O'Berry Counter Snap Kit for Wood Floors - Squeeeek No More

Our house is old. I mean, 160 years old, old. Due to the shifting and age of the house/floors, there were several areas of the original wood floors that were almost violently loud when you would step on them. The most annoying of these was near the threshold of our kitchen and living room. At some point over the last century, someone finished the basement and used concrete board on the ceiling... so trying to address the squeaks from below was out. I was nervous about this product, because this squeak is a VERY conspicuous area, that everyone who comes into the house would be able to see if it didn't turn out well. It turned out to work INCREDIBLY well. I've outlined the steps and tips that I uncovered over the course of using all 50 of these screws throughout our house:Step 1: Isolate the squeak and find the joist. This was the most important part. I highly, highly recommend using a stud finder. if you try to guess or use the "knock on the floor method" there's a good chance you're going to have a bad time. I purchased a $9 magnetic stud finder (not battery powered - essentially this finds nails in the floor/walls) and it worked flawlessly.Step 2: Drill the pilot hole using the small hole on the narrow end of the plastic guide. This kept the drill from denting the wood. While the box recommends using a 1/8" drill bit, I found that I was having quite a few screws not "break" when they were supposed to, and just spin. This could very well be the composition of my floors, but I had much better success when I went down a size (7/64"). Every one snapped like it was supposed to after that, and I didn't end up with a single crack.Step 3: Drill in the screw using the provided plastic guide until it snaps. If it doesn't "snap" when it bottoms out, just back it out, save the screw, and try a different one. This only happened maybe 1 out of 10 times before I switched to a smaller pilot hole.Step 4: Use a wood filler or fill stick to cover the small hole. Personally, I used a Varathane wood fill stick and loved it. If you used a wood filler, wait for it to dry, sand lightly (or as necessary), and stain/paint as needed.And that was it! After the first few, I was able to complete this process on each squeak in about 3 minutes. I've included a picture of the process as well, in case something doesn't make sense. Needless to say, I'm amazed at this product, and highly recommend it if you need to get rid of those annoying squeaky floors!

After searching a lot about solutions for my squeaky hardwood floor, this seemed to be the best option.I now understand why some people say it works beautifully and others complain that it doesn't work: these screws fix ONLY the hardwood floor to the sub-floor and NOT the sub-floor to the studs. Check the A- and B-Style screws on their webpage: http://www.squeakyfloor.com/counter-snap/ (the FAQs are also very informative).In my case, it was easy to identify if this was a problem of floor/sub-floor or sub-floor/studs: The former were very localized squeaks and I could see the wood block moving slightly when pressing; the latter was a broader area that moved when stepping on it (even the sound is different).I was able to remove all the floor/sub-floor squeaks with only 1 screw per wood block. I now need to buy the A-style screws to solve the other squeaks.I hope this was helpful and let me know if you think I got this wrong. Thanks!

This product stopped the squeak in my hardwood floor HOWEVER I agree with the other reviewer that the instructions could use improvement. The instructions state that you should drill 1/8" holes. I did this. In fact, I did this about 20 times both into studs and into the subfloor between the studs. There was little to no reduction in the squeak and several of the screws just spun without breaking off. I then recalled the review that recommended using a smaller drill bit (7/64). I actually used a 3/32" and, with just two screws, the squeak was completely gone. Bonus: the screw holes are smaller. Now I have 22 screw holes to fill but at least the floor doesn't squeak. Oh, and the two smaller holes weren't even in studs - just through the subfloor.

Would not recommend this product. Some of the screws did work, but you have to be very careful not to torque too hard. I had several of them break off before they countersunk into the floor and I literally had to "dig" them out of the floor by drilling around them until I could get a good grip on them with vice grips, which just caused more work and left unnecessary marks in my floor even though I filled with wood putty. Some of the screws did stop a few squeaks, while others seem to have no effect. This kit is just too unreliable.I ended up getting more results using 2 methods: (1) Liquid Nails underneath the floor, gluing joists to subfloor, using shims also in some placed, and letting that sit for 24 hours. (2) From above, I used a "drill and fill" method I found on Youtube, drilling a small pilot hole, filling with Liquid Nails, then tapping a small wooden dowel into the hole and letting that set for 24 hours.Good luck! Nothing more irritating than a squeaky floor!

Product works as designed, however, I don't believe that the "fix" is appropriate to the problem. Squeaks in a wood floor can be caused by a number of different factors, including:Wood planks rubbing between one anotherWood planks rubbing against subfloorSubfloor rubbing against joistsThis product will only help with the 2nd scenario, not the 1st and 3rd. It might work to a degree but if you have a seriously noisy floor installation you will put every screw in the package into the floor and maybe address a small percentage of the squeak.Theoretically if you mixed these screws with the EXCELLENT "through the joist" version of the screws, you might be able to address the whole of the issue, but it is highly dependent on the individual situation. I would treat products like these as a fix for a specific "problem squeak" instead of a fix for an entire floor. If your whole floor squeaks, sorry, you need to tear it up and address the underlying issues. No fancy screw is going to substitute for rosin paper underlayment, or for a delaminated subfloor, or warped joists.

I was so excited to receive these and start installing but I’m disappointed with the end result. My house is 50 years old with a 3/4 plank subfloor so even though I managed to hit every joist it’s still only grabbing the subfloor on one board missing all the others around it. In my opinion you would literally have to put a screw every few inches all across the floor to have a decent result if you have the same type of subfloor. I think if it was a plywood or OSB subfloor the screws would be a lot more effective but unfortunately in my case they just didn’t work. I’d suggest you know what you type of subfloor you have before you buy.

These were shown on this old house. They don’t work as good as tv shows. What’s going on below your floor has a lot to do with the results

We have pine floors with some good squeaks between joists. While the product is simple to use, and in theory should do the job, we didn’t get any less squeaks after using 8 screws in a 1ft x 2ft area. Tried with and without the tool. The only thing it did was left marks in the floor when trying to use the tool to break off the head. Good idea in theory, but totally useless in reality. Would’ve been happy if it had made a slight improvement, but it didn’t at all.

Finding the joist and hitting it dead on is a challenge. When you do, these things work shockingly well. I missed the joist a few times and had to then angle the screw and manually break off with pliers.Make sure to get a good wood filler that matches your floors. I ended up mixing two together and it's still fairly obvious, but worth the visual if the squeaks are gone.

The 6 year old hardwood oak planks on my upstairs hallway developed squeaks over the years. I got this set to appease my wife. Upon receiving the item from Amazon, I started the work by following the simple directions, drill 1/8" hole, use the short guide and drive the screw with an impact gun. Within my 4th screw, I noticed the screws were no longer breaking off at the score mark. Upon further inspection I noticed that the plastic guide itself was wearing down, preventing enough force to snap the screw head off (see pic).Overall, the 3 screws sunk in the planks reduced squeaks on those areas, hence the two stars. A better design would be to insert a metal cylinder on the guide where the screws go into to prevent wear.I'll be returning this item as it's now useless!

And not hard to use because it’s complicated, but because the front snap off all the time. Then you’ve made a hole and it’s now hard to have another screw go in the and grip tight cause it’s been spinning in the hole. The scoring isn’t enough. Some snap, some don’t.

Used about 10 screws. 2 broke off above the surface of my hardwood flooring. PITA to fix. You might want to use a slightly bigger drill bit than recommended. Aside from that seems to resolve my squeaking issues and a good idea overall.

Worked on some panels but most of them kept squeeeking, although we have a hardwood floor and pretty optimal conditions for the product. Considering the price its a disappointment.

Product functioned as advertised but didn’t solve our problem. I think our joists are not strong enough.

unless i was doing something wrong... 1 out of 4 would snap off like the product claims..i would not buy again

The systenm works very well our beautiful blond older style hardwood floors ...squeek a lot less!!!

I suffered for years with this noisy spot and it was fixed in 20 minutes. Fantastic idea and product. Wish I had found it sooner.

Didn’t work. Tried 6 screws in one area and the squeaking hadn’t stopped.

Works good half the time. Does not work as advertised.

screws didn't break off as they are supposed to. Worked a little on joists but not as well I had hoped.