw in, then replace the carpet. In my experiance, it's always better to take the time to do it right over taking the time to do it again.

[Richard K]

I saw this on This Old House or some similar show.

If you know the direction of the joists, that will help.
You can use a stud finder or measure out from the wall and experiment till you find one, then use a tape to find the rest.
If you do that at both ends of the room, you can run strings between them along the joist lines.

There's a specialized screw that you can drive in and then snap off below the carpet.

Hope that helps a little.

ETA: right here (http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,203171,00.html)

Thanks very much for the link! I found one at Ace Hardware, rushed out and got it.