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Subfloor - Who is right?

5K views 30 replies 10 participants last post by  firsttimeremode 
#1 ·
we are having an argument about the subfloor. Its weak in the middle, and we have three different opinions on how to fix it.
1. My dad wants to pull up the particleboard and put down one 3/4" layer of plywood
2. My fiance wants to just lay a layer of 3/4" plywood on top of the weak particleboard and screw both layers down the floor joists
3. I want to lay a sheet of 1/2" plywood on top of the weak floor, and replace the carpet with laminate so that it would have strength. I dont like the idea of having 1.5" of subflooring, thats just a lot of weight in a trailer sitting in sand. Then again I am paranoid about the trailer being unstable, and everyone else says it isnt going anywhere, so thats a whole nother argument. Which one of us is right?

We dont want to pull up the subfloor because there are about ten wasp nests in the insulation under the floor and we are afraid if we pull it up, we will get attacked. Once the cold winter sets in around the end of January, we can get under there and pull down the insulation and replace it. If we wait until then to do the floors, my lease will be up and ill be homeless. So, who do you think is right?
 
#7 ·
There are about ten nests, all about the size of a baseball, and all of them are hidden or half hidden in the insulation under my house. Once the winter arrives, we can go out there and remove the nests and replace the insulation, but as of right now if we tried it we would get attacked
 
#13 ·
If the fogger doesn't work, use a shop vac. Hook a length of PVC to the hose, turn it on and put the end of the hose right at the opening to the nest. Poke the nest a couple times and suck them up as they come and go. We just did this on a big wasp nest in a house the other day. The nest was too far into the wall to get spra killer on it so we set up a shopvac right outside the opening and let it run for about an hour. Hammered on the wall a few times once in a white to rile them and sucked up any that came out. The trip into the vac either killed them or stunned them enough to allow us to spray the inside of the drum
 
#15 ·
Well if i got a powerful enough vacuum i could suck the nest right out of the insulation. It would piss off the wasps. ordinarily i would just leave them alone until winter, but they have one nest right next to the power pole, and they keep attacking when we try to feed the wires into the conduit, and it is very difficult for anyone to work on the electric. I have a feeling that they will need to be evicted before we could even get the power turned on, i dont think the power company would like it very much
 
#23 ·
Well if i got a powerful enough vacuum i could suck the nest right out of the insulation. It would piss off the wasps.
Don't do that! Just set the end of the hose/pipe near the entrance to the nest and suck them up. We cleared the whole wasp nest in the house we were working on in about 2 hours time this way. If you knock the nest down then they will be all over the place.
 
#18 ·
Once you get the wasp issue taken care of, the old floor needs to be taken up and replaced and the Advantec is a good product which sells for about the same price as CDX. But also address the moisture issues that caused the original floor to weaken. You will probably find weakened joists under there as well so be prepared for that. If the cost is preventing you from doing the job properly, and it is unsafe, you may have to nail some sheets over the weak floor until you can do it properly. Your idea of using laminate to add strength is a bad one. It is not designed to add integrety to the floor.
 
#19 ·
I have put flooring in many old trailers and they all had moisture problems. The windows all leak and so do the doors. And they all have partcle board subfloors.
 
#20 ·
ddawg: yeah that would be easier, if i had multiple thousands of dollars laying around, but i dont. I cant get approved for a loan, my landlord is refusing to renew my lease, so this is my only option for a house. everyone reaches a bad point at least once in their lives, especially when they are young.
Jim: i know the cause of the moisture, and it has been fixed. Im not stupid, i know to fix the root issue before using new materials. i dont know why everyone on this site keeps saying that.
Rusty: Mobile homes are just like normal homes, if you seal it, it wont leak. Take care of it and you can keep it forever. ive lived in one most of my life, until about three years ago. They dont ALL have leaks either, if they are supported properly and you keep an eye on it, doors and windows will be fine. If every single trailer leaked every time water touched it, people wouldnt live in them. And youre wrong on the floors too, the newer ones are built with plywood, and mine will be plywood after we are done with it.

I know a mobile home isnt the best option for living in, but my circumstances dont leave me much wriggle room. if i dont live in this trailer, i will be living on the street. This damn economy has pretty much ruined my town, all the nice houses are up for sale and almost everyone is moving into a mobile home or other fixer upper. My parents gave up a two story victorian house and moved into a mobile home, so im not the only one. Just because you are lucky enough to still be living in a nice home doesnt mean everyone is so lucky.
 
#21 ·
I certainly wasn't implying that you were stupid. You haven't said what your source of moisture is or was if you fixed it. What I do know from having lived in and from family mewnbers who have owned them is that improper crawlspace conditioning is one of the biggest culprits in floor rot on these homes and no, they are not just the same as a stick-built house. There is a science behind crawlspace conditioning. It is not just common sense. I remember my father removing all the skirting around the MH at our summer camp thinking that it would just dry out under there. The fact is that you need the skirting with the proper amount of ventillation. You also need an intact belly board. If your floor insulation is full of wasp nests, then you do not have an intact belly board.
 
#22 ·
broken out windows were the source of the moisture. thats it. In texas there isnt much moisture to talk about, except when it rains, which it doesnt do very often. Nine months out of the year its dry as a bone. the belly board does have some issues but its better than most. And this is not a permanent home, its just a starter home for me and my fiance to live in until the economy picks back up and we can buy a better mobile, one that has all of the precautions taken care of. Out of all the homes ive lived in, ive never had one that actually had a belly board, and we never had any problems with rot. the house is pretty much weatherproof now, except one tiny leak in the small bath, but the water lands directly in the sink so its not a big deal right now. im gonna have to replace that ceiling anyway. if we could just get rid of these bees, the house would be pretty close to finished.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Howdy, first, did you get them winders done without too much trouble?
The wasps: Do not seal it all off and set off a bunch of bug bombs. Trailers, and other structures, have been set on fire, even exploded, by using too many in a confined space. Most disasters were ignited by gas pilot lights, sparks at loose electrical connections, but some seem to have been self igniting. But shut off gas line and electric to be safe(r). Best wasp killer I have ever used is "Eco-Smart Wasp and Hornet Killer" works faster and shoots farther than any I've used. Wasps die B4 they can get to you, but then I've never used it in area I didn't have plenty of get away room. Best advice, squirt and run like hell. If under trailer and can get a good long shot at nest, have pre-planned escape route. Tie your ankles to pick-up, get jerked out of there. Tie yourself to mule, wasp stings mule, your outta there and half way down road. You mite can now knock down nests and remove them. Some wasps are not at home, they will come back, if nest is not there, even on ground, they will leave. They don't rebuild cause you killed queen. Or wait for them to return, wader around on nest all confused, "Where'd everbody go?" Squirt again. then knock down.
Vacuum idea is good, takes some time, as dan sed, don't disturb nest. A few light taps when most wasps sucked up OK. But you wind up with vacuum full of wasps. Throw away bag type no prob. Others such as Shop Vac, let vac suck in some pizen, shut off and wait a while. Or reverse vac and shoot wasps at them rock chunkin boys.


You can use the Demon if ya want, but it will kill spiders and lizards and they eat wasps and other bad bugs. I use a pelletized, granular repellent, not a poison, that is keeping nasties away, but the geckos, skinks, anoles and all don't seem affected by it.. I'd tell you the brand name, but the bag is in shed behind a huge pile of cra...zy stuff.

Long stick with coarse tooth sawzall blade on end, or tree pruning pole saw to pull down nests. Don't try to smoke them out, with a smoldering torch, smoke doesn't "calm" them like it does bees, and don't wanna torch trailer. No hose attached to exhaust pipe either. I presume these are paper wasps, yellow jackets or such and not dirt daubers? Dirt daubers usually don't bother you unless you actually disturb nest. Fasten bug bomb to long stick, put directly under nest. Hole in floor, bug bomb in house not gonna do much good. Hole in floor to where you could squirt wasp killer on nest mite. Squirt and cover hole.

Skunks eat wasps. Invite one over. Getting rid of skunk less painful but more odoriferous. Me and mrs had incredible multi skunk prob when we were young, living in place we could afford,. so I can help with that too.

" guy a new trailer" First don't need to, she got a trailer and its already guyed, she has fiance. I really get irked at folks that say "Spend money" Some of us aint got money to spend. Yes, buy best you can afford, do job right way, more than one right way. Cash on hand may not allow "best way". Cash flow schedule may allow "best way" in situation; but"wrong way" that can be redone same "wrong way" periodically may be “best way” Not best way economically in long run, but ... Tore into a responder the other day, who told questioner to buy "right" materials, to "move to USA where materials are available at HD." Turns out questioner was aid/relief worker running refugee camp, trying to make do with materials at hand. Please, when responding, do not make presumptions, assumptions, or holier (and richer) than thou statements. Some of us are on shoe string budgets, if our shoe string breaks and we ask what is best knot to tie it back together, please,don't tell us to buy a new shoestring.

Now, dismounting from high horse and standing on floor. First, “best way” is rip out all particle board, replace with joe's ¾ tongue and groove, glued and screwed ( I have learned not to argue with joe, except for fun) Next is remove damaged PB and a bit of solid, keep cuts over joists and bridging, replace with same thickness exterior plywood, glued and screwed. You don't want to just cover water damaged materials, there's mold and rot bacteria in there that will spread in presence of moisture.. Moisture comes not only from outside, in fact , if crawl space is adequately shielded and vented, vapor barrier on ground, most moisture comes from warm air in living space meeting cool air outside. Moisture from washing, bathing, just plain breathing. Don't know about you and your guy in trailer, but when we were young & living in affordable shack, was some heavy breathing going on, had nothin to do with skunk family.


Laminate flooring is fastened only to itself, “floats” on a thin pad.. There is gap all around, doesn't touch walls. A layer of exterior plywood (CDX orAdvantec) over sound but springy particle board, glued and screwed to particle board and thru it to joists, will add stiffness, but hard to screw to PB. The thicker the better, but I will argue with joe, 1/2” with plenty of glue and screws will work, its done all the time and while not “best,” is “right.”


If you've managed to read this far, you've got the stamina and patience of Job to do the job of getting the trailer livable. I gotta go, I see some boys comin and even if they aint got chunkin rocks, I bet they gonna get on my lawn, I gotta find me a stick to shake at um. Lawn...dried hay, Will it never rain? It can rain now, right? You got the windows fixed? And with shelf liners?
 
#25 ·
yes windows are fixed, the shelf liners work just fine.
"reverse vac and shoot wasps at them rock chunkin boys." you had me cracking up at that one. lol so funny.
To be honest id rather deal with a wasp than a spider, creepy things. As least if a wasp lands on you you can kill it or knock it off before it hurts you, a spider sneaks up while you are asleep and bites you or it crawls on your face. but i would really rather not have any of them. Good part is that now that the air is cooler and we have been spraying them and the windows are fixed, the wasps arent coming in anymore.
we still have another year and half till the wedding, so none of that skunkless heavy breathing going on here, lol.
Not looking for "best" right this second, just "works". Maybe between now and the wedding we can put "best" down while we are living there; we just need something that wont collapse under me and my fiance and whatever else company decides to visit.
 
#26 ·
did you "frost" the shelf liner windows?
For "works" Remove damaged PB, whole sheets or pieces, replace with CDX plywood of same thickness as PB you are leaving in place. Later on you can replace PB if want too. Add a layer of ply if floor needs stiffening.

People wondering how she made windows from shelf liners, should read thread "Replacing Rotted Joist with Picture." I suggested photo of iron beam would be stronger.
 
#29 ·
Remember, you can frost the shelf liner windows with steel wool or fine sandpaper. Take a bit longer than film or brush on, but lasts as long as shelf liner window. And you work your frustrations out.

that thread's got exactly nuthin' to do with you or your windows. Just got to thinkin' on folks tryin to figure out how you made windows from shelf lining material, wonderin' if you used contact paper kind or cushiony kind. makes as much sense as that thread's title. If you do have to replace any floor joists later on, do not use a picture of one, no matter how pretty, use a real joist.
 

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