# Wooden old house - Floor bowed upwards



## Keigwyn (Sep 10, 2008)

Hi,
We have an older house, at least a hundred years old and the living room floor is bowed upwards by about 2" in the middle. A marble seems to stay fairly still when placed around the wall areas, so I guess the corners are fairly level. The floor is a hardwood block floor and has "valleys" between what are obviously joists under the middle part of the floor.
Some of the door frames are at a slope, but being wooden framed there is no apparent cracking anywhere. there is a huge beam that runs along the middle of the floor where the bowing takes place.
It is a two story house, with the main floor area being about 24x 24 (where the problem is.
I am assuming that the corners and outside walls can be 'jacked' up to alieviate the pressure in the middle. (I guess the central beam is grouded on something)
The question is, living in upper michigan I have no ballpark idea of the cost of the operation or any local contractors who (importantly) would be competant.
The ground goes from soil to solid rock in a matter of feet.
Any ideas?


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## inspectorD (Sep 10, 2008)

Old homes are just that, a piece of work to maintain.
You really need someone there giving it a look over. Old floors settle ,move ,shrink and get eaten by bugs. The other thing they do is give you a hard time when you raise them. Old wood has a thing called "creep" in which a bow will stay in the shape it has taken over the years.

Let us know how you make out.


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## glennjanie (Sep 10, 2008)

Welcome Keigwyn:
You can contact your local chapter of the Home Builder's Association and find a certified remodeler. To certify, they have to prove themselves and they must keep up continuing education to keep it.
Glenn


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## CyFree (Sep 11, 2008)

Bowed wood floors can be a sign of high humidity, probably coming from underneath. Do you have a basement or a crawl space? 
In each case, I recommend you to detect and eliminate the moisture source, otherwise the problem will be coming back.
About finding a good contractor in Michigan, the attorney general's website has great information, tips and resources: 
http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739_20942-44670--,00.html

At the State's Dept of Labor and Economic Growth, you can verify your contractor's business reputation and license information, by typing in his state license number:
http://www.cis.state.mi.us/verify.htm

Hope it helps.


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