Squeaking floors

[Bobbi]

We have just purchased a 1974 home, double wide. The floor in one of the bedrooms squeaks when walked on.

Should I worry about this? What causes it?

Thanks for helping.

[Tom]

Its a fairly common occurance in MH's. Unless he floor is spongy or weak in areas and unless you want to invest in fixing it, dont worry about it. It can be a symptom of the home being out of level. But, you would also be seeing other problems, like windows and doors sticking or not fitting correctly. Tom

[Billy Smith]

Squeking floors means that some of the sub-flooring material is lifting from the floor joists beneath the sub-floors. Simply locate the joist nearest the squeaks (The joists should be 16" on center from the rear of the mobile home all the way to the front.) and run 2 or 3 screws (1 1/2" wood screws) down through your carpet to the sub-flooring. This should tighten the flooring, eliminating your squeaks.

[John W Daugherty]

Sometimes it may mean that the subflooring material is weakened, if there is no sign or water damage, then usually a simple screw technique will work. Yesterday, I had a similiar problem, the subflooring had begun first making a squeeking noise about a year ago, yestesday, it had started showing signs of flooring fatigue, I replaced it with a 3/4" subflooring material and supporting reinforcing 2x4's. Now its solid again. No squeeks, and no floor give. It was lots of fun doing it, it took about an hour and $15 worth of materials.

John El Sueno
in Albuquerque, NM