New Min Home - Tons of questions

[Gondo]

I recently purchased a 1992 16x72 mini home. It's not finished very well...previous owners didn't have a clue. Paint job covers floor and switches, etc... Hardwood floor scratched to death from all the cats. Toilet leaked and rotted floor, so I had to reinstall toilet and wedge it cause it's 1/2 inch high. That's just the beginning. Anyways I got a great deal so I can put $20,000+ into it without much loss.

So I wanna basically gut the place and rebuild it to high standards. Here are a few of my many questions. I live in Canada and -30'C weather is not uncommon. I am also an electrician so that's no prob, but I'm only a do-it-yourselfer when it comes to plumbing. I know enough to possibly get into trouble. Let me begin

Are we allowed to drill through the floor joists for the purpose of passing electrical/plumbing? I doubt it. The supply water comes out of a barrel in the ground, travels about 20ft in mid air then up and through the floor to the hot water tank etc.... The 20ft of exposed pipe is insulated with heat tape. Is this normal, or should the supply be run through the belly within the floor joists and insulation. If we arn't allowed to drill through the floor joist this is why it's run supported in mid air.

I am going to take 2 bedrooms and turn them into 1 larger bedroom, and 1 large wakk in pantry/utility room. The hot water tank will be moved into the pantry so it's nearly above the barrel, eliminating the 20ft run. The supply will just shoot straight up into the mini home and attach to the tank. I'll need to insulate and heat tape the 3-4ft. Any comments/tips regarding this?

Secondly I wanna light up the underneath of the home. I will run conduit, lamp holders and install weatherproof switches next to the underbelly entrances. And comments/suggestions regarding this.

The underbelly is insulated with pink fiberglass battens and covered with that black vapor barrier stuff. Can I add an additional layer of fiberglass/foam sheets over this. Will that help at all? Will vapor barrier be required over the foam?

Half the mini home has a regular 8ft ceiling, the rest has a pitched cathedral ceiling. There is no hatch leading into the attic area above the 8ft ceiling. I wanna add one and possible run electrical up there. Any comments/suggestions?

As I understand all the plumbing runs between the floor joists in the underbelly. Is this acceptable to prevent freezing? The supply is some sort of high end plastic from the states designed for municipal supply. Not pex but really high end stuff design for supply. The rest is copper. I wanna redo all the plumbing in PEX or AquaPex and run it through interior walls. I'm going to design so bathroom sink, kitchen sink, bathtub, and dishwasher are all on opposit sides of the same interior wall and jsut run the plumbing in this wall. That will remove the plumbing from the underbelly. Any comments/suggestions?

The place is heated with electric baseboard with individual room thermostats. I'm thinking of going with a heat pump and interior air handler with resistive electric heat strip. The heatpump would take care of summer cooling, as well as spring/fall heating down to 0'C. The electric heat strip in the air handler would handle down to -30'C. I'd build new air ducts and put dampers in with damper motors. Each bedroom and bathroom would be seperate zones that could be kept at 13'C during the days. Unused bedroom at 13'C all the time. Bathroom at 13'C all the time and turn it up when showering. The main kitchen/living area would be another zone and turned up when we are home and down at night while sleeping. I'd use something like a Carrier Infinity Thermostat control to get the zones and use room temperator sensors in each zone. How would this system compare to electric baseboard? Would the air ducts run under the mini home below the joists exposed to air? If so I'd have to insulate them very well. I've also seen round fibreglass flexible mini-home ducting. Is this stuff recommended or is traditional metal? Do all ducts run below, or do some have to run above? Like supply air below, and return air from above in ceiling? Or should I just stick with electric baseboard.

I wanna get an air exchanger installed. We need air exchange, windows are condensing bad in winter and freezing up. It's too air tight in here.

I'm thinking of putting a heat pump water cooler on top of the water tank. Seems energy efficient to me.

Those are my basic questions, mostly involving plumbing and HVAC. I'm just looking for info while I plan my work before I get started.

Sorry for all the question in one post. I'm basically just wondering if we can go through the joist or if we have to run parallel and below (exposed ot the cold)? And are air ducts installed below as well exposed to the cold?

Thanks in advance.

[Greg]

Hi & Welcome to the family. First let me reccomend buying yourself a present to go with your new home, Mark (the owner of this site) has written a book on mobile home repair / upgrade It is written in a generic manner geared for the DYI. It covers about all the aspects of repair you are apt it run into. Check the "books & parts" section of the site.
Now to answer your questions. Electric & plumbing is run under the joists. The plumbing is normally run next to the heat duct to keep them warm and prevent freezing. That may be a reason not to go with total baseboard heat. However I will tell you that We very seldom use our furnace and heat with a Monitor 20k heater. The only time We run the furnace is in sub zero weather.
The supply Line should be wrapped & have heat tape installed on it.
On a single wide you can USUALLY remove any interior wall with the exception of a wall at a change in ceiling height, from vaulted to flat.
You are on the right track going with PEX, it is very forgiving when it comes to freezeups.
I am sure otheres will add to this also. Greg

[Gondo]

Thanks for the reply. I will have to look into the book and order it up one of these days.

I also wasn;t thinking of the transition form vaulted to flat. There is half a wall at this point now...the division between bathroom and closet. The other half is wide open entry to the kitchen. I'll have to leave some sort of support in there.

I was reading many posts and found that the underbelly is usually insulation more than just the thickness of the joists. For example, fill the 2x8's or 2x10's full of insulation, then there is more covering everything and then the black vapor stuff. I even read horror stories about peoplt putting in the fibreglass between the joists, then putting insulation on the black vapo, then lifting it into place and attaching it. That must be why my underbelly is sagging in many places. It's full of insulation.

Would a better thing be to do the following. INstall fibreglass batts between the joists. Then add rigid fybreglass sheets over all this covering the joists so it's nice flat and secure. Then cover with the vapor barrier? This sounds a lot better to me.

[Greg]

There is an air space between the joists & belly, this allows for the warm air to circulate under the floor.
the thought of adding lights under the home is a new one, not sure if it would be worth the money since you really should not be spending a lot of time down there. Greg

[Manitoba Bill]

There is an air space between the joists & belly, this allows for the warm air to circulate under the floor.

What air space and what warm air? Do you have a picture to explain?

[Gondo]

Ok well I read through a ton of posts. And I'm starting to get to know a bit of the unknowns I was unsure about. I am also going to download the book by Mark for only $22. that should answer all the unknowns I have i detail.

Is there a way I can start a thread for my particular build and keep you guy s updated on my particular remodel with pics. I might get Mark to add a main topic for users particular projects that we can track and see pictures.

[Yanita]

Hi,

You are welcome to create your personal photo album here on site.

Mark has requested that moderators lock up post as we go along, as each post is sufficiently answered. This keeps from having old threads brought back to the front.

Yanita

[Manitoba Bill]

I guess Greg has ignored my questions because there is NO air circulation in the belly.

[Greg]

Most belly material is a tightly woven BREATHABLE material. Greg

[Greg]

Bill, as I have said in the last 3 Emails that you have sent me, your home has the joists running the lenght, it is one of the few that have them. The belly material in MOST home is designed to hang under the home to allow room for plumbing & heating, as the joists run sideways.
I am sorry if your home is not configured that way, but the majority are. Greg