Newbie question

[alaskabear99687]

Sorry but I was not able to find this by searching. I am looking at purchasing an older MH and am very aware of the plumbing issue from living in Alaska. I was thinking about putting in some framing and a second floor but inside it (using the existing floor as a sub-floor) run infloor heating(pex), new boiler style furnace and also run my new hot/cold water lines. In my mind this would give me improved heating, hot water, insulation and also keep the potable water better insulated and nearer a heat source to prevent freezing. I know this will not be cheap but compared to 250,000+ homes I realy have no choice but to buy older and fix. Any suggestions...

[Greg]

Hi & welcome. The problem that comes to my mind would be head room if you built the floor up even a few inches. I think I would go down. It might be easier and quicker to frame & insulate the skirting. I do like the idea of Hot water heat. Greg

[Yanita]

Hi,

A few things that come to mind for me is...

When having a raised floor you will also need to compensate for the space you will loose under your interior doors. If your home is designed with "short doors this is the cold air return for your furnace. Also you will/might run into problems with your exterior doors opening.

Then of course comes the infamous water leaks that always seem to happen even when new plumbing is installed. How would you access it with destroying your entire floor.

JMO,

Yanita