We are moving into a trailer that is in desperate need of repair. We knew going in that we were clueless, but we were promised help. But all those people who said they would help with the remodel, haven't. Now we are two weeks away from moving out of our current house, but we still have to finish the trailer. The most pressing issue is the floor. Quite a bit of it has rotted through. We know we need to pull up the rotten parts and replace them, but we don't know how. The floor is just pieces of ply- wood, but some of them are too big to replace completely for a 1'x 3'rotten section. How do we find out where the floor supports are so we don't saw through them as well as the wood? The next issue is the hot water heater. Can those be fixed or do we just need to get a new one? See, told you we were clueless Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. April
more clueless qu. Also, the entirebathroom floor has to be replaced. How do we go about pulling all the stuff out of there? If the tub isn't rusted through, can we just put it back in place over the new floor?
Find someone with a metal detector to find the floor supports they will be metal and the plywood may be fastedned in a variety of ways. I hope this helps.
Can't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to put the tub back, except that you should be aware that the sheetrock in a mobile is thinner than standard- if you have to replace it the tub might not quite fit afterwards. As far as the floors go, I'd punch through one of the rotten boards and take a look at what you've got under there. Standard floor supports are 16" apart on center. If this mobile is pre-1990ish, you are doing good. They were built with more standard-width 2X4's in the walls back then. You will probably want to run space heaters in there after you pull up the floors, to make sure less-accessable places are thoroughly dry. There are "bargain" building supply stores in some areas- these often are very knowledgeable about remodels such as the one you are undertaking. Best of luck to you, this is a big undertaking!
I wish i could help you.My husband work with his brother in a mobile home contractor service .Most of them are just thrown together.Which then comes out the flooring is fiber board.It just falls apart if it gets wet and crumbles.I have owned 3 I am in one of them now .Jubabe might be of help as her dad (my brother)repaired some on mine and moms .I'm sure he could tell you.
If you look closely to the plywood you must be able to see the screws that fix it to the floor. Once you find one, you'll be able to follow straight lines to find the rest of them. Or you may be able to the support just looking underneath the trailer (not likely).
