We had a water pipe freeze and burst last winter. I had to cut the plastic barrier under my modular to fix it. I put up some black plastic and duct taped it to the existing barrier. I went under the house the other day and discovered that the duct tape gave and moisture had intruded inside the plastic liner. Now I have a mildew smell coming from my kitchen sink and recently renovated bathroom. Any one have any ideas?
2006-08-18 15:38:08 · 4 answers · asked by Roger H 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Okidoke... obviously, some of the folks answering here, either didnt read your question thoroughly, or didnt understand you.... having worked on mobile homes and modulars, I know exactly what you are talking about.
First off... that mildew smell is caused by... guess what.. mildew, lol... so... the first thing to do, is track it down, and kill it. A 50/50 mix of bleach and water sprayed on mildew will kill it. So... you have to do that first, before being concerned about eliminating moisture between the barrier, and the subfloor. You are probably going to have to cut into more locations, to find all the mildew to kill it. Dont forget to look at the insulation itself either. This in itself is going to be a lot of work... plan on spending at least a weekend just on this.
Ok... lets say you have killed all the mildew, and are ready to start sealing up the underside.... to rid the floor joist space of any remaining moisture, you can set a fan to blow into one area of the underbelly, for an hour or so, and that should be enough.
Duct tape itself, is not normally enough to hold a patch on an underbelly...Ive seen other contractors' patches fall as soon as 2 months, when all they did was use standard duct tape. There is a "patch" product made for vapor barriers, you can find it at most mobile home supply stores. It looks like the same material most modular/mobile home vapor barriers are made out of,but has an extremely strong adhesive already applied to one side. This "patch" comes in 4 inch widths of varying lengths, or larger single piece sizes to cover small holes, tho, a mobile home supply may not carry both.
I fixed my patches by using a stronger than average duct tape... you cannot buy the brand I used, commercially, but the new "Gorilla" brand duct tape is very good. Expect to pay twice as much for it, but it does work better than standard duct tape. When using duct tape to help patch a hole... note, I said help.. (do not depend ONLY on duct tape)... I would overlap the duct tape. Never run the tape in the direction of the cut...always run it ACROSS the cut, and let it run at least a foot beyond either side of the cut. You're going to use a lot of duct tape. After stitching the cuts closed, then I would use vapor barrier, and make my own patches. Again, I used a product not on the market..."Sta-put" spray adhesive...the closest thing Ive found to this, is the contact adhesive commonly used by cabinet companies to adhere laminate to a core...the next best thing, is the 3M spray adhesive. The 3M brand adhesive is a fine textured spray... its hard to tell when you have enough on the plastic, but you want to get it on heavy. Spray both, the piece of plastic you are using for the patch, and where you are going to stick it.... cover the entire area with the spray adhesive. Let it dry until, when you touch it, it still feels tacky, but does not come off the plastic, onto your finger. If it sticks to your finger, it's still too wet. Then, gently roll the patch into place, starting at one end, and pressing it firmly into place, as you work across the patch.
If you seal a cut, or hole, in the underbelly this way, it will not come down.
Oh, one alternative to using the bleach/water mix is to use a UV light...this will also kill the mold, but takes a bit longer, as you have to leave the light in place long enough to kill the mildew. Be careful not to set it where it will heat up the underbelly itself... if you use a UV light, up inside the underbelly, set it on something. How long to leave the UV light on the mildew depends on how heavy the growth is, but expect to leave it at least a day in each location. On the note of mildew... let me add that your kitchen and bath, both have holes thru the floor, for the supply/drain pipes...so you need to check inside those cabinets for mildew too...and under the tub.
Good Luck!
2006-08-18 21:50:59 · answer #1 · answered by thewrangler_sw 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Getting the moisture out of there is a good idea. Based on your description, I suspect there may not be sufficient air circulation down there. Check the vents and clear them. If there are no vents, you should add them. Codes say 1/150sf of vent area. For example, for a 1,000sf house should have 6.66sf of vent area.
If you have good air circulation and the water persists, something else is amiss, look for the water source and stop it!
Good luck.
2006-08-18 23:45:06 · answer #2 · answered by Jim 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most modular homes do get moisture under them,"do to concret block foundations" you might have a leak or your getting surface water from raining or run off. to fix it try to put black drain pipe all the way around and divert the water. OR if its just damp try dehumidafier. good luck to u!
2006-08-18 22:48:16 · answer #3 · answered by mouse3801 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
remove the plastic, enough 2 see any of the structure that may be effected replace if necessary, or get a couple of fans & try 2 dry out
2006-08-18 22:50:40 · answer #4 · answered by derf 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋