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I'm having a HUGE problem with moisture in my ground under my trailer, mainly under my kitcken but I also have wet dirt in other spots causing the dreaded MOLD all under & on my bellyboard. I noticed all of this when I was repairing my bellyboard before it got soo cold but now I'm at a stand still until it gets warmer here (NJ). Questions are- how do I grade my property to get the water from running under the home & from along the trailer sides when it rains? Do I put up a overhang all over my roof to get the water away from running down the sides & how is this done? (no I dont have gutters & I dont want them) (There is a tiny part in the book on it but not complete instructions on where it gets attached- if it will cause problems with pulling on the roof etc..) The kitchen where its the worst, there is hardly any room to move underneath but yet the back you stoop down to walk around. Is that the problem- the dirts too close to the belly? There is no vapor barrier on the ground & it is all dirt with white rocks, which seems to be nearly gone. I know this is a huge repair & one thats not going to be fun to fix as well as having to replace the whole bellyboard & insulation b/c of the mold which I'm highly allergic to ( I have rotted wood where the bottom starter panel (I think-bottom sill) is (right above the part the skirting channel gets attached to) b/c the water runs from the roof under the skirting b/c its not tight, nor in other spots around my home either.. ugh what a mess & expensive mess this will be to fix.... PLEASE any & all suggestions on how to fix this inexpensively would be awesome as I live by myself & am on a tight budget Thank you.
ALSO... I figured out all of this b/c I had mushrooms growing underneath my flooring where my dishwasher was & also next to my stove & the wall.... no leaks as we can tell... SOO this is all from the mositure underneath the home & the floor held it in & trapped it causing the mushrooms to grow... I havent had a floor on my kitchen in MONTHS ... just the wood... I hate it!! But I want to fix this moisture problem before I put the floor back & have the samething happen again ...
Betty, the easiest & cheapest way out is plastic sheets. Buy some thick like 6 mil plastic sheets or rolls and lay them out under your home. This acts as a moisture barrier between the ground & the bottom of your home.
The other thing needed is ventilation, under normal conditions you want 1sq/ft of ventilation per 100sq/ft of floor space, more in damp areas.
Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
Thanks Greg, but will this stop the mold & mildew from growing under the trailer & onto the belly board? How will that fix the problem if water is still running & sitting under there? I do have vented skirting all around my whole trailer (BESIDES in the front & in the back directly) the only reason being the back is completely boarded up, which is whats holding the siding up back there & in the front the gap from the skirting track is soo tight -the maintence people couldnt get them out, nor could I (I've tried) to put the vented skirting there. I don't want to just patch the problem even though I dont have much money to fix this, I do need to make sure it will fix it for good- I HOPE & I can put my kitchen floor back together!!
Plastic may not be a 100% fix, but for the cost I think it will be the best way to help solve the problem. Water & ground moisture will not come through the plastic, and any water that does run under the home will not soak into the ground. A fan may help get air moving also. I have 2 removable 3'x2' panels that I pull for the summer & replace with screened panel to allow better air flow.
If you have water running under your home than some regrading or adding some perforated pipe to divert the water may be needed. Are you in a park of your own land? If you are in a park they may be willing to help.
Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
I am in a park & because they have done soo much since I moved in with fixing things, the owner said hes not fixing anything else.... SO I didnt ask about this problem- as I just found out about it maybe a month ago (
If youre getting mushrooms under the home where the dishwasher is located, is it possible that you have a leak(or a former leak) from somewhere in that area, keeping it damp under there???
Based on your description of your lot, sloping to the rear of the home, you should not be having moisture problems under the home unless the yard at the kitchen end is directing the water under the house. I would start by taking a close look at the grade and making sure the ground is all sloped away from the home. I would also dig a trench around the house against the skirting about a foot wide and install a "Big O" drainage pipe extending out the rear of the home at the low end of the lot. Fill the trench with gravel and your moisture problem should be solved assuming you have adequate ventilation.
If the land does not slope toward the house then you problem is most likely caused by inadequate ventilation.
An individual must enforce his own meaning in life and rise above the perceived conformity of the masses. (Anton LaVey)
bob there is no leak that could be found underneath but as I said, the water runs directly under the home from the side; the water runs straight down the siding underneath which is why I asked about a hang-over added to the roof. I do have some type of grading problem, I think, my sidewalk is lower which is in front of my porch & makes a 90 degree angle with my home & the water sits there when it rains & it floods the doorway of the porch, which is where the water has been running in between the skirting & underneath b/c of the wood being rotted & its not a tight fit to the trailer. I really havent looked at the dirt underneath but theres alot more of it in the front of my home, where the kitchen is. I have hardly any room to move under there & then eventually in the back end theres room to stoop down to walk around & do work, I just wished it was all like that! Greg I dont mean to sound stupid but whats a "big O" drain? Sorry I'm new at the trailer ownership & I guess the lingo also! One problem there is I have a sidewalk almost the length of my right side of my trailer with a porch there- where the 2 doors are also.
Big O is a 4" drainage pipe with holes it it to allow water into the pipe and direct away from the house.
If the slope of the lot goes toward the house you definitely need to regrade and install the big O in the path of the water to direct it away from the home. Skirting is not designed to keep out water so you must not allow water to run toward the house.
If the sidewalk is low it will need to be removed and regraded as well as the area under the porch.
An individual must enforce his own meaning in life and rise above the perceived conformity of the masses. (Anton LaVey)
I had a similar problem and have been able to make it a lot better. First I put in rain gutters and downspouts that direct all the roof water away from the house. Otherwise all that water is running down the outside walls and soaking under the house. Also I put 6x6 pressure treated wood all around the perimeter which I attached the skirting to. I installed the wood higher than the surrounding soil on a bed of crushed rock and graded it away from the house. There's very little moisture underneath now. I don't have any plastic on the soil but it is dusty dry under there in the middle of winter. It's a little moist around the edges. You should never let water flow under there or pool up. I don't know how you would put plastic under there since you would want it to be under the piers. If you had to cut it to fit around all the piers it would be a huge amount of work and not a continuous vapor barrier. Seems like you would have to lift the whole thing and remove and replace all the piers.
I dont want gutters to have something else to maintence all the time with the leaves, are there gutters that can be closed in so nothing gets in them that aren't expensive & that I can do myself with installation??
There are vinyl lengths of gutters you can buy at Home Depot, install yourself and install a leaf guard over to keep out the leaves. Or simply clean them out once a year in the fall.
Expensive is a relative term only you can define.
To me they are not expensive and are invaluable for keeping water away from under the home. If you do not have them you are only likely to be partially successful in dealing with your moisture issues but they could be the solution to your entire problem.
An individual must enforce his own meaning in life and rise above the perceived conformity of the masses. (Anton LaVey)
( I have rotted wood where the bottom starter panel (I think-bottom sill) is (right above the part the skirting channel gets attached to) b/c the water runs from the roof under the skirting b/c its not tight, nor in other spots around my home either.. ugh what a mess & expensive mess this will be to fix.... PLEASE any & all suggestions on how to fix this inexpensively would be awesome as I live by myself & am on a tight budget 
