Decking screws in new 3/4 Plywood floors

[James]

Just bought a new Home with 3/4 Plywood floors. Am wanting to screw down the floor to the joists once the house gets set. Should have time as they have to tape and texture the walls and paint before the carpet goes down.
How long a screw should I use and do I need to worry about placing because of plumbing and such???

[rmurray]

I doubt this will do anything...How is the floor attached now....Most floors are glued..then nailed...

[Mark]

I agree, floor is probably already well secured.

I'm curious about the carpet though, unless you ordered it that way, I've never seen a MH without carpet already installed. Flooring (carpet, vinyl, etc) is usually put down before the walls are even built.

[Scott]

Any manufactured home that has the carpet installed before the walls are attached is probably not worth buying. Most manu homes have tack strip installed carpet. As a matter of fact, the only I know of presently that still staples their carpet is Solitaire. The vinyl is however installed before the walls, cabinets, etc...

[Eugene]

James,
rmurrry is right, there is no need to scred the floor decking down, the decking will not squeak unless the home is not supported properly. so you are better off investing the time into checking to insure all supports are in place and properly constructed.
PS guys, a lot of MH come without carpet today in some markets.

[rmurray]

Sorry Mark...almost every home with taped and painted sheet rock is shipped with the carpet loose....This way it does not get ruined in the final finish stage of set up...

Of course..this adds to the ultimate cost of taped and painted walls...I have never seen a manufacturer credit back the savings of not installing the carpet...If you want the nicest...it costs a little more..

[trmimo]

I would use 1 1/2" screws. As long as you stay in line with the staples or nails that are there now, you shouldn't have to worry about plumbing. This is an excellent idea! I have found floor squeaks to be the absolute number one consumer complaint with plywood floors. Ring shank nails are the minimum acceptable fastener. Staples are worthless with plywood floors. Plywood has much lower fastener retention than particleboard, this is what causes the squeaks and the nail pops. By screwing your floor deck down you will give yourself a high quality, durable floor.

[Mark]

The crew that finished out my carpet said every home he's done (and he does homes in about a 300 mile radius) has the carpet installed from the factory and that it makes it a real chore, especially on homes that don't get baseboards, because he has the finish the sheetrock all the way to the floor and the carpet is ALWAYS in the way. Even though it may be covered with plastic (mine was with 2 layers of plastic).

He wishes they would leave the carpet loose or even rolled up, so it doesn't get in the way/damaged.

Every home I looked at when shopping had the carpet installed before the walls. Whether is was a $20k baseline model or $100k top end.

[James]

Thanx for all the replies everyone.
Our Home is a Homes of Merit from Lake City Fl. It was shipped with the carpet and padding rolled up. The walls are screwed with sheetrock screws but they still used those crappy little staples too. The floor is stapled down and although it looks like they really went to town with the staple gun I stiil would like to add some decking screws. I did contact the manufacturer and they sent me a copy of the blueprints where the plumbing and joists are so I shouldn't have a problem. I also sprayed the foam sealer in between the marriage walls and will do under the house in the seam tomorrow morning. I just want to do everything I can to seal it up before they start floating and taping the walls. The electric should be hooked up tomorrow if Ivan will allow it so then they can start working on the inside. Any more suggestions feel free to let me know as I love to go overboard on things.