HELP!! Water in Floor Insulation

[FLIENLOW]

Hi all-

Long story short, I bought a mobile for a rehab. My agent was an "Mobile Home Expert" and inspected the mobile. said all looked good. I know....I know....

Anyway.. Here is what is happening. Apparently the roof was leaking ( LOTS OF MOSS ON IT.) Water must have been damming on the roof and penetrating structure. It ran down some walls, and molded up the drywall. Well it also wicked into the particle board floor at the front door and in bedroom closet. So... pull up floor and replace? Well here is the issue, I have standing water under the insulation.
The water ran in the house, hit the vapor barrier underneath and is pooling up in the middle of the structure. I am not sure how to tackle this?

I have taken out 5 feet of flooring in the entry room. All of the insulation is soaxing wet (as far as we can reach.) The upper layer of insulation where the floor is not bow or showing issue of visible moisture damage is fine, but there is standing water on the lower layers of insulation. In the middle of the floor the vapor barrier is sagging down thus creating a well. Since the vapor barrier is seamless AND above the steel beams. I am not sure if I should keep cutting out floor or remove the vapor barrier.

DO I:

a. Keep removing sub floor above and pull insulation our and dry vapor barrier?

b. Do i go underneath the house and slice the vapor barrier in the middle, pull out the insulation, reinsulate, and then tape the vapor barrier back together?


Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated.

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[1987Commodore]

Well, if the floor is pressed sawdust, which it looks like, I would replace it all with plywood to stave off any future issues. Moisture will turn it to mush. Just me, but I would prefer working from the top, rather than lying underneath. Easier to place the insulation from the top than overhead from below.Plus, you can add proper cross blocking for strength and nailing for the new floor. If you have to do further floor replacement, better to do it now than tearing up a finished floor.

[Greg]

Once the insulation is wet, it is garbage and needs to be replaced. You need to get air moving and get things dried out to prevent further damage and mold.

Not sure about the floor joists from the pictures, but if there is any question sister new joists in as long as the floor is up.

Greg

[1987Commodore]

Also, if that deck is at the same level as the threshold, and attached to the home, it could be one cause of the water intrusion. Take a good look at the rim joist.

[FLIENLOW]

Thanks Greg- I went down and slit the underbelly in a few places yesterday and got rained on. I will let it dry for a few days while I look for a contractor to replace it. That may be me, but we'll see what I can dig up.

1987Commodore - I am very suspicious of this. I need to demo the front deck which is at threshold level AND angles toward the house. ( I dont get how some people build stuff.)


Guys any suggestions on the best way to re insulate? Seems simple, but I am new to mobiles so figured I would ask.

Also, any suggestions for repairing the underbelly? I have seen spray patching vs a tape patching.

Also where is a good place to buy?

Thanks so much!

[1987Commodore]

One place is in the "Books & Parts" link at the top of the forum page.
When you rebuild the deck, make it a freestanding unit.

[Greg]

LOTS of posts on underbelly repair, JD uses a method of spray & tape that works well for him, others use belly tape & a heat gun.

Insulation, stay with fiberglass if you can and remember that it is designed to hang under the joists to allow for heat movement during the winter.

Greg

[FLIENLOW]

What about using Spray foam insulation. Could one use that?

[Norm Frechette]

What about using Spray foam insulation. Could one use that?

heres my take on foam insulation

in order for my father to receive energy assistance from the state of Connecticut, he was required to have an energy audit. after it was completed, the state replaced two less than energy efficient windows with new energy efficient windows, changed out numerous incandescent light bulbs with cfl light bulbs and required the underside of his mobile home to be spray foamed. (yes, over the belly material)

so now several years later, the federal government required the mobile home park owner to convert from propane tank to natural gas. (the park owner supplied all of the mobile homes with propane from large 500-1000 gallon tanks) the city of Norwich is running all of the natural gas lines throughout the park, right up to and including the new gas meter.

now every mobile home in the park has to be converted from propane to natural gas

so guess what, the conversion contractor my father hired is now having a very hard time chipping away at the spray foam insulation to find places to attach the pipe hangers for the black iron gas line

later on, if any work under that home is to be done its going to be a bitch to get at because of the mandated spray foam insulation.

you could use spray insulation but why would you. think of future access problems if you do

your best option is what others have mentioned

open up all of the water damaged flooring, remove all water soaked insulation and completely dry out the cavity.

if you need to cut out a portion of the belly wrap then so be it. it will pay off in the long run to do it right

[Greg]

What about using Spray foam insulation. Could one use that?

I would be very hesitant using foam spray. In cold regions you need to have warm air flowing under the floor to keep the pipes from freezing. Spray foam would block the air from getting to the pipes.

Greg

[FLIENLOW]

All- First and foremost, thank you so much for all the advice I am getting here. I cant tell you how much I appreciate it!

I will just suck it up and remove all the insulation, and replace.

Unfortunately for you all, I am stumped on a few issues and have more questions.

1. for a newbie, what would be the best underbelly patch method to go with?

2. I have read to not worry about replacing the particle board underneath the wall.(Just cut up flush, block out and replace.) The issue is that the wall seems to be sagging, and appears to be undulating. Maybe its just me or that the board that is not under the load between studs is slightly bowing up? Should this be a concern?

3. Replace with 3/4 in particle board or 23/32 plywood?

4. One of the walls in the closet seems to be floating. In other words, when I removed the rotten particle board, there was nothing carrying it. Just wedge new board underneath and tap it under? that maybe a bear.

5. I need a new electric hot water tank. Are there and special considerations I should take when selecting a new one? Or Just go to the home store and grab one that will fit?

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to do the best job that I can.

Thanks again!!

[ponch37300]

All- First and foremost, thank you so much for all the advice I am getting here. I cant tell you how much I appreciate it!

I will just suck it up and remove all the insulation, and replace.

Unfortunately for you all, I am stumped on a few issues and have more questions.

1. for a newbie, what would be the best underbelly patch method to go with?

2. I have read to not worry about replacing the particle board underneath the wall.(Just cut up flush, block out and replace.) The issue is that the wall seems to be sagging, and appears to be undulating. Maybe its just me or that the board that is not under the load between studs is slightly bowing up? Should this be a concern?

3. Replace with 3/4 in particle board or 23/32 plywood?

4. One of the walls in the closet seems to be floating. In other words, when I removed the rotten particle board, there was nothing carrying it. Just wedge new board underneath and tap it under? that maybe a bear.

5. I need a new electric hot water tank. Are there and special considerations I should take when selecting a new one? Or Just go to the home store and grab one that will fit?

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to do the best job that I can.

Thanks again!!

1. For "cuts" that are straight you can use flexmend tape, Mark sells it in the store part of the site. It's a special tape that sticks good to the belly material. Clean the area really good and then use the tape to seal up the cut. I usually use a piece ran perpendicular to the cut to hold the two sides together and then a piece right along the cut to seal it up. Use a heat gun to help it stick. If there is a hole or anything more then a straight line cut then you most likely will need some belly material and can spray adhesive it in place or Mark also sells a 28" wide flexmend repair tape.

2. Most likely if the wall is sagging it's because it runs parallel to the floor joists and is just on the damaged particle board. So when the board is compromised and weak from water or whatever then the wall sags. I ran into this recently. There are a couple of options when you run into this. If you can you can try to lift the wall and slid a new piece of sheathing under it. Or you can run some 2x4s under the wall and use a 3/4" spacer under the wall to support it. Then just run your sheathing up to the wall. All depends on the situation.

3. Don't use particle board again. Use Plywood, or at a minimum OSB.

4. See my reply to number 2.

5. Is the water heater inside or have an outside door? If it's inside then you can use pretty much any electric water heater.

[Greg]

About the ONLY thing particle board is good for is filling dumpsters!!!

Greg

[FLIENLOW]

About the ONLY thing particle board is good for is filling dumpsters!!!

Greg

After mining a bunch of that nasty stuff out, I tend to agree with you Greg!