Been in my house for about a year, and it's my first time living in a pier and beam so not sure how common this type of shifting and buckling is as well.

These floors are about 90 years old, and were refinished by the seller. The second pic is the leveler on the plank (hard level to the right) and the third pic is the plank on the side (hard level to the left).

Fourth pic is on the other side of the room, but "parallel" to where the plank is buckling, there are a few of these little pop ups now too.

Wondering if this is classic P&B shifting or something I should be more proactive about.

There will be variability given your conditions: PnB and age.

You should not have any fasteners in the field, the nails in the one picture would indicate some type of previous repair or issue. Was that last year or 70 years ago, who knows. That would not bother me too much neither would any level variation (within reason) and I would consider it a charm of a vintage home.

The pop up however would be a concern to me. I would not expect that as general settling. Given the age, settling or material expansion should be stabilized.

That pop up looks like there is some issue below. That and the nails in field makes me wonder if some poor repair work done by previous. Can you access the crawl space and see what's going on there?

Lastly, wood floors can only be refinished so many times. If it's been done a couple times there could be soft spots created and allow some flex possibly crating the pop up. Are the pop up's just at the joints? If this was a flip, I could easily see some one doing a quick refinish, it looks good but it's thin, and once you move in start walking and add weight the joints flex and creat the issue.

EDIT: Those joints look very suspect, typically you don't have filler like that. I'm leaning toward a poor/failing repair.

Good luck!

Yes, all the pop ups are on the joints / edges of planks.

So multiple planks… does it feel spongy or soft when you walk over impacted planks?

It sounds and looks more like poor/failing repair or refinished thinner than the minimal wear depth, than normal settling.

There are three planks with the pop ups. 1 has the one pictured. Two more planks 2-3 feet away each has one too.

No real soft or tacky feeling.

Do you notice any other classic settling issues: dragging doors, cracks in walls? Any standing water under house or really dry conditions around parameter? If no to all those then, I'd say what you are seeing is not a classic settling symptom.

I would at least take a look at that area from crawl space, that might reveal a lot and go from there on next steps.

If high traffic I would be inclined to be more proactive, otherwise monitor for progression. I would not want to let it get to point when a plank gets damaged enough to replace.

Doors are an issue right now. I can tell the humidity and rain (or lack of run last summer) impacts the doors quite a bit.

Our old neighborhood had a similar issue. The wood floors eventually looked like ocean waves. P&B foundation, 80 year old wood floors. If I recall correctly, in the humid months hot air from outside & air conditioned air from inside meet & create moisture which buckle the floors. The fix was to tear the floors out & put an excessive moisture barrier on top of the subfloor. Then install a new wood floor.

A possible fix is to be sure your crawl space has adequate ventilation to allow airflow/circulation so that hot air isn't just sitting there under your floors. Often people will seal up around the bottom of the house to keep pets & animals out from under the house.

Can't tell from the pics- is there any cupping?

It looks to me like the last refinish was probably the last one you could get away with. If you look near the base or a transition, you can sometimes see how much has been sanded away from the original floor. It's hard to tell from pictures.

It might be that the floor is too thin and normal movement now cause fasteners to be able to pop through when the movement occurs.

It could also be a humidity issue, namely it being warm and humid below the floor while being cool and dry above it. There's no vapor barrier in those original homes, so all sorts of gases and vapor penetrate the floor and make their way into the house.

A couple of things- as the above poster said, you need to make sure the crawl space is properly vented and allows good airflow.

You can enhance this by adding a fan tied into a humidistat. You could choose to add a dehumidifier.

If there's adequate access, you could also spray an inch of closed cell foam, which doesn't allow vapor to pass, to the bottom of the sub floor.

These things would help if there is a moisture issue, but are generally good ideas anyway.

There could also have been an installation issue when they last refinished. Poor sanding, cheap products, water vs oil based products, not allowing enough curing time etc.

Just called my floor guy about it- he said probably just thin floor in a high traffic area.

I am going to look in the crawl space next weekend and I will take some pictures.

How would I make sure the airflow in the crawl space is good? The below picture isn't of my house, but I have similar vents spread on all different sides of the house. Maybe 2-3 vents on each side.

Do you have gutters on the house?

Y'all have been getting a lot of rain. It's common for the crawl space to be lower than the outside grade causing drainage issues.

We do, we had gutters installed when we moved in. Generally, the house has a decent swale and an almost annoying slope away from the house on two sides, but yes the crawl space is lower still.

Update: finally got under the house and there is definitely a leak somewhere, so I have a plumber coming to fix. Started noticing different parts of the floor starting to buckle in the last week or two. Hoping for the best that the floors will be okay after fixing.

Curious the boards thoughts on the best path forward. I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed at this point, and if I should pursue an insurance claim or not. I talked with my agency this weekend and they recommended getting some ideas about the prices to fix ASAP.

The current situation:

1. So the floor buckling has gotten worse the last 2 weeks. There are 5-6 bad spots across the 3 rooms surrounding the bathroom. The floors are noticeably looking spongey right now. A floor guy came this week and says once the floors dry, he will try to fix, but that the damage is likely too bad for the floors to go back to their previous condition. They don't look good right now.

2. There is now noticeable mold growth in the crawlspace. I have a remediation service coming Monday morning to give me his opinion on removal and to add some temporary dehumidifiers to the space.

3. Plumber came last Monday and said it is the shower valve cartridge (1 year old), where the leak has gone down to the floor, through to the subfloor and has traveled to these other rooms. The strange part is that there is no dampness at all on the wall, and almost no visible floor damage near the bathroom itself. He has ordered the part and anticipates fixing this upcoming week.

Repair the leak.

Dry out the crawlspace

Reevaluate in thirty days

jt2hunt said:

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Repair the leak.

Dry out the crawlspace

Reevaluate in thirty days

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This. Do not do anything rash right now. My floors are over 100 years old and have been through original instal, settling, multiple adjustments, scrubbing, linoleum overlays, removal of linoleum, termites, settling, refinishing, etc. Most of the original part of my house has spots a marble will roll to the edge of the room. But the original long leaf pine boards are hanging in there. Your floors will go back once you fix the leak.

I had a huge leak in my other house that cupped solid oak flooring. It leaked for a month before I realized the issue. I fixed it and the floors flattened out and all was well.

Does waiting open up any issue if I do need to file a home insurance claim?

Excellent question for "The Money Pit" esp. if they take photos prior to advice.

They might ask if you sealed the underfloor ground moisture away, even if only plastic sheets.
Of course the undersides must be tarred & feathered (sealed)
Then 90yo lumber might come out A.OK but then no likey their new digs
Old flooring also reacts to being pryed up, moved, stored in less than Hilton comfort, then forced together with a new neighbor, even IF from same old floor.

Sand down, refinish if you must
Sand again, a forever process
Note that real dance floors only sand, then toss out wax chips that get stomped into the wood that needs little care with all that traffic