1950s and 1960s subdivisions Free diagnostic visit Written quote before work

Squeaky floor repair in Alta Vista

Squeaky Floor repairs squeaky floors and subfloors in Alta Vista, which Ottawa annexed from Gloucester Township in 1950 and which filled through that decade with subdivisions such as Faircrest Heights, Applewood Acres, Ridgemont and Elmvale Acres.

Get a Free Quote for Your Home

Tell us about your project and we will get back to you within 24 hours.

What can we help with?

So the right crew reviews your project.

No obligation. We reply within one business day.

Alta Vista housing, explained

1950s and 1960s subdivisions on postwar subfloor

Alta Vista’s houses come mostly from one postwar build-out. The land was part of the Billings Estate, worked by market gardeners, and belonged to Gloucester Township until Ottawa annexed it in 1950. Through the 1950s came Faircrest Heights and Applewood Acres in the north, Ridgemont in the south and Elmvale Acres in the east, which Robert Campeau built in the late 1950s; Urbandale Acres followed in the 1960s. In one Alta Vista census tract, 68.6 per cent of dwellings were built before 1961, 82.3 per cent before 1981 and only 9.6 per cent after 2000 (Statistics Canada, 2021 Census Profile). Houses of that age went up as plywood was replacing board subfloor, and the subfloor was typically nailed to the joists without glue. After sixty or more Ottawa winters, those nailed connections are where the noise comes from: a sheet that was held down but never drawn tight to a joist sitting slightly high or low.

What we fix in Alta Vista homes

Nailed postwar subfloor

Plywood or board subfloor held with nails and no glue, as 1950s houses typically were.

Early-1950s board floors

The first postwar houses can still have board subfloor, refastened board by board.

Repairs from the basement

Where the joists are open below, the fix is made from underneath and the finished floor is not touched.

From one of our repairs

What a subfloor repair looks like opened up

This floor was opened down to the joists, with new lumber fitted between them and the original board subfloor left in place along one wall. In a 1950s or 1960s Alta Vista house the squeak usually starts at that joint between joist and subfloor, which is why the fix is made there.

How we approach an Alta Vista house

We start from the subdivision

Alta Vista's subdivisions have known decades, so the likely subfloor is narrowed down before we arrive, then confirmed.

Repair, not a flooring sale

Squeaky Floor does not sell or install flooring. The quote is for stopping the noise.

Free, no-obligation quote

Written scope and price before anything begins.

What an Alta Vista squeak repair costs

In a 1950s or 1960s Alta Vista house with an open basement ceiling, a squeak is often one sheet lifting off one joist, fixed from below in the middle tier. A whole main floor that has loosened across its span, or a finished basement ceiling that has to be opened, moves to the subfloor tier. The ranges are for budgeting only. The written quote is the price.

Diagnostic Visit

Free

We locate the sheet or board that moves
We check the subfloor type from the basement
No obligation afterwards

Request a Visit
Most popular

Single Squeak or Short Run

$200 to $1,100 typical

One plywood sheet or board, or a stair tread
Shimmed, glued or screwed from below
Finished floor usually left untouched

Get a Free Quote

Whole-Room or Subfloor Work

$1,000 to $3,500 typical

A main floor loose across its span
May need a finished basement ceiling opened
Full scope in writing before work

Get a Free Quote
Our Process

How an Alta Vista floor repair runs

1

Name the subdivision

Elmvale Acres, Urbandale Acres or another, and the build year if you know it.

2

We check from below

From the basement or a heat register opening, we confirm board or plywood and find the joint that moves.

3

Quote before any tools

The scope and price arrive in writing before any tool comes out.

4

Fix from underneath, re-walk

Gaps are shimmed or glued at the joist, any screw from below stops at least 1/4 inch short of the floor surface, and the floor is walked again.

Customer reviews for Alta Vista homeowners

5/5

We hired them to fix squeaking and movement in our hardwood floor. They identified the underlying problem quickly and completed the repair without needing to replace the entire floor. Everything now feels solid and quiet.

Jennifer

Direct Client

5/5

We needed an urgent flooring repair after several boards became loose and uneven. The team responded quickly, secured the boards, and corrected the uneven sections. Professional service and a high-quality repair from start to finish.

Robert

Direct Client

5/5

They repaired several damaged hardwood boards in our living room and blended the replacements beautifully with the existing floor. The team was punctual, tidy, and careful throughout the job. You can barely tell where the damage was.

Michael

Direct Client

Get a Free Quote

Questions about Alta Vista houses and their floors

How old is a typical Alta Vista house?

Most date from the 1950s and 1960s, the years after Ottawa annexed Alta Vista from Gloucester Township in 1950. In one Alta Vista census tract, 68.6 per cent of dwellings were built before 1961 and 82.3 per cent before 1981. That puts a typical house here at roughly 55 to 75 years old, still on its original nailed subfloor unless the floor has been rebuilt.

Is an Elmvale Acres house in Alta Vista built the same way as one in Urbandale Acres?

Close, but not identical. Elmvale Acres is one of Alta Vista's 1950s subdivisions, built by Robert Campeau in the late 1950s, while Urbandale Acres was built in the 1960s. Both went up after plywood began replacing board subfloor, but the earliest 1950s houses can still have the older boards. We check the subfloor from the basement or through a heat register opening before we quote, rather than going by the street name.

Is newer infill common in Alta Vista?

No. In that same census tract, only 9.6 per cent of dwellings were built after 2000, so a newer house on an Alta Vista street is the exception. If yours is one of them, tell us the build year when you call. A post-2000 floor is put together differently from the 1950s and 1960s houses around it, so we look for different causes.

Squeak in a 1950s or 1960s Alta Vista house?

Arrange a free diagnostic visit. In many Alta Vista houses the joists can be checked from the basement, and the quote follows in writing.

Get a Free Quote Call (343) 353-8706
Back to top