I am in no way a professional in the area of home repairs.  I have been learning by doing for over ten years, mainly with friends or a professional (self-proclaimed or actual) and have walked away with lots of information.  Now that I bought my own home I can put this information to the test.  I am a DIY-er so that I can save money and enjoy a sense of pride that comes with doing something yourself.  

I am going to talk about one specialty tool that I came across called the Squeeeak-No-More.  I am not sure of the count on e’s since everywhere I look it is different.  I own an 80+ year home with a lot of squeaking floorboards, stairs, etc.  My house has original hardwood floors with some rooms carpeted and several layers of linoleum in the kitchen.  

I knew what needed to be done about the squeaking but was not sure how to approach it.  I knew nailing would be easy if I could find the floor joists (the wood that supports the floor) but on the second floor that would be difficult since the joists are not exposed like the first floor’s joists in the basement.  I could use screws but I do not want the screw head showing or try to use something to cut the top off and leave jagged metal in the floor or saw marks on the floor.

This tool is quite simple despite the name.  It comes with what you see above and uses screws that are specially scored to snap just below the top of the floor.  The kit comes with 50-100 screws and more can be purchased in 50-100 count packages. First you must find out if your floor has sub-flooring or find the joist.  Look in the basement rafters and measure from the wall.  Then you set up your “Squeak No More” tripod on the floor over the joist (or anywhere if you have a sub-floor) then, using the specially designed drill bit, drill the special screw into the floor.  The drill bit has a stopper on it to stop the screw from going down to far.  Be careful, the tripod is made of a resin that may snap if you drive in to far.  Use a 12-18V cordless drill to prevent that.  Once the screw is stopped, the tripod has a special slot to put onto the screw head to snap it off.  You may need to repeat on the same area if the flooring is slightly warped, causing the other side to come up, but then this should stop it. 

This tool works on carpeting, hardwood, and linoleum.  Just remember not to snag the carpet pile and to fill the small hole with a similar color wood putty or caulk with the hardwood or linoleum if you prefer.  The carpet applications should be fine on its own.

Ace Hardware is currently the only local store to carry this product, in the screw section, but it is offered at several online stores.

Good luck!