I'd guess you might find partial layers of old flooring materials such as vinyl tile, vinyl flooring on top of vinyl tile, old carpet, etc., and the bumps from only parts of it being removed in previous renovations. The main problem, given this situation and the age of lthe house, is that some of these layers and the adhesives could have asbestos in them and tearing, scraping, or sanding will release significant amounts of fibres into the air and contaminate your house and present a health hazard. Worst case: testing for asbestos, finding you have it, and having to pay for a professional (i.e., safe and legal) removal and disposal before you can proceed. Best case: you can leave it in place and flatten the floor by shimming and nailing down underlayment.

Well, kudzu9 has given you the worst case scenario and a good description of the likely cause (causes) of the humps and lumps.

Your 6" wide pine planks may be your subfloor. When you look at it from below, what does the lumber look like to you? Subflooring can be finished and used as flooring and that may have been the case with the older portion of your house. However, the fact that this house was added onto in the 40's makes it very difficult to say what you'll find when all the flooring is removed and you're down to wood.

After removing all the stuff on top the old wood might be in good shape, and just need refinishing. We took 3 layers of vinyl tile off our kitchen, breakfast room, and study floors in ur 1910 house. Underneath all that, the wood floor in the kitchen was wide planked pine, with oak in the b.r. and study. Since we both have allergies/asthma, we hired someone to refinish the floors. With 2 new coats of polyurethane and no stain, the floors are beautiful even 18 years later.

I don't see a problem with pulling the carpet back a bit out of the corners for instance to get a better look at what's below. The hard work is already done, it has been cut and fitted. It's just taking it off the tack strips and, if it doesn't look promising, pulling it back to catch on the strips, You may not even have to rent a knee kicker. You will not have lost anything, just back to where you were.

Until you take that step, you will be speculating. It's better to find out once and for all, then you can do something, or live with what you decide to do. It's possible, there is something good you can evelop.

I have ripped out old, disgusting, dusty carpets in a couple of houses and found hardwood floors, which I refinished. They were in really bad condition, but I put a lot of work into fixing them. There are ways to patch using salvaged materials, bleaching pet stains, etc., so even the most horrid looking work can be rejuvenated and become a treasure.

Ted

I revealed the original 6" plank floor wherever I could in my 160 y.o. house. I think with that age of home, you will not be able to simply pull up the carpet and find the original floor. Good advice has been given - look at the floor all over from the basement. These 6" floors usually were the subfloor and something else went on top - like your 2" stuff in bad shape.

The worst case for us was finding this tar-like adhesive under some old tiles in a hallway. The only way to get this stuff off was by manually scraping it - which I was not prepared to do!

I had to replace sections of my floor and did so myself. It came out quite well and blends right in. It will be maybe "drafty" from the basement as the gaps in the floor will go right to your basement. Our house is musty and I wonder if it is moreso because of the gaps in our main floor flooring. Beautiful, though.

Beds, we had this problem... be came up with a VERy good solution... in the basment we went and fitted soild foam insulation up between the floor joists... it really made a ton of difference in the rooms we did it in.

Maddiemom

Maybe you have random width boards ,in same room we do.Your life wont end if it is ugly .do like they say on TV "Work In Process"......

Ahh...I really wanted the worst case scenario and now I have it...asbestos. I am glad I asked because I really hadn't even thought of that. Maybe someday we will have the money to get a professional to see what is under there, but at the moment my husband and I are not up to the huge task of finding out ourselves and we don't have the money for a professinal just yet.

Thanks so much for the info...I really appreciate it!

Maddiemom, Really?! I've got alot of leftover 2" pink rigid insulation that I could do that with. Did you seal it up with caulking, or put plastic under it or anything? Can you see the insulation through any larger gaps in the winter? That would be great if it worked. Did it remove some of the mustiness, too?