Belly stuff

[ron]

What is the stuff just above the ground and below the flooring. It sort of situated between the metal beams runing across the home. If it is a vapor barier its shot. Is it ok to leave it, and just run plastic 6 ml stuff over it that is ,looking up at it from under the home on the ground. Alot of these stuff not even fiberboard has bowed and is missing especially on the edges of the mobil home. Since I will be removing the bdrm floor soon I could easily just run plastic facing the ground I think
Thanks Ron

[Tom]

From your description is sounds like your entire belly needs to be rebuilt. This is a very time consuming and labor instensive job to do. Its not as easy as it appears to be. Generally what some do is put up some sort of insulating panels first. Then you will have to cover the entire belly with belly wrap to enclose it. The problem being is that you have to build a frame of some sort in order to have someting to attach to. There are no written instructions on how to do this. MH repairmen will charge in excess of $1000 to do this job, so that should give you an idea how extensive the job is. Tom

[ron]

THANK YOU, A BELLY WRAP? WHAT IS IT THAT YOU SPEAK. I CAN SEE THAT THE FOLKS BEFORE ME USED 2X4 WITH BLOCKS TO HOLD UP THE (WHAT EVER IT IS) FROM FALLING DOWN. WHERE IT FELL DOWN, I HAVE USED PLY WOOD WRAPED WITH 6 ML PLASTIC TO COVER THE HOLE IN THE BELLY. THIS IS EDGE STUFF (EXPOSURE TO THE NORTH SIDE). WHEN I REMOVED THE BLACK PARTICLE BOARD LIKE STUFF BITS AND I MEAN BITS OF INSULATION CAME DOWN FROM ABOVE, BELOW FLOOR GRADE. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO REPLACE THIS MATERIAL.
THANKS LOVED THE BOOK BUT DOES NOT COVER THIS.
RON

[Tom]

The black stuff is called buffalo board. As I mentioned there are no instructions on how to do this, its up to you how to repair. The insulation is normally below the floor and above the belly wrap or in your case buffalo board which is no longer used. If your in a colder climate, you must have insulation to protect your water pipes. There are several people in the forum at http://www.mobilehomerepair.com that have done exactely what your attempting to do, so you might try there to get some helpful info. Tom