Underelly alternative

Repair help for the do-it-yourselfer.
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Ktu52
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:13 pm

Sorry read as many posts as I could and many get close but none answer why can't I use an alternative to the underbelly design.
Double wide fully wrapped with conventional siding and sitting on a concrete motared block foundation. AC has been moved to the crawl space and it seems that most if not All of the duct work is below belly. in north Ga where yes the dog bowl can freeze over night,but it would take a longer freeze to feeze it in the crawl space. The belly is a huge PIA. This one is original 1982 so it s not new and the cuts may have been properly paired by they don't last forever. We aren't in the house a lot of the time - 2nd home. We got the dead animal back in May and since June we have had it's fleas.

I would really like to cut out the belly and replace it with an alternative. Couldn't I cut out the belly and replace with typical batts or iscyonene spray foam? I could put that split foam wrap with the sticky seal on the supply lines and wrap the drains with that flexible foam wrap (several layers) or 3 1/2 " fibrglass batts and then wrap that to stay in place. Evything with the belly seems to be doomed to failure with the introduction of animals. while I like this house, it is the traditional parts of the mobile home that I don't like. I just feel that it'd I could get rid of this belly some way, I would be a lot happier. Please help me by warning me of the probes that I will encounter so I can figure solutions ahead of time.
joedirt63
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:57 am
Location: Pocono Lake, P A
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Hello, I would think that if you insulated the floor space with spray foam then panel it off would be good, but pray you don't have to do any floor work or plumbing work under the house.. maybe just use batt insulation and close up with panels, build a cover around the duct work with 1 1/2 inch foam panels use heat tape around water lines and drains,and as long as your going that far replace the skirting with metal or solid panels and use foam board insulation on the back of each panel. that should make it critter proof and seal the crawl space some what.
"a man has got to know his limitations", clint eastwood. " i haven't found mine yet," me
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Greg
Moderator
Posts: 5696
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

Steel Skirting!! When it is installed correctly any critter that chews through it I don't want to mess with.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
Ktu52
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:13 pm

joedirt63 wrote:Hello, I would think that if you insulated the floor space with spray foam then panel it off would be good, but pray you don't have to do any floor work or plumbing work under the house.. maybe just use batt insulation and close up with panels, build a cover around the duct work with 1 1/2 inch foam panels use heat tape around water lines and drains,and as long as your going that far replace the skirting with metal or solid panels and use foam board insulation on the back of each panel. that should make it critter proof and seal the crawl space some what.
Couple of questions:
Why do you feel it necessary to place panels under the joist? and I presume that those panels would go onto teh bottom of the floor joists just like wallboard onto a stud? does it need closing off? If so, could't I just staple nylon tarp to the bottom of the joists with no sag. Guess if I was going to attach anything to the bottom of the joist I would wAnt something rigid. I am thinking that the 6 in batt would be much cheaper. About half the cost.

How does one tell how much insulation around the pipes would be enough for one's locale?
mdnagel
Posts: 187
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:39 am

Ah, back to a similar project for me... had to put the repair of my back door and rim joist on hold while I did some major work on my shed. Anyway, look like I've also got a lot of bellywrap repair to do (the previous owner has a big blue tarp hung up in one spot), in addition to trying to figure out what to do about replacing some skirting. Two issues that "appear" to tie in with this thread...

My home sits on a concrete slab (no problems with it as far as I can tell). Skirting is T1-11 and the base plate (whatever you call it) is pressure treated (good). Rot has set in at the bottoms of several of the skirting panels. The slab sticks out and water, evidently, tends to collect at the lower edges of the skirting: I've seen some traces of silicone in places, so maybe that's what they thought was good enough?

Question: (please direct this elsewhere if it's not proper to post here) How do I reduce future rot in such panels, is there something that I can/should do when I go to repair?

Oh, and the bellywrap, I will be buying the mending tape, just don't know yet how much I'll be needing. Hope that there's not a huge portion of the wrap removed from where the tarp is.
process_server
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:11 pm

Use Hardi-plank for skirting instead of pressure treated wood. Hardi plank is basically thin concrete sheets which makes them essentially impervious to water and fire damage. In other words, Hardi plank will never rot.
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