floor insulation

[Bernmeister]

Hey all. I recently purchased an older mobile home in need of repair & since we are now living here i want to start off with the floors. It has the original particle board floors (uggg!) this place has the I beam frame & it looks as if somebody layed sheets of paneling over the lower part of the beam and set the insulation on top of it. is this normal procedure to insulate the floors? over the years some of the wood has fallen and the insulation has also. I thought of using something something like plastic so it wouldnt rot away but i'm afraid it would hold moisture and eventually rot the new floors.

would anyone have any advice?
thanks
Bernie.

[Brenda (OH)]

Hi Bernie,

the paneling is often a temporary fix, low tech, what concerns me more it that it failed.

underbelly material and insulation missing in an area is often a sign of plumbing problems or other water leaks of some kind. the insulation gets wet and the weight pulls the underbelly and insulation off the home. often, there is a plumbing t connection that caused the leak. there was a type of gray plastic plumbing pipe that was used in the 1980s that was so bad for leaking at connections there was a class action suit, but no more money is being given out from that.
sometimes you can use new connectors on the gray pipe. the better option it to replace it with pex.

you should do the plumbing repairs first, and while that is going on, using a sheet of paneling can be a decent way to keep some critters out of the underbelly.

there are much better underbelly repair options than the paneling for long term, and lots of past posts in the archives....

Brenda (OH)

[Greg]

Hi & welcome. Older homes used Buffalo board for the underbelly. It was a soft fiber sheet. It is possible that someone replaced that with paneling.

You are 100% correct about using plastic, It would be OK as a temporary emergency patch, but I would not want to leave it very long. Some here have used Tyvec (house wrap) and Mark, the site owner has OE belly wrap in the site's store.

As Brenda said, now would be the time to make sure everything in the floors, Plumbing, heating ducts and insulation are in good shape before sealing things up.

The underbelly is the last line of defense when it comes to critters, You need skirting that is intact with no holes to keep them out. Greg