underbelly modification

[Steve S.]

Hello All,
In light of the previous post by Haggs...it seems to me that the underbelly of our mobilehomes is terribly under-designed and causes a lot of headaches when problems occur , esp. during winter months.
Has anyone redesigned the "underside" to make things more easily accessible to repairs??
I have thought about this for a long time, and would like to remove the plastic belly wrap and install panels of some sort (like a hanging ceiling) just over the plumbing portion of the underside...
I know the pipes lie just beneath the floor joists so whatever you install would have to be suspended below the joists to contain the plumbing works. The panels could be removed individually to do a repair and then simply put back up afterwards with no haphazard taping which may or may not hold up in cold weather.
Just thinking and typing and wondering if anyone has tried something like this .

[Dean2]

Never tried that but thought of insulating the area around the water feed pipe up between the frame n such with rigid foam sheet material and maybe can foam in the hard to cut places then suspend something like insulation blankets(for concrete pouring in cold weather)down to the ground..In My case this would'nt be much cubic feet to partially/occasionally heat..So far tho My pipewrap and heat tape do the trick nicely and I'm not gonna fix it if it ai'nt broke..

I see what Yer sayin tho,,maybe drop some framing down a ways almost like a soffit and have removable rigid insulation on the sides and bottom,,just fit it tight and secure with clips that turn out of the way by hand,,no special tools to drag under for that..

Doing a good job with pipewrap and heat tape is probably the best choice.

Dean

[Greg]

There is no doubt that the underbelly is one of the weak links and there has to be a way to improve on it, The question is how?
I suppose if you were very clever (and had a lot of time on your hands) you could basicly frame the whole thing in right down to the ground and insulate it. that would effectivly replace the underbelly. Now the next problem would be how do you deal with frost heave? In the long run you may be solving one problem and creating a new one. Greg

[Jim from Canada]

I have thought on more than one occasion of framing in between the steel I beams and insulating it with rigid foam. Haven't quite come up with anything specific, critter proofing would have to be dealt with, and the thermal bridging of the steel beam itself. Perhaps getting the steel spray foamed to eliminate the thermal bridge.....just a thought on the direction I am thinking.

[Steve S.]

Thanks for all the ideas guys...something to think about over the long cold winter months. Hopefully I never have a catastrophic plumbing failure ...if that happens, then I will seriously consider a design upgrade. I am mostly curious about how my plumbing is laid out and where the troublesome fittings are located. A plumbing map would sure be nice. I saw some of it when I had my bathroom floor torn out...at the time I thought about accessing the pipes from the top with like a trap door ...but realistically, that would NEVER work!

[Guest]

I used 2 inch insulating foam with r-19 on top of it this summer . I used strapping going across the fram rails and the lips hold in place. I filled all the seams with expanding foam . I only did the center section because my sides are okay . I ran complete new pex plumbing and installed belly in 3 days . The spot under the bathroom ( 2 axels ) was a pain and isnt that pretty . I live in maine and its been below -20 this year and everything went fine. Last year I froze . I ran the new plumbing next to the heat ducting . My neighbor did this 4 years ago and has had no problems .He used thinner foam and no insulation . If i need to repair alls I have to do is cut out expanding foam. The foam says its insect ,mold and pest resistant . It was not cheap . 23 bucks a sheet took about 7 sheets for 14 X 70 . I only did section that contained plumbing . I bought belly paper to tie the foam and remaining belly paper togethter . Still havent done that . I am going to open some parts up this summer and see how it look and add removable panel to get my shut valve for outside faucet