Can I removed the bladder on our manufactured home

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Don B
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:46 pm

Can I removed the bladder on our manufactured home

Post by Don B » Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:56 pm

WE have a 2002 Dutch manufactured on ( 32x80) on a full basement. The bladder is still attached on the basement ceiling (orif you prefer underneith the main floor)( we also had the extended floor plan put in. My question is can we remove the plstic bladder since we our on a full basment. I am concerned about NOT being able to see any future problems that may occur since all the plumbing heating, and electrical stuff are covered by the bladder. We have no heat in the basement at this time. If it is OK to remove it should we put in a few vents so that heat will go in the basement? I really can not see why we need it except for the insulation of the floors upstairs......

Could you advise on the pro,s and cons of doing this? Or if we do remove it what else should we do?

David Oxhandler
Posts: 1459
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:37 am

Re: Can I removed the bladder on our manufactured home

Post by David Oxhandler » Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:59 pm

The plastic barrier your referring to is usually called the vapor barrier or belly board. In most manufactured homes it is the support for the rolled insulation under the floor. If you remove the plastic the insulation is likely to fall out. The vapor barrier also protects the bottom of the floor system and the interior of the home form condensation under the home seeping in. I would not remove it. Why would you want exposed plumbing and electric ?? In any conventionally built home plumbing and electric are run through the walls and floors. In the event of a problem you have to open the wall or floor make the mechanical repairs. If your looking for something that is more cosmetically appealing you might want to leave the plastic in place and overlay it with a ceiling system... Adding heat to and finishing the walls and ceiling of your basement will increase your usable living space and the value of your home.

If your a do-it-yourself type check out The Manual for Manufactured Home Repair & Upgrade This book will answer almost every question you have on manufactured home repair renovation and upgrade.
David Oxhandler
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Don B
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:46 pm

Re: Can I removed the bladder on our manufactured home

Post by Don B » Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:33 pm

Did you understand that we put the home on a full basement with poured 8 foot walls? You are right the insulation will fall out. I was wondering because the plastic barrier looks so bad after the MULTITUDE of repairs that the factory had to do to our home the first couple years! There are patches everywhere and the tape they used does not hold all of it up. I have had to re-tape the plastic almost every year. I just thought since we had the extended floor plan put in which makes it like a stick built home floor that it might be OK. That way I could keep an eye on any potential problems in the future (and we have had many of them with this home).(Also note that the factory and the dealer will not do any more repairs for us on our home.) I have 2x4's shoved up between the supports in some of the areas to hold up the plastic barrier. We have the regular floor of a double wide and then on top of that we have a stick built home floor with 2x6's. our basement is dry, waterproofe and we also have a humidex in it and of course a sump. If you think it would really hurt our heating for upstairs please advise me since we live in northern Ohio, by Lake Erie. We only use the basement for storage even though it is huge. Thank you........

chris1361
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2006 8:18 am

Re: Can I removed the bladder on our manufactured home

Post by chris1361 » Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:39 am

Where can I get a book on a 1990 Redman manufactured home, or just the electrical lay out.

David Oxhandler
Posts: 1459
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:37 am

Re: Can I removed the bladder on our manufactured home

Post by David Oxhandler » Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:44 am

Removing the insulation will no doublet have an effect on the energy efficiency of you home. If the problems your having is with the plumbing your not alone.  I have owned as many ad 50 older manufactured home rental units and found that the ultimate solution was to simply replace the grey poly pipe with PVC or the more modern PEX plumbing.  This is a relatively easy and inexpensive project  and has worked out to save us a lot of money over the years in the time and cost of repairs to the poly systems.  Today pex waterlines are pretty much the standard in the manufactured home industry. In many areas pex is also the plumbers choice for new conventionally-built houses

For full details read  Understanding and Installing Manufactured Housing Waterlines in our library of free resources
David Oxhandler
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rmurray
Posts: 1086
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 6:49 pm

Re: Can I removed the bladder on our manufactured home

Post by rmurray » Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:38 pm

You might try Redman for the owners manual and or set up manual....I doubt they have the electrical prints on this old of home...A good electrician can trace the kines and draw a print..

rfporzio
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2006 3:19 pm

Re: Can I removed the bladder on our manufactured home

Post by rfporzio » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:32 pm

Don, The professionals on this site know best. You really do need to leave that insulation in place. Its probably safe to assume your running an R19 insulating factor based on 2X6 floor joists. Not only does it keep moisture from reaching the sub floor but it also keeps your floors toasty warm in the winter. Unfortunately unlike you, I'm sitting on a craw space with a poured Alaskan slab. I would give my right arm to have all that basement space you have. If your as anal as I am, I would remove the mess you have now, replace it with new vapor barrier backed insulation and use a similar retaining system used in site built homes and if your looking for a real nice finish, you could put up some nice ceiling tiles as was mentioned on another post. Good luck
Very happy MH Owner.....Bob

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