Buckled hardwood floor

[Tringa]

I think I know what I need to do about this - get someone who knows what they are doing, but I'd appreciate any thoughts from TP.

This floor has been down for about 10 years and we have never had any problems until yesterday.

We noticed the buckling about 8pm yesterday. I don't know exactly when it happened but there was no sign of it at about 7am.

We have a cellar that goes under the hallway but a wall prevents access from this cellar to under the room where this buckling has happened. However, there are plenty of air gaps between the cellar and under the room and there is no smell of dampness in the cellar, so do not think a central heating pipe has burst or is leaking.

We put the heating on this morning to see if it made any difference(the room is on the coolest side of the house and isn't used much). The boiler fired up, all the radiators in the house got warm and the pressure dial on the boiler looks to be in it usual range.

Any views welcomed.

Thanks

Dave
floor by Dave Marley, on Flickr

 

[boogie man]

Obvious questions. Did you put the floor down yourself or was it done professionally? Did whoever put the floor down leave expansion gaps around the edges?

That’s some serious amount of movement. Admittedly the humidity has been higher lately but it looks like there must be a considerable amount of moisture getting into the floor for it to move that much, especially if it’s never budged before. I’d still suspect either a water leak from somewhere or something coming up from the cellar underneath. You might even have to lift the floor to have a proper look at what’s going on.

 

[sirch]

My thought was also that it has been very humid recently. Check that nothing has got into the expansion gap around the edges, they can get a build up of crap over time.

 

[Tringa]

Thanks Larry, It was done professionally but I don't know if gaps were left around the edges. We thought there must be a leak but the main water pipe comes in through the cellar not under that room floor and the cellar is dry. There is a radiator behind the sofa in the photo but I don't know where the pipes run but no damp smell in the cellar.

We are getting someone to take a look and as you say lifting the floor, or at least some of it, should give us a better idea what is going on.

Cheers.

Dave


Thanks also Chris.

 

[Mr Bump]

that looks like it is as tight as buggery and has popped up, you could empty the room and check all the edges and see if there are gaps visible, also when completely empty you may be able to flatten the floor out by just allowing the boards mabe to move about, they would generally be floating a bit on the soft underlay/backing. i just think it has been layed to tight.

 

[bass_junkie83]

It looks like you have the same floor in adjacent rooms but only one has buckled, so that would give further weight behind the idea that something is restricting movement.

It could be obstructed movement gaps, but maybe even just down to heavy furniture?

 

[boogie man]

Thanks Larry, It was done professionally but I don't know if gaps were left around the edges. We thought there must be a leak but the main water pipe comes in through the cellar not under that room floor and the cellar is dry. There is a radiator behind the sofa in the photo but I don't know where the pipes run but no damp smell in the cellar.

We are getting someone to take a look and as you say lifting the floor, or at least some of it, should give us a better idea what is going on.

Cheers.

Dave


Thanks also Chris.

Any chance you can shine a light under that gap, see if there’s any dampness going on?

Best of luck whatever, hope you get it sorted

 

[Dale.]

Reminds me of a problem we had in 2014, so speaking from our experience, it could be a leak or some other form of damp. We had a leak on the pressurised side of the bathroom tap and it got into our floor (bungalow). Not to alarm you but we had to move out for 4 months, it was devastation.

I think though you've caught this in time, hopefully, it's not water related and just down to expansion.

 

[Tringa]

Thanks all for the comments.

I have shone a light under the gap and can't see any trace of damp, though I can only see a few inches. I have also tried sniffing by the gap and there is no suggestion of dampness.

I have investigated the cellar more thoroughly, or as far as I can given the load of stuff I have in there, and found the central heating pipes don't run along the length of the room. The pipes run along the cellar and only turn into and under the floor of the room as they get very close to the radiator. I'm a bit more confident now that the buckling of the floor isn't caused by a leak in the pipes, but it is all still a bit puzzling.

Dave

 

[Mr Bump]

its just really tight mate and it has popped up.

 

[Brentor]

I don't know if gaps were left around the edges.

Is there some form of beading around the edge, does the floor go under the skirting boards or does it butt up against them?

A relative and also a neighbour had to have wooden floors relayed this year due to buckling. Both had been fitted by a pro.

I hope it is a quick fix for you.

 

[Tringa]

At one wall, which runs parallel to the direction of the boards, the floor butts up against the skirting, on the opposite wall the floor goes under the skirting.

Even though I feel a little more confident that the buckling is not due to a recent water leak, but if no water leak is involved I'm surprised no buckling has even happen before.

Dave

 

[Tori_T]

It may be co-incidental, but with 53% humidity recorded, three doors in the office that were fine last week are now slightly too big for their frames, and won't close properly.
Could that be what's buckled your floor?

 

[Nod]

Probably a combination of a few factors, mainly the humidity causing slight swelling and the floor being too tightly laid. The easiest solution (probably!) would be to cut the skirting that the flooring butts up against so it (the flooring) is free to expand under it.

 

[mark richards]

seen this happen on a laminate floor, it was laid on damp screed , had to remove skirtings and cut around
edge for it to lay flat,a week later it was same again, in the end we removed all the flooring and skipped it,
it was a lesson learned to the guy who fitted it, dont lay flooring on damp floors, not like yours, but do agree
with others, it is a moisture problem you got, and its probable all glued ,thats the only problem with solid hardwood floors
more prone to swelling than engineered flooring.

 

[Brentor]

seen this happen on a laminate floor, it was laid on damp screed , had to remove skirtings and cut around
edge for it to lay flat,a week later it was same again, in the end we removed all the flooring and skipped it,
it was a lesson learned to the guy who fitted it, dont lay flooring on damp floors, not like yours, but do agree
with others, it is a moisture problem you got, and its probable all glued ,thats the only problem with solid hardwood floors
more prone to swelling than engineered flooring.

I trust the guy who fitted it paid for the replacement. Too many stories of ”professionally” fitted floors developing major faults.

 

[Brentor]

At one wall, which runs parallel to the direction of the boards, the floor butts up against the skirting, on the opposite wall the floor goes under the skirting.

Even though I feel a little more confident that the buckling is not due to a recent water leak, but if no water leak is involved I'm surprised no buckling has even happen before.

Dave

Did you manage to sort out your floor?

 

[Tringa]

Did you manage to sort out your floor?

Not yet, as I'm away at the moment, but we think we have discovered the cause. We share a drainpipe, which is just in the neighbour's garden, at the front of the house.

It has a hopper about half way down that takes the water from the guttering of our and their bay windows along with that from the two roofs.

This hopper, or the bit of drain pipe below, is blocked and when it rains the hopper overflows mainly down our wall. We think the water has soaked into the bricks, travelled down the wall and the floor has absorbed the moisture causing the buckling.

I'm hoping to get the drainpipe problem sorted next week and see what happens then, but if this is the cause I think it could take a while to dry out.

Dave

 

[Brentor]

Not yet, as I'm away at the moment, but we think we have discovered the cause. We share a drainpipe, which is just in the neighbour's garden, at the front of the house.

It has a hopper about half way down that takes the water from the guttering of our and their bay windows along with that from the two roofs.

This hopper, or the bit of drain pipe below, is blocked and when it rains the hopper overflows mainly down our wall. We think the water has soaked into the bricks, travelled down the wall and the floor has absorbed the moisture causing the buckling.

I'm hoping to get the drainpipe problem sorted next week and see what happens then, but if this is the cause I think it could take a while to dry out.

Dave

Hope it works out for you.