Hump developed in wooden floor

notabene

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I’ve got solid oak floors laid over concrete with appropriate underlay underneath. Part of the floor in the living room coming out from under the storage heater has developed a lump/hump coming out from the wall. The floors are down 13 years and never any problems with them - doesn’t seem to be wet or damp smell but just wondering what it could suddenly be - thanks
 
We had that problem a few years ago too, only difference was the floor was put down just a few months before. I reckon your problem is with the expansion space under the room's skirting board. It won't cost you much (outside of a bit of your own labour) to investigate. All you have to do is remove the skirting board for a few minutes. Do it properly and you can put it back within minutes.

If there is no expansion space, you need one and depending on what way the tongue-n-groove is placed you could have a problem.

But, your floor is 13 years old. It owes you nothing. If you have to get a new floor it would be worth enquiring about the newer underlay which is heat efficient and will repay your costs in time.
 
Can you definitely rule out wet / leak from the storage heater? It's unusual to see such after the floor has been down for a period of time. You could purchase a "moisture meter", which reads the level of moisture in the wood - then check different areas of the flooring and compare the readings.
 
Storage heaters wouldn't contain water, so we can rule that out.

OP, how large is the bowed area? Is it large enough to suggest an expansion issue as suggested by Leper or limited to a couple of boards themselves becoming warped?

Is this an external wall? Any issues with guttering / cracks outside this area?
 
@Jazz01 no water goes through the storage heater but it is at an outside wall so was wondering if a leak has developed from outside - that would actually be not so bad as mgt co would have to fix
 
@Leo is at outside wall, no obvious sign of water collecting there but was suspicious of same myself, there is a gutter on the outside a few feet down from the spot - could well be an expansion issue but would have thought that would have come up long before now if that was the case?floor boards don't seem warped yet as such, one set have a gap that wasn't there before and others have risen but hopefully would be ok to go back into place when whatever is causing it goes back into place

@Leper really hope the floor does not need to be replaced - had hoped to have it a lot more than 13 years!!! though i do like the suggestion of the new underlay
 
Very strange indeed. With the presence of a storage heater I'd have expected a degree of contraction in the floor boards if they'd been a less dense hardwood than oak. Any spills in the vacinity of the hump?
 
Try pouring a bit of water in different places on the floor and see if it draws in that direction. Have a towel handy to mop it up quickly. Of course I am assuming that like my floor it can take a certain amount of water for a short period without absorbing it.
 
@mathepac no none recently - there wouldn't really be any cause for spills in the area where it is - i'm wondering if it is a leak - the cobblelocked area outside was pretty wet last night with puddles accumulating in the heavy rain, I couldn't see a spot directly but i do wonder..

@electo good tip, thank you!
 
Thanks for the advice - gutters were solid with pigeon material, sticks et all sorts, gutters weren’t draining properly and walls had high level of moisture - floors to be replaced
 
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