Walls

Ask our experienced MH repair and renovation experts about your home repair needs!
Post Reply
Marci

Walls

Post by Marci » Wed Jan 15, 2003 5:46 pm

Hi: I have a 2001 Redman, moved into my home in Aug 2001. During the winter the masterbath tends to be colder and noisy. I can hear clearly what is going on next door from one area in my masterbath, yet it is not as noisy in the closet which is just next to the bath. I was going to take down one of the panels to see if maybe they forgot the insulation, is that possible? R19 should be in the walls, but it is the only room that is cold and noisy. Now the masterbath is the further distance from the heater, so the heat does have to travel to get there, but my bedroom is at the same end just on the other half of the house.
Do the panels come off in one piece or is it likely I will have to buy a replacement piece???
THanks

Tracy

Re: Walls

Post by Tracy » Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:40 pm

Marci,

Okay, before you go tearing off panels, go under your home and make sure your belly isn't torn with insulation hanging out. If thats not the problem, you could look in the walls. The easiest way to look in the wall is to remove an outlet. First, make sure you turn off the breaker to that room, test your outlet after you've got the breaker off. Sometimes people put stuff on the wrong breaker. Then remove the coverplate. Most HUD code homes have outlets with "fliptab boxes" - this means that the outlet box is not nailed to a stud, but held in place with tabs that flip up. In 2 corners of the outlet box you will see small screws. Undo these screws and you can feel when the tab releases from the wall. Pull the box out, or push it to the side and feel around for your insulation. If you have to take a panel off, its a lot more work. The likelyhood of getting a panel off the wall in one piece is limited. The factories glue the panels to the wall in addition to nailing. A trick to help get the panel off the wall - take an oak block (it has to be a hard wood), and line it up on the studs, hammer as hard as you can. Slide the block up an down so you end up hitting the whole length of each stud. This will usually break the bond between the panel and the stud. At this point you can carefully try to pry off the panel. However, it may crack anyway. If you've got access to a new panel, that will be the easiest route.

In terms of your furnace, it is true that the rooms farther away from the furnace are harder to heat. The air will take the path of least resistance. This is especially true if your master bath is on the opposite half of the home. If the heat has to crossover and is at the opposite end, that may be your problem right there. About the only thing I can suggest is to try closing the other vents in the house a little, and open the vent in the master bath all the way, this should make more air go to the master bath.

Have fun!
Tracy

Marci

Re: Walls

Post by Marci » Thu Jan 16, 2003 7:43 pm

Thanks Tracy: I have already been under the house, I make it a point to check it now and then. Two of my neighbors seem to have young cats under their houses and they can see insulation on the ground at the one end. My sod it right up against my house and there are no areas for them to enter like my neighbors. Thanks Tracy.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 18 guests