Need advice to prevent another disaster

steelworkersgal · Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:37 pm

This past January our water lines froze and shattered into tiny little slivers of cpvc pipe and it took forever to find someone to replace and repair our water lines, not to say it cost an arm and leg (the guy did not live up to what he told us he would do) plus he did not repair the under belly as the guy reneged on repairing the damage he did to the underbelly, he kept making excuses. I don't want a repeat this year. How can i safely heat the underneath to keep things from freezing. We finally found a contractor to repair the underbelly, but I'm afraid since the underbelly was compromised it may not keep things warm enough. If i install plastic sheeting around the perimeter of the skirting (staple it to the rim of the house), plus put insulated foam board between the skirting and plastic curtain will this fix the problem??? Thank you

Greg · Wed Nov 19, 2014 7:50 pm

Any insulation Is better than no insulation. If you can fully insulate the skirting you might be able to get by that way. Mark (site owner) has his fully insulated and claims that the temperature under his never gets below freezing in South Dakota. Check the Articles section, he had an article on it at one point.

Greg

steelworkersgal · Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:00 pm

Thanks Greg, I've read that post but i was wondering if there was anything more i could do. It was devastating to us when this happened because we could not get anyone to do the work and the only person we could get to commit was our older plumber but he raked us over the coals and then left us hanging because he never came back to button up the belly like he promised. So I had to hire someone after three months of trying to find someone to fix the mess he left us. Its like pulling teeth to find someone that is willing to work on your home and that does a good job and does it right. Okay I'm off my soap box now

Greg · Thu Nov 20, 2014 7:50 pm

OK, so I see an opportunity here for you. Your signature says it all, It is apparent that there is a lack of qualified Mobile home repair people if your area. Why not take a new career turn.

The bottom line is this, If the belly is left open the the cold you know what WILL happen. Anything that you can do will help. If you can insulate the skirting It will help a lot. Rigid foam is about the easiest to work with. I had 2 1/2" before I moved in addition to the belly insulation and never had a problem.

Greg

steelworkersgal · Fri Nov 21, 2014 9:49 am

Thanks Greg if i was a spring chick i would definitely consider taking on the challenge for that very reason. It takes a toll on a person of my age to try and crawl around under our home but i have done it many a times because i can not get anyone to come do the repairs. This weekend i did hire a young man to help me in putting up 1/2 inch foil foam board and 6 mill plastic curtain around the perimeter of our home to stop the winds and try and keep some warmth under there and i pray that will be enough

wellston · Fri Nov 21, 2014 11:25 am

I ran new Pex pipe inside of my heat runs
was easy and they will stay warm
just had to extend one run into the kitchen sink cabinet

steelworkersgal · Fri Nov 21, 2014 1:33 pm

The plumber i hired did a horrible job in re-plumbing our home and as of now there is nothing i can do unless i have a problem with the lines and i pray i will be able to find someone right away and not take 3 1/2 months to do it in like it did this last time.

ponch37300 · Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:48 pm

I'm one state North of you and as long as my underbelly is intact with no holes my pipes will not freeze. And I have vented skirting so the cold can get in. So as long as your belly insulation and underbelly material is good you shouldn't have any issues. The only time I have had an issue was when a cat or something tore a hole in my underbelly. And last year temps dipped way below freezing for weeks on end. Even with the vented skirting our pipes were fine.

Norm Frechette · Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:58 am

i have the same thing as ponch and have never had an issue with uninsulated and vented skirting in the 6 years i have lived in my home

underbelly is fully intact with no holes etc

steelworkersgal · Tue Nov 25, 2014 2:11 pm

Myself, my daughter and her friend helped me this weekend put insulation board under the perimeter of the house, while we were under there i found a few areas that i could see the pink insulation exposed so i taped them up. We could feel the wind move through the skirting and once we got the foam board up you immediately felt the difference, it was not as cold and no air moving around. I was so sore i could hardly move so we did not get the plastic sheeting up. That will be completed this coming up Saturday and the i pray that this will take care of the possibility of my water lines to freeze up. I'm also having new heat tape put on my main incoming water line since the plumber did not follow through with completing his job like he promised.

Greg · Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:30 pm

So, the new plumber is getting her help lined up!!!!

Greg

steelworkersgal · Wed Nov 26, 2014 9:39 am

I just hope they don't back out on me at the last minute . I don't think they realized what all was involved once they helped me last weekend but they didn't quit on me and boy was i thankful. Greg did you install your own heat tape and if you did, did you insult the pipe first or put the heat tape on then insulate the main pipe

thatswhoiam · Wed Nov 26, 2014 6:51 pm

of course it would be best to replace or repair the underbelly with the proper materials that are made for this, but for a quick fix, polyethylene sheets can be used. this can be purchased at most home improvement stores, it comes in various thickness (3 mil, 4 mil , 6 mil). I used the 4 mil because the 6 is too thick and stiff to work with. get some 3M adhesive spray (the green can) and measure out enough to cover one section, lay it on the ground under the area where u want it to stick to, spray some of the adhesive on the far end, use a broom to scoop it up and attach it to the far end of where u want it, pressing it down with the broom and hold it there for about a minute so it will stick. then spray some more and work your way up to the front.

i had to attach the plastic to the I-beams because there was no way around it. just make sure you clean off any dirt or debris off the thing , or otherwise , nothing will adhere to it.

if you just need to repair a section of the underbelly, this method should be pretty easy for you. using the broom (or something like it) to scoop the plastic up and press it down makes it more manageable than getting all the way under there.

Greg · Wed Nov 26, 2014 7:29 pm

The heat tape goes flat against the pipe, Don't wrap it around the pipe. I taped it every foot or so, then you wrap the insulation around it followed usually by plastic wrap to protect from water & wind.

Glad you found some good help, when do you open for business??

Greg

steelworkersgal · Mon Dec 01, 2014 2:15 pm

Got all the plastic sheeting underneath and over 2/3rd of it stapled up. We had to stop and we were going to finish up the next day. Our fingers were so sore and tender from removing staples that didn't connect to the wood and we had to remove them before we could continue on. I guess if you use the right size staples i would not of had that problem

. The next day we could not grasp the staple gun from the work we did the day before. It was like we lost all strength in our hands, i guess from being under there for so long with our hands and arms being up in the air. We were just a mess

. At least i don't have much more to do

. Greg I was lucky as they stuck by me the whole time we were under the house and they did not complain once and all it cost me was a couple of hamburgers.