# Sill rotten on a mobile home!



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Going to need that picture.
It's not looking good for you one this one.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Are the studs good?
How about the joists under this sill?


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

so far the joist going across haven't been that bad... the studs in the one place that I thought it would be bad bc the sill was gone, the stud was fine... there is a few joist that I am going to sister a joist beside it bc it is showing signs of beginning to get a little weak but still sound. Pics will come some time today....


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

*Pics*

here are the Pics I promised


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

By small budget you mean like say $100,000.00?
Should not take that much. Basically - carefully take of the siding, temporary support roof as needed, cut out rotted areas, put in new stuff, put on house wrap, put siding back on.

Is there no sheeting on that? Just the metal on the studs?


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

By small budget you mean like say $100,000.00? No More Like 3,000. 

Should not take that much. Basically - carefully take of the siding, temporary support roof as needed, cut out rotted areas, put in new stuff, put on house wrap, put siding back on. How do I support the roof? 

Is there no sheeting on that? Just the metal on the studs? No Sheeting ... its just metal Siding, Suds, insulation, and paneling. 

Next Questions

How to prevent this from happening again?
How can I insulate the flooring without replacing the plastic... What about installing the Ridged Foam Board down under the Advantech?


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

anyone?


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## ffemt121 (Sep 22, 2012)

Insulating the floor would probably be similar to insulating a dirt floor crawl space. I would probably consider trying to house wrap the underside also, following the contours, then use the wire hangers to suspend fiberglass bats between the joists. Finally i would lay a thick plastic on the ground underneath as a vapor barrier to control the moisture coming out of the ground. The problem I could see with rigid foam is that it will trap any moisture between the floor boards and the foam and encourage the floor boards to rot again.
As fat as the construction and repair stuff, I'm going to leave that to someone else, unfortunately, I'm not very knowledgeable in that stuff.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

This is out of my area of expertise.
I thought I once saw a forum for mobile homes?


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## epson (Jul 28, 2010)

helloitsme21 said:


> By small budget you mean like say $100,000.00? No More Like 3,000.
> 
> Should not take that much. Basically - carefully take of the siding, temporary support roof as needed, cut out rotted areas, put in new stuff, put on house wrap, put siding back on. How do I support the roof?
> 
> ...


Take a look here: http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....0.141.991.6j6.12.0...0.0...1ac.1.K3iyU9vTNYQ


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

I've looked at videos and none of them show what I need... I know how to rip out floors but I don't know what I need to do to replace that sill.. we have removed the floor already so right now there is no sill and floor joist r just hanging there.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

This sill you are talking about where is it supposed to be.
Bottom plate on wall?
Rim joist on end of joists? Or maybe those metal straps go down over end of joists and no rim joist?
There is no foundation? It is just on blocking? 
When I hear sill I think of a 2x6 (or wider) on top of a concrete wall that the floor joists sit on. sorta like this.


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## Tham (May 27, 2012)

I think you're talking about your Rim Joist. The outside joist of your floor framing ( the other joists connect to ). It looks like a 2x6 (1 1/2" X 5 1/2" ). You're so close to the ground that it should be treated (pressure treated wood). They usually break on center of a joist. 

if I'm right let us know, there's some other stuff you'll need to know,
tham


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## allthumbsdiy (Jul 15, 2012)

OP, can you take some additional pictures from the distance so that we can see how your mobile home is positioned in relation to the surrounding dirt (sitting on a hill/grade, on a dip, etc.)

I do not think it is a good idea to lay down plastic barriers on the ground without first understanding how rain and ground water will be managed (don't want a pool of stale water under my home to attract animals and be a mosquito breeding ground!).

I would also stop remodeling the rest of the home until you can get this foundation and floor joist/rim band issue squared away first

When you look around the perimeter of your home, can you describe how it is resting on the ground? Is the mobile home sitting on cinder blocks in certain places, or do your floor joists make direct contact?

I am not a bug expert but some of those wood particles seems like you had termite issues so you may have to address that problem as well.

Post back and let us know?


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

mae-ling said:


> This sill you are talking about where is it supposed to be.
> Bottom plate on wall?
> Rim joist on end of joists? Or maybe those metal straps go down over end of joists and no rim joist?
> There is no foundation? It is just on blocking?
> When I hear sill I think of a 2x6 (or wider) on top of a concrete wall that the floor joists sit on. sorta like this.


yes its what the floor attaches to but nothing directly supports it.... like a foundation would.


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## Tham (May 27, 2012)

So it's not the rim joist of a foundation less mobile home?

There is no mud sill. Just the bottom plate of your wall.

I guess I don't understand,
tham


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Sorry it seems we are confused.
This sill goes under the floor joists right? or on the end of them?

Could you draw a pic and label everything? studs, bottom plate joists, and this sill?

The trailer is supported by blocking under the steel beams?


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

" stop remodeling the rest of the home until you can get this foundation and floor joist/rim band issue squared away" thumb's right. All your other work could be for naught. Structure first, then aesthetics.
The more I look at pics the _confuseder_ I get. First pics look like missing end band, perpendicular to joists, last two look like missing rim joist, parallel to joists. Is this same area. Longer, wider pics would be useful.
What is that plastic cup against? Looks like dirt, or could be really powdered wood.
Could be some termite damage in next to last pic. Once we get this trailer properly out of contact with soil, termite activity will cease. Damage remains, and termites looking for access, handle that a bit later.
Once, sill/plate/ joist/ band /whatever replaced time for insulation, check grade, vapor barrier, bottom siding.

"anyone? " patience, me, Slow and steady gets the job done right. Some of us *do* have too much time on our hands, need a real life ( or so I've been told) and are on this like a chicken on a june bug.. On the other hand, we gotta process the info you've given and ask for more. On the other other hand (some of us have too many hands on our time) we gotta check out all the other threads and see who else we can annoy.


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

the pics the two that look alike one slightly out of focus is of the corner and yes it was so rotten it was gone... .. yes it was a sun dried plastic cup in one ... the other pics are rim joist shots futher down that same side... 

we have found no bugs in any of this... and we have checked the whole sill and will check joist as the floor comes up...

we don't want to level the trailer for fear of it falling apart or creating more leaks/problems.. 

but right now we are cleaning insulation out refixing for new... 
buf it will have to wait bc I fell down between the joist pretty bruised but ok


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Not going to like it but I'll make a suggestion anyway.
Places that sell mobile homes take in trades all the time and are looking to just get rid of them. In fact they would rather not even have them on the lot and just pull them off the lot the new ones going on and deliver it to your location.
Look like your going to be poring all that money into something not in good shape.
$3000.00 would go a long way to getting one in move in condition.
I've picked up two of them that only cost me the delivery charge.


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

joecaption said:


> Not going to like it but I'll make a suggestion anyway.
> Places that sell mobile homes take in trades all the time and are looking to just get rid of them. In fact they would rather not even have them on the lot and just pull them off the lot the new ones going on and deliver it to your location.
> Look like your going to be poring all that money into something not in good shape.
> $3000.00 would go a long way to getting one in move in condition.
> I've picked up two of them that only cost me the delivery charge.


I dont know what part of the country you live in but here the cheapest move-in shape mobile home is 15K-25K... plus you have to have ground work done... and I would have to have this one phyiscally tore down at this point. Now at this point in my life I am not looking to be in DEBT... been there done that almost out of it... I am 14 months to not having a Bill other than my normal Utility bills. I would just assume to keep it that way. After 5-7 Years in my no good shape home... I will be either investing in a new one or building me a house... Thanks for the ADVICE though!


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

Ordinarily I jump on responders who's advice is basically "Spend more money," in situations where lack of more money is one of the issues. But joe doesn't usually do that, and has come up with some clever alternatives to "more money." But , you " don't want to level the trailer for fear of it falling apart or creating more leaks/problems." seems like you easily have over $3000 worth of fixin' to do. And possibility of more, and more serious, injuries.
And, "I've picked up two of them that only cost me the delivery charge." 
While recovering from joist fall, tour some trailer lots. Hope your not too banged up.
I once fell thru a roof patch and thru a ceiling, where I hung by armpits while two helpers stood around accusing each other of laying 2' square plywood between two rafters and not even fastening it, and debating whether they should try to pull me up or use a step ladder from below. I lowered my self down, paid off the help. Bruises lasted quite some time. Even us "experts" can kill ourselves.. Really check out the supports and framing. Trailer could easily fall on someone.


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## allthumbsdiy (Jul 15, 2012)

If you have not actually looked around, I don't think it would hurt to call to see if any of the dealers are willing to give away older mobile homes at little to no cost. You will never know until you ask!

Many members posting your thread have years of professional experience (not including me) and I hope that you would at least have an open mind to explore some possibilities.

I think it would be beneficial to readers if you can post pictures from few steps away as well.

Good luck


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Looking for another trailer is not a bad idea.

The "sill" is it the one half gone in the last picture.
What we would refer to as a rim joist (or band joist).


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

"What we would refer to as a rim joist (or band joist)." or in technical terms, the board that goes around the other boards.:wink:
*me*, an end joist ( as i would call what i see) sits on the sill. I don't think a trailer has a real sill. May be a horizontal plank under rim and end joists, even other joists, but its more to keep bottoms of joist in line than support. (Real trailer pros call the underside of a trailer the belly, and use terms like belly joist, belly band, belly rim, and such, maybe even belly button and jelly belly. But I'm confused enuff without tryin to use them.)

Wrecked trailers at dealer may be source of parts. I've seen many at lots that just had skins ripped off and wall framing loosened, the "belly" parts and even wall timbers, plumbing etc. are fine. I live in tornado alley. Twisters are drawn to trailers surrounded by tall, vision blocking, trees near freight train tracks.:whistling2:


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## Koldhammer (Sep 28, 2012)

I was just looking at your pics and I can't say, from the pics anyway, that I see anything that would scare me away from it but I am wondering about a few things. First, are your wall studs 2"x2" or 2"x4"? Do you plan on stripping all the metal siding off? If so, are you planning on sheeting the walls before you put siding on? Do you plan on adding extra insulation to the walls? Does your home have a "flat" metal roof or is it peaked/sloped and shingled? If your roof leaks how do you plan on fixing it? Will you be doing all of the work yourselves? What is the home sitting on for blocking? Do you plan on replacing the existing blocking? All of these things will determine whether or not you can stay within your budget.


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## helloitsme21 (Jul 18, 2012)

well here is the thing the roof don't leak... the room we are working in is a 11' by 14' under this room the frame is sittin in the ground on one side no blocks what so ever under this room.. we have removed the rotten wood and temporly put another in place till we can slide the flooring between the wall and the rim joist sill.. then we will screw it all together and re attach the metal tin sidding and chalk everything... its ******* country here so duck tape is even accepted...lol now after we are finished I am going to place some blocks under it where I can for added support. As for pics the back away pics won't work bc the metal sidding is just bent upward enough I can craw under it.... and yes we r doing the work ourselves... as far as touring lots for a new house been there done that... my mom and sis bought a 2007 double wide for 49k and my dad bought a 2008 single wide for 19k. .. he almost bought a 2005 for 23k. same lot a brand new one is 34k for a single wide.... or down the street is a 1999 for 15k ..... or I can remodel this one live rent and payment free for 5-7 years put away the money I would be spending on a "move in ready" home and buy me one with a lower payment or free and clear... I figured out that a little looking, hardwork, and common sense will fix a mobile bc only thing supporting the sill or wall is a couple of metal frame pieces.


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

C'mon, me, which red-neck country do live in? We had a heck of a time helpin another trailer dweller with similar problems till she put her location in profile.
Ain't none of us gonna come stalkin'.

" live rent and payment free for 5-7 years put away the money" Smart. If more people had thought that way a few years back, mebbee eekonomee would be in better shape.

Use metalized duct tape instead of duck tape, It'll seal and last longer and will put you in higher class of necks. local yokel's will be impressed, come and stare at glare, be fascinated by shiny object. I know, I come from long line of red necks. I am often distracted by sun glinting off beer bottle cap, wondering if maybe full bottle is hidden by glare.

Pics from distance will give us idea of over all situation, which can help in dealing with details. 

Red neck country is also termite country, gotta get that thing out of contact with soil, metal guards on top of any supports advised.


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## Koldhammer (Sep 28, 2012)

OK, if you're asking what I think you're asking in your first post, I would suggest doing no more than a six or eight foot section at a time. You can remove the bottom plate by cutting through the staples/nails at the bottom of the studs with a sawzall and then cut downward through the bottom plate, toward the floor, then remove it in sections using a pry bar, hammer, ect. Replace it by slipping a new section of bottom plate under the studs and toenailling them to it. (It won't likely go in easy but it will go in). Also, using longer nails, nail through the bottom plate into the joists. As for the rim joist, end joist, it doesn't really support the weight of the walls but it keeps the floor joists from twisting and basically completes the framing of the floor. You can remove it in sections and replace it with new lengths of 2"x6" or 2"x8" depending on which your floor is made of, again, I suggest working in no more than 8' sections and keep you joints at the ends of the joists. Hopefully the ends of the floor joists themselves haven't rotted.


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