floor humps?

[Eragorn Northe]

what would case a floor to have noticeable humps, but not have any signs of heeving in the basement, shifting? settleing?

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Originally Posted by enorthe

what would case a floor to have noticeable humps, but not have any signs of heeving in the basement, shifting? settleing?

Hi. Eragorn, a few pictures of the area in question would help.

Are you talking about humps in the concrete floor in the basement, wood frame floor above?

If concrete floor in basement, and no signs of heeving, cracking, settling and shifting, it is unfortunate that it was poured humpy to begin with.

Let me know if I can help further.

Marcel

[Eragorn Northe]

sorry hers more clarifcation
the hard wood floor in an 83 year old house on the main floor has 2 humps in the floor, no signs in the basement that it has heaved

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Most likely high moisture content under the floor.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Originally Posted by enorthe

sorry hers more clarifcation
the hard wood floor in an 83 year old house on the main floor has 2 humps in the floor, no signs in the basement that it has heaved

Not enough expansion gap at the perimeter of the hardwood floor and moisture content of the wood has gone above 8% and climbing. The hardwood flooring is expanding, buckling under your feet and may need to be removed in order to be reinstalled level. Depends on the hump size. If nails have pulled up, it will need to be removed.

Too much humidity in the space.

This is what happens when a flooring buckles.


Cause of the high moisture in the space needs to be reviewed, inspected and reported for repair.

Marcel

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Perhaps the floor joists were spaced too far apart and the humps you saw were actually the joists. The humps may not have been humps at all, but the flooring in between the joists may have sagged slightly due to the spacing? A lot of times these old homes don't even have a sub-floor. Just tongue and grove flooring on top of the joists.

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

Floor humps.....imagine and picture if you will my utter disappointment when I read the thread only to find it was about structural issues.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

floor humps?

Haven't had one of those since I was a young fella!!!

[Barry Adair]

Originally Posted by Brian A. MacNeish

floor humps?

Haven't had one of those since I was a young fella!!!

man i'd forgotten all about those......wrist burns

i can't get the image to open larger so i'll just take a WAG

it's not uncommon for sanding aberrations/uneven surface to appear on high gloss finishes, especially at doorways

if you've never refinished hardwoods the sander will gouge these areas if you don't move through openings correctly and/or raise the belt and hand finish with edger around the jambs

good site for wood floor q&a

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by enorthe

what would case a floor to have noticeable humps, but not have any signs of heeving in the basement, shifting? settleing?

Eragon,

Send a larger pic.

I can't count the number of floors that I have inspected that contain HUMPS. Some are structural issues while others are minor settling.

A large percentage of floor defects are simply caused from settling, but inspecting these areas from the underside is the only definitive way of confirming this.

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

This a a 1909 house floor system. Thought some who never see anything but new, thrown together crap might get a kick out of this. Note how the floor joists were joined at the center beams. Notice too the size of the joists without any cupping, bowing, twists, wanes or the usual stuff you see today.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Originally Posted by dedwards

This a a 1909 house floor system. Thought some who never see anything but new, thrown together crap might get a kick out of this. Note how the floor joists were joined at the center beams. Notice too the size of the joists without any cupping, bowing, twists, wanes or the usual stuff you see today.

Doug, this looks like a double tennon too, never came across that before.
Wasn't pressurre treated either huh!

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

Marcel,
You got it. No pressure treatment and that wood is as hard as iron. Lots of old homes here that used Heart pine and swamp cypress, rough cut beams and timbers. Those joists were as straight as a rifle shot and you can see there were some real craftsmen in those days. This was not even a "fancy" house. Just a small shotgun on Government Street in downtown Pensacola's Historical District. In the day this would most likely have belonged to someone who made a modest living, most likely in the local lumber industry at the turn of that century. They still occasionally find some of the old slow growth short leaf pines that were abundant in this area back then laying on the bottom of the river or bay (no rot and still as good or better than the day it was cut). They would float them down river to Escambia Bay where they would be loaded onto ships from all over the world. Many of those old homes still standing and in use today and have been through numerous hurricanes without a burp.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Thanks Doug, that was a good picture of our History in Building.

Marcel

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

Marcel,
You are welcome.