Skirting Vents?

[Greg]

Where abouts did you find one Annie? I know you were looking in the Utica/Rome area before.

Greg

[terrifromohio]

Norm,

My skirting looks exactly like what you showed in your previous post. I have it all the way around and it is not insulated either.
Like I said even this past winter at -40 and tons of snow I had no problems, but the underbelly is good and sealed up.
Had OSB board up before that rotted from the bottom up over the years and just literally fell apart.

[Annie410]

I'm going to be in New Hartford, Greg. The home is in a park, at least for now.

[thatswhoiam]

The following is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyhomes/manufac ... ctures.pdf


Crawl space foundations are typically ventilated to allow
water vapor to escape from the area under the dwelling.
In humid climates, however, crawl space ventilation
can actually increase moisture levels in the crawl space
because, during the hot/humid months of the year, the
vents allow moist air to enter from outdoors. Humidity in
the crawl space air then condenses on cool surfaces like
air-conditioning ducts or the cool underside of the floor
sheathing. This condensation can accumulate to cause
mold, rot, and attract termites and other pests. Soaked
insulation from the condensation may also fall out of
the floor system, leaving the floor system both wet and
uninsulated.


someone mentioned earlier in this thread that they were worried if water that collects under the home won't be able to evaporate if the skirting is unvented. from what i understand, the key is to take all measures to prevent the water from getting there in the first place. if water is consistently finding its way under the home, no amount of ventilation will effectively remedy that situation.

[Annie410]

From what we saw looking under the home several times, that shouldn't be an issue where I am, the park has done an excellent job with drainage. Yes, it does get humid here in the summer to some extent, and having lived in the northeast all my life, rare is the summer where it lasts for weeks at a time. Anyone else in the northeast care to chime in? I am completely new to owning a mobile home and I am relying on everyone here for a good deal of information.

[ponch37300]

There are a couple issues "worth discussing" as that article says. The problem with that article is that it assumes you can get a perfect seal and keep out all moisture and stop all air flow, that's impossible. So now you're left with a couple options. Either seal it up the best you can and cross your fingers that zero moisture will get under your house(once again impossible) because any moisture that gets in either through humid air getting in small cracks or other sources won't be able to dry out without proper ventilation. Or you can vent the space and get a good air flow going under there. I guess the choice is up to each of us and all we can do is do our research and make the best choice we can.

But here are some real world examples that you can apply. Have you ever put a fan blowing on a damp surface? That surface will evaporate faster with the fan, or being vented. Even if the fan is blowing hot and humid air. Or take a black rubbermaid tub and put a little water in it and close the lid. Check it in a week and see if the water is still there. It will be since it has nowhere to go. Where if you leave the lid off it will evaporate. Or close all your windows in your house when it's hot and humid out and see how the air inside gets, and the moisture that will form on the windows and other areas. Now open your windows, in other words vent your house and see if the temp and moisture levels come down or go up. They will come down. These are real world examples of how venting works.

[thatswhoiam]

i think the only way the non vented would possibly work is to be super vigilant about keeping water as far away from the crawlspace as possible, and i know first hand this isn't easy.

i do agree that once the water or excess moisture is present, it has to be vented out.

[Annie410]

Great points, ponch! The thing I noticed, is none of the homes in the community have vented skirting, when we replaced mine, there was one vented panel in the front, not even the minimum for adequate venting, thankfully everything looks good underneath.

[Annie410]

An update to this post now that I survived the winter.

One thing I noticed only after the vented skirting was installed had to do with my floors. In the first weeks I had noticed my kitchen floor felt *sticky* and I mopped, and mopped again, nothing helped. After the vented skirting was installed, the floors were no longer feeling like I would stick with every step, and I realized it was from the humidity. Living in a leaky old farmhouse all my life, I had never dealt with this. I did send someone underneath to check things again, it all looks good. There was one issue with a frozen pipe, on the back wall in the master bedroom bath where the wind blows at the home, so I'll be looking into some insulation for next winter. I'm guessing the cold floors are a trait of the mobile home, but still, the electric/gas bill here was 1/3 of what I paid in my farmhouse for heat alone.

[Greg]

Cold floors ARE a problem in Mobiles, but you need to remember also that this was the coldest winter on record here.

Greg

[Annie410]

If this was the coldest on record, and it was still warmer by 10-15 degrees than where I lived before, I can deal with it!

[ponch37300]

If you only had one frozen pipe you should take a look at that pipe and try to figure out why that particular one froze. Usually there is a pretty simple reason. For example a couple years back I had a kitchen sink pipe that kept freezing. Went under to look and when I replaced the kitchen sink my PEX supply line dropped down a couple inches and was basically sitting on top of the belly material. I didn't notice this from above and didn't even think about pulling the pex supply line up when adding the new shut off valve and new flex lines to the sink. All I had to do was pull it up a couple inches so it was closer to the subfloor then the belly and zip tied it to the drain and all as good. Usually there is a simple of either adding a little insulation or fixing the belly material.

I did a few repairs for neighbors around the park this winter when it was below zero. Wasn't fun but they were easy fixes for the most part. One was a shower drain that kept freezing. I got under there and found that at some point someone replumbed the drain and it wasn't sloped right. They added some crappy insulation and heat tape which had been long unplugged. Just tossed some band aids at it instead of fixing it right. I redid it all and sloped it correct and tied it into the main drain at a different spot and they didn't have anymore problems the rest of the winter. And they don't need the heat tape on the drain anymore. Another was a frozen kitchen supply line. Found a spot where the belly material was compromised where someone added a supply line for the ice maker. They just ran the line from the kitchen sink down and out the floor and to the other side of the trailer to the fridge. The line was below the belly and they insulated it and used heat tape. I re ran the ice maker line inside the belly material so it wouldn't freeze and they don't have to use the heat tape and worry about that failing. Then patched up the belly and added some insulation and no more problems the rest of the year. I'm not a fan of heat tape besides the main supply line. I don't like when people have try to use it everywhere just because it's easier then doing the job right.

[Annie410]

Thanks ponch, I'm going to have someone get under there and look. Neither the shower or sink in that bathroom froze, but the shower is on an inside wall, so I found it a bit interesting, and given all I've learned on this forum, I may be under there taking a peek too. The wind was fierce against that wall, and given I put the vented skirting in, I wonder if that had anything to do with the problem. Oddly, my daughter bought a home one street over from me, and her shower did freeze, so we do have some work to do this summer. If anyone ever decides to have classes on the basics of mobile home maintenance and repair, we are there if it's close enough!

[ponch37300]

I'm betting you will find something obvious that will be the reason for your shower freezing. Either a compromise in the belly material or pipe hanging down on belly material or maybe even insulation that has gotten wet in the past and isn't working as it should. Sometimes if the plumbing is at the edge of the trailer the belly space is thinner there and sometimes the insulation isn't that good or has moved. You might have to cut the belly open to look into it. Make sure you have some belly repair material on hand if you do need to cut into the belly at all. But usually a quick inspection will lead you to something. If not take some pictures while you're down there and post them up and maybe one of us can see something.

For basics Mark has a pretty good book in the forum shop. I bought a copy when I first started working on mobilehomes. But feel free to ask questions on the forum. Even if you don't have an immediate problem and just want to post something to learn. I really wish I had the time and patience and knowledge to video tape some of the repairs I do and then edit them and put them on youtube to help others. Just don't have the time or knowledge of how to create videos.

[Annie410]

Thank you, ponch, I'll get some belly repair material just in case, it's probably good to have some on hand, I would think.

I can empathize about the videos, they would be great to have, but the learning curve is steep. I'm just thankful to have people here to answer questions.