Easy Process Of Locating Floor Joists Under Carpet
First of all, you must be well aware of joists, what they actually are? The wooden beams that give assistance to a subfloor are usually known as joists. Exactly like you need to find a wall stud before you can fix anything to a wall, in the same way, you need to find the floor joists before you can do any structural work on the floor, which may include fixing a squeak or dip. Carpeting will make it, to a small degree, harder to locate floor studs than it might otherwise be, however, you don't need to worry at all, as the job still doesn't need any special tools or too much time.
- Firstly, you need to take and keep a firm hold of the edge of the carpet in a corner of the room with the help of pliers. Remove the outer covering or skin from the carpet up and back in order to release it from the tack strip holding it down.
- Now, drawback or pull out the corner of the carpet padding with the help of pliers. Take a look at the subfloor and locate or discover a row of nails, which are fixed to a joist. The nails will help you know where the first joist is and which direction it runs.
- Next, look for the second row of nails that are usually running parallel to the first row. If you are not able to see it, remove the carpet and padding back further as long as you find the nails. They manifest you where the second joist is located.
- Calculate & evaluate the distance betwixt the two rows of nails with the help of a measuring tape. Joists are spaced evenly from one side of the room to the other side, so the distance betwixt the two rows of nails is the distance from the middle of each joist to the middle of its neighbor. Joists are generally spaced 16 inches apart, however, the distance can vary, particularly, in very old homes, from 12 inches to nearly 20 inches.
- Set the carpet padding back in place before rolling the carpet edge back over it. Press the edge back underneath the baseboard with the help of a putty knife.
- Finally, find the joist that you are looking for by using the measurement you took. For instance, if the distance betwixt the first two joists is 16 inches, calculate & evaluate from one side of the room to the other side in 16-inch increments as long as you reach the area where you need to locate a joist.