How to Replace Subflooring in a Mobile Home
- Step 1: Remove the Trim and Floor Covering ...
- Step 2: Cut the Sub-Floor Out Around the Perimeter of the Room ...
- Step 3: Cut the Sub-Flooring Between the Joists ...
- Step 4: Inspect and Repair Joists ...
- Step 5: Add Insulation ...
- Step 6: Laying the New Sub-Flooring Down ...
- Step 7: Install the New Floor Covering ...
- Step 8: Enjoy Your New Floor ...
Full Answer
How do you replace the flooring in a mobile home?
Step-by-Step Process to Replace Flooring in a Mobile Home Step 1: Remove the Trim and Floor Covering Step 2: Cut the Sub-Floor Out Around the Perimeter of the Room Step 3: Cut the Sub-Flooring Between the Joists Step 4: Inspect and Repair Joists Step 5: Add Insulation Step 6: Laying the New Sub-Flooring Down Step 7: Install the New Floor Covering
What direction do floor joists run in a mobile home?
Floor joists run the same direction beneath the entire floor of your mobile home. These rules will make it easy to determine where floor supports are located when renovating your home, such as by attaching a new plywood subfloor to the existing joists. In order to install a plywood subfloor over the existing subfloor in a mobile home you must:
How can I repair this floor joist problem in the corner?
This floor joist problem is just one of many things you will want to know about. Repairing the corner of home will require removing the siding in both directions, as Greg said. You will want to repair the eave (straight) side of the home first, then the gable (peaked) side.
How do you remove floor joists from a room?
If you plan to replace the whole floor, simply follow the perimeter of the room and the cut between the joists to remove it. When sawing through the plywood be very careful!
Can you replace a carpet cover?
Do mobile homes have a foundation?
Is it easier to replace a floor than later?
Can you replace floor joist without removing floor?
You can replace floor joists without removing the whole floor. If you need to, you can use a reciprocating saw to cut vertically. It is important to use a reciprocating saw to cut through nails. It's possible to replace floor joists in this manner.
Can you replace a floor joist yourself?
Cut a New Joist You may need to make a notch to allow the new joist to fit, so keep that in mind when you're measuring. Always follow local building codes when making the repair. Simply cut the new joist to replace the existing one. You can measure it and then make the new joist the exact same size.
How do I remove and replace floor joists?
0:533:44How to Replace A Floor Joist #TheHardWay - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipIn the initial plan of attack is clear separate the floor joist from the subfloor. Using pry barsMoreIn the initial plan of attack is clear separate the floor joist from the subfloor. Using pry bars and wedges and then cut it free with a reciprocating saw.
How far apart are mobile home floor joist?
Studs are the vertical boards and are normally 2″ x 4″ and spaced every 16″ in a manufactured home. That's what the term 16″ OC, or 'on center' means in construction lingo. Better quality manufactured homes will have 2×6 studs and more affordable homes will have 2x3s.
How much does it cost to replace 1 floor joist?
Floor joist replacement costs $12,500 on average, typically between $5,000 and $20,000. You might pay as little as $2,000, while the largest and most complex jobs cost up to $30,000. Expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $2,000 per joist depending on the extent of the damage and its accessibility to your contractor.
How much does it cost to replace floor joist?
Floor Joist Repair Cost for a 500-Square-Foot RoomProsConsCost to sister floor joists$100 - $300 per joistCost to replace floor joists$6,000 - $10,000+Cost to replace floor joists, jack required$20,000+Jul 25, 2022
What happens if a floor joist breaks?
When one or more joists fail, you can experience floor bounce, or notice sagging or heaving in the floor. Loud squeaks also may signify floor joist troubles. Ceiling joists, like floor joists, can suffer from the same structural issues, and methods to repair them are the same.
Are rotten floor joists covered by insurance?
Foundation damage caused by shifting or settling earth or sagging floors caused by rotting floor joists are typically not covered by homeowners insurance. If the damage is caused by flooding or an earthquake, you'll typically require separate coverage.
Does Sistering floor joists work?
Plywood, OSB, and even metal flitch plates can also be used as a “sister” to an existing wood joist. Sistering floor joists is an extremely effective method for fixing a broken floor joist of any kind.
How much weight will a mobile home floor hold?
A mobile home floor can hold up to 40 pounds of weight per square foot. As long as you don't have several heavy objects all sitting on the same square foot of space, then your mobile home can carry a decent amount of weight. The average size of a mobile home is 1,184 square feet.
How thick should a mobile home floor be?
Most subfloors are either 3/4″ or 5/8″ thick. You will use the measurement to set your circular saw to the proper height. One of the most tedious parts of replacing subflooring in mobile homes is the removal of the original sub-flooring.
What causes soft spots in mobile home floors?
Many mobile homes have soft sections on their floor due to water leaks, leading to repeated exposure to moisture. This may be due to cracks in your windows, kitchen appliances, washers, or most often, your bathroom pipes.
Does Sistering floor joists work?
Plywood, OSB, and even metal flitch plates can also be used as a “sister” to an existing wood joist. Sistering floor joists is an extremely effective method for fixing a broken floor joist of any kind.
Should floor joists be nailed or screwed?
Ideally, nail down your subfloor using corrosion-resistant nails that will securely hold it in place and last a long time. Screws are a great alternative that you can easily remove, but they are not as sturdy. Screws are superior in terms of reducing floor squeaks, but the installation is slower.
How do you repair a rotted joist?
The best way to repair deck joist rot is to sister new treated lumber onto a deck joist that has minimal wood rot. If just the top 1 inch of the joist is rotted, you can repair the rotted deck joist by screwing on a treated 2x4 to the existing floor joist.
How do you know if your floor joists are bad?
Telltale Signs of Damaged Floor JoistsMoist, rotting wood.Skewed or unlevel door and window frames.Sagging, sloping, or uneven upstairs floors.Tilting or sinking crawl space supports.Cracks in the interior drywall.
Where are the short joists placed?
See the short joists? Those are placed where the new subfloor panels meet .
When are subfloors installed in a manufactured home?
The subfloor and floor covering are installed before the walls when a manufactured home is built.
How thick is a subfloor?
Measure Your Subfloor Thickness. Next, you will need to measure your subfloor. Most subfloors are either 3/4″ or 5/8″ thick. You will use the measurement to set your circular saw to the proper height. One of the most tedious parts of replacing subflooring in mobile homes is the removal of the original sub-flooring.
What is subflooring made of?
For many years, mobile homes have been constructed with sub-flooring made of particle board which is made from sawdust and glue that essentially acts like a sponge when it gets wet. Even the least amount of dampness causes bowing, warping, rot, and soft spots. Even in newer homes, where particle board wasn’t used, ...
What to do if a floor leak is rotting?
If a leak caused rotting or flooring warping and bowing you must find it and repair it before moving on to the next step. With the floor covering removed you will be able to trace the leak better. Follow the damage. Most of the time it will be a window or roofing issue and the water is running down the wall.
What causes leaks in mobile homes?
Bad toilet rings and damages water supply lines are another common source of leaks in mobile homes. You can learn more about mobile home plumbing repair here.
Which way should subflooring be laid?
Sub-flooring should be laid in the same direction as the original, usually opposite the direction of the joists.
When repairing a floor, do you want to remove the entire area that feels spongy?
When repairing the floor, you will want to remove the entire area that feels spongy, soft or unlevel.
What happens when you repair a subfloor?
When a damaged subfloor is properly repaired, your new flooring should feel and look beautiful for many years to come. Not having any low spots or soft spots in your new floor makes your home feel solid and of better construction.
What is subfloor made of?
The subfloors of many older manufactured homes tend to be made of dense particle board. Over the years, this type of subfloor has the tendency to break down in heavy traffic areas within the home.
Where do you install cross support?
Where the installation of this type of support can be difficult, is that the cross support must be located so that 1/2 of the edge is under the old subfloor and the other 1/2 will be under the new subfloor to be installed. Getting the cross support to drop down into the hangers can be tricky because of the existing subfloor that is still on the joist. I prefer to use the sistering joist method, as it is easier to install.
Is it necessary to replace a floor?
Replacing the entire floor is not usually necessary. In another recent home that we did, there had been a leak in the laundry room and the subfloor was damaged in that room, as well as into the hallway and bathroom.
Can you repair a mobile home subfloor?
The process of repairing a bad mobile home subfloor is not difficult, but it should be done with care to achieve the desired result:
Is it better to replace more floor than necessary?
It is always better to err on the side of replacing more floor than necessary .
Where do you attach floor joists?
Joist hangers are how you attach the floor joists to the rim joist, so they would go on the eave side. But in this area you should have a double rim joist, so you can't just nail the floor joist through the rim joist. That is where the hanger comes in. You wouldn't need to support the front metal crossmember.
How many rim joists are there on each side?
There's only one rim joist on each side and there are metal brackets, so I'll be sure to put them exactly back in place.
How far apart should a 4x4 beam be from the eaves?
Basically, you will need a 4x4 beam braced up to the bottom of the floor joists (including the outside rim joist under the gable), running parallel with the eave wall, about 4' in from the eave wall. I use adjustable steel mobile home piers with saddles made to hold a 4x4.
What side of the house do you repair the corner of?
You will want to repair the eave (straight) side of the home first, then the gable (peaked) side.
What size wood block should I use for a hydraulic jack?
I find this to be much more stable and easier to use that hydraulic jacks. With either type of jack/pier, you will want a 2x10 or 1x12 wood block under the jack/pier, and maybe a 2x3 of them to get the jack/pier up high enough to the floor joists. You could also use concrete or wood blocks, but what a pain!
Can you replace a gable joist?
Replacing the gable side of rim joist is pretty easy and straight forward since there are no floor joists to attach to it. Use Simpson Ties floor joists hangers for the joists and corner brackets in the corner. Besure to reattach any factory metal strapping you might find behind the siding in this area. I don't think you will see any there though.
Do you need to jack up a rim joist?
You may need to jack up or leverage the rim joist into place as the wall will tend to settle downward a little bit when you remove the rim joist. Doing this work with a helper makes it a lot easier.
How Can You Find Floor Joists in a Mobile Home?
In order to find floor joists from inside a finished mobile home, use a stud finder equipped with a deep-scanning mode. By scanning at a depth of 1 inch or more, you can locate your floor joists. This is extremely helpful if you are laying plywood over the subfloor in a mobile home.
What direction do floor joists run in a mobile home?
Typically, floor joists in a mobile home run in the shortest direction across the home. This means that the joists will run “across” the rooms inside, not from one end of the home to the other. This is especially true of newer mobile homes. They are manufactured so the joists run between the walls that are closest to one another. Mobile homes built before 1980 may have longitudinal joists that run the length of the mobile home, but this is relatively rare.
How Far Apart are Mobile Home Floor Joists?
Most mobile homes are manufactured with floor joists 16 inches apart. This allows for fiberglass insulation to be installed between the floor joists. It is rare to come across a mobile home with more than 16 inches between floor joists.
How Do You Install a Plywood Subfloor in a Mobile Home?
The best way to install a plywood floor over an existing subfloor is to first remove the existing flooring material. Then, find floor joists and mark their location on the walls of your home. Next, purchase exterior grade plywood and cut it to fit the space. After laying the plywood, mark the location of the floor joists on top of the plywood with a chalk line. Pre-drill screw holes along these lines and secure the plywood to the floor with screws. To help your floor resist water, caulk gaps between plywood sheets. Finally, level your floor with a leveling compound before installing a new flooring surface.
Can You Put Plywood Over a Subfloor?
Adding a layer of plywood over an existing subfloor is a great way to create a durable, level surface on top of your existing subfloor. A layer of plywood screwed to floor joists will eliminate soft spots and uneven areas of the floor.
How to find joists in a wall?
Most good stud finders will be able to locate joists through existing particle board or OSB. Use a pencil to mark the location of floor joists low on the wall, at the same height as a baseboard. This way, you’ll know where the joists are even after you’ve put down your new plywood subfloor.
What is single wide mobile home?
Single-wide mobile homes are built with joists spanning the distance between the two closest walls. This means the joists will be running “across” your rooms rather than along the length of the entire home. The only exception to this rule is in some pre-1980 mobile homes with longitudinal joists.
Signs You Should Replace Your Mobile Home Bathroom Floor
Although you may want to replace the bathroom floor in your mobile home simply to update the space and personalize it, some warning signs your floor is seriously in need of replacement are:
Can You Replace a Mobile Home Bathroom Floor Without Removing the Toilet?
Toilet removal is a necessary step when replacing a bathroom floor. This is because toilets are typically installed on top of the existing flooring and subfloor. You won’t be able to remove the old floor unless the toilet is uninstalled. Removing the toilet also allows to properly install new flooring.
How Do You Replace a Rotten Bathroom Floor in a Manufactured Home?
If your mobile home bathroom floor is rotten, sagging, or breeding mold and mildew, it’s time for a floor repair following these steps:
Can you replace a carpet cover?
You can now easily replace the cover . There is a good chance that the cover would’ve been damaged during the removal process so you might want to buy a new one. Carpets are usually fixed in place with glue and an industrial stapler around the edges.
Do mobile homes have a foundation?
As you can imagine a mobile home’s floor comes under a lot of pressure over time. Unlike traditional stick-built homes, mobile homes don’t necessarily have a full foundation that supports the whole underbelly. Although the building standards for mobile homes have increased dramatically and the underbelly should be well supported by horizontal ...
Is it easier to replace a floor than later?
We hope this guide has given you the confidence to tackle that floor repair project. Sooner is always better than later when it comes to your floor.
