Bulges in facade, older wooden house

[Stina71]

Wooden house built in 1893. Assuming it has a log frame. Horizontal paneling.

I have discovered "bulges" in a couple of places on the paneling. On one short side. One place is far down, about a meter above the ground. At the level where geothermal pipes enter the house. The other place is about 1.5 meters higher up. Approximately. Roughly at the mid-level of the window.

Upstairs there is a bathroom, the horizontal window, where there was previously water damage near the floor drain. The bathroom was renovated, and during this work, water damage was also found in the wall, upstairs in the bathroom.

What could the bulges be? I'm imagining that during the restoration of the bathroom one might have missed damage further down in the wall. Thinking that water from the bathroom might have run down the wall, ended up at a spot depending on the slope of the beams in the wall, etc. So not automatically ended up in a logical place directly below the bathroom.

Now I'm worried that load-bearing parts in the wall have collapsed (water-damaged timber, mold, etc.) and thereby created the bulges. Or could it be old settlements? As seen in the pictures, it looks like the paneling has been "patched" in certain places before. Thinking that perhaps there used to be other windows/doors or something similar here. Or that the paneling has been patched for another reason...

What to do? Could one release the paneling at the current spots and investigate inside? Or, how to proceed? It doesn’t feel like something I can just let be and should investigate the whole thing. What type of expertise should I search for? Any tips?

It is also worth noting that there is quite a bit of paint peeling in connection with the bulges. Perhaps this is a sign that it was painted on damp wood, hence the paint cracking.

Grateful for good advice!

 

[lyckograbben]

If you don't have a timber frame, this explanation might work. Such bulges are common in older houses of the "spånlåda" type, meaning when sawdust has been used as insulation. The wall can be constructed as follows: panel/wind barrier paper/sawdust/paper/inner wall. When the panel becomes old and warped and moisture penetrates, the sawdust expands, and if the sawdust dries, it is replenished from above and maintains the pressure. More water/moisture causes the bulge to grow. And so it continues.

Johan