Wow. So many places to start. Start with the dirt. Pour concrete to properly seal that thing. Now that it is capped, go ahead and get the whole thing sealed using a professional moisture remediation company. The cinder block foundation can be a massive issue.

Crawl spaces are supposed to be properly "vented and cross vented" and proper use of moisture barriers over the dirt. It sounds like so much is missing here that the retro "fix" is going to be far more costly than if it had been made a proper basement in the first place. And no, I'm not kidding about that.

So. Where do you want to start? It really all needs to be done. And yes, cinder block foundations are notoriously damp. They leak like sieves. Big, expensive, cement sieves.

The cheapest thing to do is to do what needs to be done. The wood floors are not the disease, they are they symptom. You could put in thousands of dollars into that floor and still have the same problem - just a different day. You might as well spend the money where it is needed. Several thousand will start the process and calm things down.

Bring experts that deal specifically with damp basements/crawlspace ventilation AND cinder block foundations (those are three specialties in one). Get them to write a flow chart as to what needs to be done with the most important items at the top. Then start with #1 and work your way down the list.

Thanks for your help. I'm going to have someone come look at it. I haven't heard of anyone pouring cement over the dirt on a sloped crawl space. That sounds very expensive. I should have also mentioned two other things:

1. there's no insulation between the crawl space and the house. The crawl stays cool in the summer and fairly warm int the winter.

1. Most of the cement blocks are above ground with only a small portion that has dirt on the exterior. The blocks look dry on the inside except where they touch dirt on the outside and they definitely show signs of moisture on the inside of those. So I'm wondering how much moisture comes through the blocks where they just have air on the outside. In other words, would it be beneficial to coat the inside of the blocks where they are underground on the exterior? Because those are the shortest walls that would be fairly easy. Coating everything would a huge job.

Thanks again for your help.

With so much clearance, why don't you either have regular insulation installed on the under side of the subfloor with a layer of heavy poly sheeting stapled over it or have a company spray on icynene foam insulation?