Buckling hardwood floor

I was looking at a 100 year old house today. The hardwood floors are buckled quite badly. The floors are located above a crawl space with no vapor barrier between the ground and the flooring. I'm not even sure if there is a sublfloor at this point in time. I realize the first thing to do to attempt to solve this problem would be to install a vapor barrier over the basement floor to stop the moisture. I also realize that the floor is not going to magically settle itself once the moisture problem is solved since nails were likely pulled, boards warped and whatever else. I'm wondering if anyone has had to deal with a similar problem during a rehab of an old house and what some possible solutions might be. I've heard about getting at it with screws from underneath (if there's a subfloor) and/or nailing screwing from above. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks in advance. Geo.

Reply to
geonx1
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A vapor barrier is the only practical solution for long term stability.

Reply to
Charles Schuler

It may not be moisture from below. There is surely building felt between the subfloor and flooring. That should be all the vapor barrier you need. If the moisture is that bad in a 100 yr house, the floor joists and subfloor would be showing rot. Do they?

I know of an old mansion here in the 3 million dollar category with quarter sawn oak floors. Built by a lumber baron. Beautiful floor. The new younger owner has them mopped with water because some stupid shop teacher said she didn't want the floor to get too dry. Last time I was there the edges were starting to curl but no contractor knows as much as a shop teacher.

Reply to
Glenn

Well, all you can really do is try... You might start by finding someone with whatever that tool is to measure the moisture content of wood.

Then a vapor barrier and a dehumidifier, followed by a session with some long flat soft planks and an 8 pound mallet.

Is the floor buckled because the individual planks are cupping, or because they've swollen enough that they're popping each other out to make room? In the latter case, a skillsaw cut lengthwise in relatively inconspicuous places may help. Or taking out every 8th plank, forcing the rest into place, and resawing the take-outs to fit.

Whatever you do, you're not likely to end up with a ballroom quality floor.

Reply to
Goedjn

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