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remodeled home with extreme buckling floors

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Gary in WA 
#1 ·
The house was built about 1955 and completely remodeled and has wooden floors that appear glued. The floor was just fine until about 2 months ago. We lave lived there 18 month's. Three of the rooms have 3 to 5 inches of buckling. We have had rats, roaches, and other critters come through the cracks. What could have caused this extreme buckling. The insurance adjuster said that they would not cover the damage due to inside unit having a pipe that runs outside and constantly drips. This caused the house to buckle. Could this have happened in within two moth period?

Any information is appreciated.

Rico
 
#2 ·
#3 ·
buckling floor photo

Hello,

Here are a few photos. Do you think this white pipe that is not connected to any underground piping could cause the damage to floors by seeping under the house and causing the damage i have shown you? The pipe leaks out water from the unit inside.

Rico
 

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#4 ·
Severe damage like that is usually caused by a leak directly under the wood.
The high humidity in your crawl space could do it,but I think you need to look for the usual suspects--

The most common household leaks: Dish washer,icemaker,dripping shutoffs under sinks--toilet wax ring-
cloths washer--nail through a pipe--

You crawl space looks like a dangerous place---I saw Romex on the earth--deadly.
If you can safely enter that--crawl around and look up at the bottom or the flooring--I bet you find a wet spot--If so ,find the source --take pictures and call the insurance guy back.--Mike--
 
#6 ·
Check the nails in the wood planks. It may be the installer used finish nails for those last few boards when he finished the run which were nailed through the tongue normally. When he got to the wall, his mechanical nailer was too big for the limited space--- had to face nail with finish nails- normal procedure. The other pic, check for a spline added on each side to change direction of the t&g so he could install both directions from the center layout. With lack of under-floor insulation and a vapor retarder, it could easily absorb the moisture to buckle it, especially if only face nailed. Those would be the first boards to move. Lack of enough expansion gap at the wall, under the 1/4" shoe molding, would cause it to lift.

1. Locate the water source from the drain pipe...... Let us know.

2. Is there tar paper under the flooring?

Be safe, Gary
 
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