How to fix a bump in the floor?

[SyedJaffry]

Hello, the community.

I discovered this floor bump (seen in the photo) after removing the carpet and underlay. Do you know how to get rid of that? This is preventing me from doing hybrid vinyl flooring the way I want to.

Regards ahead of time.

[JacobZ]

Hi @SyedJaffry,

Thank you for your question about fixing the hump in your hardwood floor.

It looks like the board 4th of from the top of your circle is raised and maybe a little bit cupped, is this the issue you were having?

If this is the case, the first step I would take is to see if the boards have slightly raised from the joists and can simply be hit back down into place. I'd suggest to do this you should grab a scrap piece of timber, to act as protection for the flooring, place it over the nail holes in this raised board and hit the block with a hammer. If over time, the nails have worked their way out of the joist below, this will knock the board back down into its original position.

If you find that this does not seat the board back to its original position, the floorboard may have cupped over time. To bring this down level with the surroundings, you will need to plane and sand the floorboard back to the same level as its surroundings. Start by using a nail punch to sink the nails below the surface of the board. Then, you can use a Bench Plane to remove the bulk of the material, before switching to a random orbital sander to smooth and finish the process.

If the area is larger than I can see from your images, it may be worth looking at hiring a Floor Sander to speed up the process.

Let me know what you think and if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

[SyedJaffry]

Thanks for the email.

I have a question can this be removed by all this process "If you find that this does not seat the board back to its original position, the floorboard may have cupped over time. To bring this down level with the surroundings, you will need to plane and sand the floorboard back to the same level as its surroundings. Start by using a nail punch to sink the nails below the surface of the board. Then, you can use a Bench Plane to remove the bulk of the material, before switching to a random orbital sander to smooth and finish the process. 

Or can I change the damaged wood?

[Noyade]

Evening @SyedJaffry 

"Or can I change the damaged wood?"

Yes. Rip it up and replace with 'Yellow Tongue' boards.

That's what me and my wife did with our terrible floor boards back in 2016 prior to installing our floating floor.

Photos of same if you you wish.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/structaflor-19-x-3600-x-800mm-general-purpose-yellowtongue_p0148884

Cheers.

[EricL]

Hello @SyedJaffry 

Yes, it is possible to remove the damaged wood and replace it with a new one. However, if the defect on the old piece of wood is not as severe, then it would be worth restoring it and keeping the shades of the timber uniform.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[SyedJaffry]

Thanks, Eric for the reply,

I am thinking of changing it but I am scared that one of my friends said that it could be water in the concrete or roots under the floor that are forcing us to change the shape of the floor. If this is the case then how could I get to know what is the problem is and what the best remedy?

[SyedJaffry]

Thanks for your reply. I will think about this too.

[EricL]

Hello @SyedJaffry 

It is possible to lift the timber piece so that you can have a look underneath. Once you see if there are roots then that will need to be addressed. Just remember that the timber must be lifted carefully and must not be damaged too much. Your goal is to look and see. But if there are no roots and it is only old nails that's causing the floor to fail then you'll know what to do to repair it. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[SyedJaffry]

Thanks, for your reply, I sanded the area as much as without destroying the wood floor. 

It was the maximum I could sand; after that, the wood would be so thin that I stopped it. I got another idea and will implement it this weekend I will balance the wood and future vinyl floor by underlay and hope it will work.

I will update you later as I complete that experiment.

This is the picture after sanding.

 

[MitchellMc]

If the raised section is now not too high, adding the underlay will help improve the area further @SyedJaffry. Let us know how you go, and reach out if you need further assistance.

Mitchell