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I am not talking about laminate planks, but actual subfloor sections. My entire room consists of tongue-and-groove boards. I was under the impression that the point of this was so you didn't have to fasten them to joists with nails or screws, but all of mine are nailed in. Pulling up the nails is not a problem, but being able to lift up a section of floor without damaging the tongue (which I have done prior to figuring this out the hard way).

Are the tongues necessary? Can I just take my circular saw right between the boards, cut them way, and then screw them back down afterward?

I am doing remodeling and think I have a squeaky joist. I want to tend to it before putting an underlayment over it. If someone can tell me how to secure a potentially squeaky joist through the top of the subfloor and not from below then I will change the title of this question and mark you as the answer.

oscilatingcretin
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  • Possible duplicate - http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/9478/how-can-i-remove-a-plank-from-the-middle-of-the-field – ChrisF Nov 04 '11 at 16:54
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    @ChrisF : maybe by the title, but the last paragraph makes me think it's an XY problem (asking a question that they think will solve the problem, but they should be asking about the problem itself). I'd instead look at : http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/8047/ ; http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/392/ ; or even though it's about new construction, some of the answers apply in http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/4323/ – Joe Nov 04 '11 at 17:23
  • @Joe - that's why I didn't close immediately - I wanted some feedback first. – ChrisF Nov 04 '11 at 17:25
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    And now that I look at it -- as it's subfloor tongue & groove, you might be able to just screw it right down to the joists then put your new floor over top, as you won't have the issues with hiding screw heads. – Joe Nov 04 '11 at 17:26
  • @Joe: Those answers all appear to be due to squeaks caused by loose subfloor sliding up and down nails. What I am talking about is squeaky joists. You can screw down every subfloor in the room, but, if the joist itself is the problem, you will not fix the issue. – oscilatingcretin Nov 04 '11 at 17:43
  • I think @Joe is right calling it a dup of http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/8047/how-do-you-stop-the-floor-from-squeaking. Cutting away the T&G creates another surface where wood can rub and cause squeaks, plus the T&G give you strength in joints perpendicular to the joists. – BMitch Nov 04 '11 at 17:44
  • @BMitch: I checked your link and the others. They all address securing subfloor boards to joists. I suspect that the problem is in the joist itself. Therefore, I seek a way to secure the joist through the subfloor without getting at it from underneath. If that is not an option then I need to know the proper way to remove tongue-and-groove floorboards. – oscilatingcretin Nov 04 '11 at 17:48
  • @oscilatingcretin, in that case, you're back to the first link ChrisF mentions. – BMitch Nov 04 '11 at 17:53
  • I am not seeing how, especially since I said "I am not talking about laminate planks" and ChrisF's link points directly to a question that is about none other than planks. His link does not address my question because cutting through the tongue of a finished surface like hardwood or laminate planks is a different story than cutting through the tongue of subfloor that would exist below such planks. It appears to me that my initial question remains valid. – oscilatingcretin Nov 04 '11 at 18:11
  • What makes you think that its the joist itself that's squeaking? That would be an extremely unusual condition. – The Evil Greebo Nov 04 '11 at 19:01
  • I suspect a squeaky joist because I have put a fastener by every single nail even if I see no subfloor movement by the nail. It's only along one joist and I hear the creak even when I apply pressure on another floor board. – oscilatingcretin Nov 04 '11 at 19:13
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    How about asking the question you want answered? I think in this case it is "How can I fix a squeaky joist without damaging too much of my flooring?"? – Alex Feinman Nov 04 '11 at 20:03

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Are the tongues necessary? Can I just take my circular saw right between the boards, cut them way, and then screw them back down afterward?

You've been misinformed. The point of tongue-in-groove planking is to keep the floor boards from twisting, slipping and sliding against each other and squeaking (or squeaking more in your case). You still need to secure a tongue-in-groove floor to the subfloor or joists.

Joists almost never squeak on their own. Squeaking comes from two pieces of wood rubbing against each other - usually because a floor hasn't been adequately secured.

Now if you DO need to cut away the flooring, then you should cut along the seams, and then buy Hardwood Floor Spline and rout out the old tongue so you end up with two grooves facing each other, and use the spline to rejoin the flooring when you reattach it.

But BEFORE you do that, I'd get a bunch of 2" coated screws and drop them through the subfloor into the joists below and see if that fixes the squeak. It's subfloor so you don't care about the face, and if it doesn't work, they're easily removed.

*Tip - use a hammerdrill when putting in the screws

The Evil Greebo
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  • +1 for bringing up wood and wood causing squeaks, something I hadn't thought about. I was only considering wood against nail. I will inspect better with wood/wood under consideration when I get home. I've screwed that floorboard down so tight, though, that I have no idea how anything could be moving. – oscilatingcretin Nov 04 '11 at 19:15
  • I think I am going to be going the spline route this weekend. I can straddle the joist in question and rock to the left and right and the entire floorboard moves up and down. I actually put a laser light pointer right on the joist and pointed it at the wall perpendicular to it and the pointer moved up and down about 1/4 inch. I think this tells me that there could be something wrong with one of the joists on either side of the center joist. Any pointers or am I just going to have to play this one out on my own? – oscilatingcretin Nov 10 '11 at 13:43
  • What are the joist dimensions and how long is the span the joist is covering? Do the other joists also move? Best solution here might be sistering another joist in - but that's by no means an easy task when you're working from above and are trying to protect the floor. – The Evil Greebo Nov 10 '11 at 14:43
  • Thanks for posting this solution, first thing I found from google and exactly what I needed to read before heading to the lumber yard today. – Brian Garson Jun 18 '12 at 14:38