Particle Board Floors In Mobile Homes

For many years mobile homes have been constructed with sub flooring made of particle board which is made from sawdust and glue that essentially acts like a sponge when it gets wet.

Particle board floors in mobile homes. When we renovate homes that were built with particleboard decking i prefer replacing only the damaged and soft spots in the floor decking with new plywood. However even homes with these newer flooring materials the floors can still bow soften and warp. Don t want to be too cheap but i don t want to overspend either. They are a big problem in homes with particle board floors.

The walls were installed right on top of the flooring. Mobile home subfloor thickness may be of some concern and installing plywood over this subfloor can give you a stronger base for your hardwood laminate or carpeting. Overlaying already compromised particle board decking is a mistake because once particle board absorbs moisture the decking will continue to decompose until the wet portion is cut out. Most every home with particle board subflooring will need to have their subfloors replaced eventually.

Turns out particle board is horrible for almost anything construction related. Given that the new floor will be resting on the existing particle board what thickness do i need and should i go with plywood or osb. The problem is particle board is just glue and sawdust and it absorbs liquid like a sponge it also doesn t hold nails hence not being able to use it for wood flooring. This is not always the case in a mobile home however where subfloors may be made of lesser quality particleboard.

3 posts page 1 of 1. Regardless of the date your mobile home was manufactured if you find soft spots the floors should be replaced before the joists and walls are also damaged. Subfloors are an important subject in the mobile home world. In the old days they used to use particle board for the sub floor and install carpet and vinyl before they installed the walls.

Both of these materials used for flooring are much better in regards to water resistance. In many cases plywood serves as a subfloor. Particle board is made of dust and small chips of wood that are glued and pressed together. Particle board floors buckling the central location on the web for the owners of manufactured homes to share their experiences.

Mobile home floor problems soft spots are less common in newer homes that have plywood or osb oriented strand board subfloors. Underneath a wood based floor subfloor provides a base upon which you can build and sometimes in a basement the subfloor will be made of concrete. It is a strong material but it soaks water up like a sponge. Newer mobile homes will either use a better particle board or oriented strand board osb.

When it absorbs liquid it swells. They occur when the subfloor gets wet causing the sub floor material to begin failing.