Flooring

[Guest]

Recently my boyfriend's 1999 mobile home floor got flooded (broken water hose on the washer) when he was out of town. He's pulled up all of the carpet and he has several holes throughout the house as well as bumps. It seems like a total loss to me. I know nothing about home repair, especially mobile homes, so I am guessing he has to replace the insulation, sub-floor and the actual flooring. Is that correct? Also, can just anyone who does flooring (Home Depot or Lowe's) replace floors in mobile homes or should I look for someone with experience? He lives near Austin, Texas, so I'm guessing we could find someone. I hope this doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Thanks!

[Yanita]

Hi,

All the damaged flooring will have to be removed, since you mentioned bumps and humps then I am assuming you have particle board floors.

Floor/sub flooring is all the same in a MH, once you tear out the damaged wood you will see the insulation, remove that and you will see the belly material, make a slit in that and you see the ground.

Yes, whatever insulation that has gotten wet needs to be replaced to prevent mold mildew issues as well as it no longer has its R value once soaked.

Remove all finished floor materials, (carpet, vinyl) and expose all damaged areas. Look under the home and if there is a sag in the belly material then make a small X in the center to let the water drain. Remove some skirting on both sides of the home to allow for good air circulation to help dry out the area.

This can be a DIY project if your boyfriend has any experience with a few hand tools. I suggest the purchase of Mark;s Repair Manual in the books/parts link above. There are many great reviews posted on site.

Welcome to the site and sorry for your troubles.

~Yanita~

[Guest]

Thank you so much for your response. I have already purchased the book and from reading the posts on this board I know it will be a great resource for him. Thanks!

Janet

[JD]

The floor covering can be laid by anyone in the flooring business that you trust. Home Depot and Lowe's can be safe bets, only because you can complain if the work is not acceptable and they have the ability to redo the work. I know this is not always the case though. Just look at the complaints filed on the internet about them. Unless you know someone personally, quality of the install can vary greatly.

But the replacement of the particle board (use plywood for replacement) can be done by DIY. If you do not have a good contractor that you know, the quality of the repair could be bad enough to be unacceptable. You can use Mark's book to do this work yourself or use the information to tell the contractor exactly what you expect him to do, then use the information to inspect the work.

JD

[Guest]

Had the same exact thing to happen over a 3 day weekend away from home. With the help of Mark's book and the support of the rest of MHR forum the job got done and it was remarkably easier than I thought. I am a 39 year old single mom of 2 kids and we (myself and my then 13 year old daughter) did ours by ourselves. It is documented in great detail in the old forum and I invite you to visit my pics. Everything needs to come out as far as the floor though. Once damaged or touched by the moisture you have only headache to deal with later if you do not. Also keep in mind that in some MH's that the walls are built after the structure is built. When you cut the floor out of the room affected it may also affect an adjoining room as well. Mine happened to go under the wall of the kitchen and follow to my living room and front door area which is on the same side and same wall as where the leak originated (and pooled after saturation). Your insulation and anything that would hold water needs to be replaced as it is a breeding ground for mold and for bacteria at that point. Did it get into your duct work? I had read another MH repair book, but without Mark's and this forum I would have been stumped by mine. In Mark's book he also tells of some of the scarcely found, but existing floor constructions that vary a bit from the standard. Once we tore out the floor (clearing out all the damage it the hardest - the redo is a breeze after that) we found ours wasn't exactly like what the other book had shown but Mark's covered it (every 3rd beam was a "T" beam and lower once the particle/OSB - mine had both - was cleared away). Due to the extent of the damage to the floor it was not detectable until it came time to rebuild the floor. The 5 lines from Mark's book made it worth every cent! It is a possible job in even semi-skilled hands. Thanks to MHR and my own elbow grease, my kitchen floor and entry way are constructed far better than they had been at original construction. When re-doing your floor though...PLYWOOD is a must and worth the slight extra cost. I got 23/32 tongue and groove from Lowe's in 4x8's and there was less than $1.99 sheet difference between it and the floor thickness OSB in same size. When in doubt go with the top choice...you will not be sorry! One of the guys on here was nice enough to make me a detailed list of materials of what I would need, what I definitely HAD to have, and what I could bend/substitute with. If you are interested in a copy for an idea of what to expect since you dimensions are different I will gladly email you a copy if you would like.