belly insulation

[koreilly42]

does it really make a difference if you stuff insulation between the floor joists? I am have a hard time retaining heat in my home, got to love New England winters. I plan on replacing the insulation in the spring time. Just wanted to know.....

[flcruising]

It's alot of work if you do it alone (I did). If you have help and everything on hand, it would be much easier. Most on here would not recommend it since you would have to freeze protect your plumbing pipes. But since cold weather is not our problem here in Florida, simple pipe insulation works fine for me. I can tell you first hand that the half of my house I've done (we have a doublewide) has noticeably warmer floors than the half without. If you'd like further information on the approach I took, just let me know.

[Yanita]

Hi,

If your insulation is not damaged under the home I would leave well enough alone, BUT, if it is pulled down, the underbelly fabric damaged then I would go ahead with replacement and repairs. As for the placement of your insulation, it is always best if you replace it the way it was installed.

Your water lines run parallel to your heat ducts. Both must be covered by insulation in order for the radiant heat from the ducts to help prevent freezing of water lines.

You should check your home for other potential sources of heat loss. Caulking around windows, doors, check weather stripping around doors. make sure the register boots are not allowing cold air to enter from around them and the sub floor. You can also install insulators for your outlets and switches on all exterior walls, this makes a huge difference in alot of homes.

There are many tips in various threads. Also make sure that your skirting is in good repair and that your skirting vents have been closed for the winter.

Yanita

[Greg]

As Yanita said, you need a degree of air flow between the belly and the floor joists to warm the plumbing. Greg

[DavidW]

Are there any belly insulation systems on the market for mobile homes?

I patched a couple of holes using Owens-Corning R19 and (2) layers of heavy plastic tarp, stabled to the bottom of the joists.

It's holding up okay, but I wonder if there is something else available. I want to keep this M.H. and keep it tight.

The OEM fabric is showing its age and will need to be replaced.

[Yanita]

Hi,

Welcome to the site. If you check out our Book/Parts link you will see belly repair kits.

Yanita

[Greg]

Check your skirting and make sure it is tight, you need to keep the bottom of your home as tight as possible, Some here also insulate the skirting. Greg

[DavidW]

Thanks for pointing me to the repair kits/supplies.

Using the tape would be a bad bandaid, since it appears the OEM material is starting to deteriorate from age (23 years old).

The OEM material is sandwiched in between the metal chassis and the joists, so using part number 5040 (cut-to-size) does not seem possible.

I will keep those part numbers in mind, for whatever repair is made.

What I need is something that will install between the transverse metal supports (under the joists).

Am I missing something in understanding how to replace the belly material?

[Yanita]

Well yeah, kind of. Do a search here on site on belly repairs. In the task menu is the search button. Many folks here have repaired/patched or replaced the underbelly fabric.

Another thought, consider purchasing our repair Manuel. Whether you hire out your work or do your repairs on your own this manual is worth the modest fee.

Also check out some of the profiles or the photo albums, there are many pics in there to help.

Oh, and about loving New England..I do, just could not take those winters any longer!

Yanita

[phurst]

I bought the repair manual that is sold under the books & Parts link and was probably the best thing I ever did. I think that if you paid the $30 and read the section on underbelly repair it would save you lots of $$$ and tell you exactly how to repair large areas of your underbelly section by section. hope this helps!! it did me with my underbelly repairs

BTW it gives you all kinds of other repair ideas also. click on the more info link and read the table of contents it tells you whats in it