Over-engineering

[TheEricG]

Hi. This is my first post and I have been reading a lot of the other members posts. I have not seen much in the way of over-engineering, a term I use meaning to engineer it to be stronger then originally designed.


I have a late 1970's single wide trailer at 55 feet in fairly good condition. I am on a concrete pad and have the proper footings to code for the north-east. My floors have some soft spots and a little bit of sagging. Overall I am level but I am predicting problems in the near future.

I figure since I need to do some repairs, I will not only repair but make it stronger. Since weight is always an issue I plan on doing some additional bracing between the footings.
What I would like to do is over-engineer the floor to make it stronger and capable of withstanding a heavier load. Cost is a issue but if I do it a section at a time, I don't think I will mind the expense.

I was wondering if anybody else has any experience reinforcing and strengthening their homes and how they did it.
My current plan subject to change, as all plans do.
Phase 1 floor

1. Check my footings and make sure they are good, adjust as necessary.
2. Starting in the front living room, I will work from the underside to reinforce the flooring while. adding steel jacks to handle the additional weight. I plan on sistering up the joists, add bracing and overall strength. I want a floor that can support heavy walls and maybe tile flooring in the kitchen and bathroom. Plus, with weather getting more extreme I am considering roof loads from heavy wet snow.
3. I plan on running metal conduit under the trailer to the areas I plan on having electrical outlets. Just the conduit at this point. Straight up through the walls and capped off at a junction box.
( while inspecting the electrical lines I found chaffed 220volt lines and chaffing on the original installed 110 volt copper wiring. Even found lose wiring pushed into the terminals on the back of the outlet and not attached at the screw terminals. It's got me worried.
Just to be clear I have fixed what I can, but the wiring runs up into the ceiling and I have no idea what it looks like up there. I do plan on having an electrician make the final connections after the conduit is in place.
4. Ductwork. Patch and insulate as nessesary.
5. Plumbing. It's all new pex , so I might just insulate it better and reroute it as nessesary. Currently there is a line running above the floor behind my electric stove. Just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. It's got to be moved soon.
6. Insulate insulate insulate. I want my floors warm. This will include updating the membrane to high quality Tyvek

I have a few restrictions to consider. I live with my son who is 4. So I have to keep the home livable at all times or be able to complete the work in a weekend if the work will affect the living space. This is why I am working from the underside and have not included replacing the particle board used on the flooring. That will come later.

I am a novice and will be going about this carefully. I am also stubborn and have to do this myself if I want it done correctly. I know I will make mistakes, but I know I will do the pain in the butt job of fixing my mistakes.

With this plan in mind, what would you change. Where would you start? How would you go about doing it?

So I will stop here, and see what advice I can get from all of you. Would love to see if anybody did this and how they did I it!

[Greg]

As far as floor joists, you should be fine with what you have. By changing the subfloor, you most likely have particle board to plywood will make a big difference. Particle board is nothing but glued sawdust so when it gets wet it just falls apart.

Electrical, mobiles are known for electrical issues. check all of the outlets & switches for pushed in connectors and "Uniboxes" change them to traditional boxes & outlets/switches.

Ductwork, you may find is one step heavier than tin foil, if you can patch them fine otherwise look at replacing them.

Plumbing, PEX is the way to go, move lines if needed when you do the ducts.

Insulation is designed to hang under the joists creating an air space around the joists to keep the pipes warm.

Greg

[JD]

A good way to strengthen floor joist is to add blocking between the joists. I also had a customer whose front load washing machine, would shake the home. I added 2 adjustable steel piers with a 4x6x8' under the W/D. Added some blocking and there was no shake at all. I have done this same thing with a large safe.

[Steve-WA]

Wow, what would make a safe shake like that? Wink

[TheEricG]

I have the same problem. I feel the whole place shake. I sit in the front room, and the washer and dryer are all the way by the back bed room, in the hallway. I can feel the vibration through the whole house.
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I had planned on starting some of the work on the home today. But of course, living in New Jersey, and having no luck whatsoever, we are currently experiencing an Artic Blast that is just freezing everything. I don't want to go under the trailer in the cold. There was even a public alert to stay indoors and also to check on the elderly.

I even encountered my first frozen fuel filter issue. I woke up to no heat this morning. Fixed it with a blow dryer. But that lead to other problems. I guess the cold was to much for my radiator on my truck. Blew a Radiator hose ( or the radiator itself ) warming it up. Guess it was frozen solid. Nice puddle of Radiator fluid underneath. SIgh. Not going anywhere till I get a ride.

I was thinking of buying an electric blanket or heat tape for the oil lines. Wrap it up with some insulation if the heat tape directions allow it. Got to fix this ASAP.

I will keep posting updates as I begin my project to Over-Engineer my trailer. I have been looking for a sketch up program to draw out some plans to share. The ball is rolling....