Tips on How to Soft Spots in the Floor of Your Mobile Home

Many people living in mobile or modular homes will have experienced the sensation of stepping on a soft spot on their floor. The floors of most older mobile homes for instance are comprised of either plywood or compressed fiberboard and these materials are not known for their longevity if exposed to any kind of moisture. These soft spots will occur in heavily trafficked areas in the home and if you let a contractor or carpenter come in and do the work to repair the area you will be out a lot of money.

There is an easy and straight forward way to do this repair yourself and save a load of money. A soft spot occurred in my bedroom floor and after going to the home repairs store and purchasing the required materials I set to work to fix the soft spot. I selected a sheet of three quarter inch plywood, about four of the eight foot long two by fours, a box of two inch screws and about a dozen metal stud hangers.

After lifting and peeling back the carpet the damage done by moisture and mildew over the years was revealed. The plywood surface of the floor in that area had slowly collapsed resulting in a soft spot. Had it not been for the carpet, a person could easily have fallen through.

Here is what you do. Take a sabre saw and guide it along the floor joists with the blade just skimming along side the joist and remove all the bad spots. Leaving only healthy floor material behind once you are done. When you are finished you should have an elongated hole in your floor with the floor joists underneath exposed.

Take some measurments and cut as many lengths of two by fours as you will need. I used twenty four inches between the studs. Next, insert a cut length of two by four into two stud hangers and using your drill and a screw, fasten the hanger to the stud at either end. The idea here is to pre cut the studs, mount them in hangers an place them in between the floor joists and again using a drill and screws, mount these pieces so that they are all put in at once and the only remaining thing to do is to measure and cut the plywood and place it over the hole and using screws secure it in place.

If you have been careful and used a level or maybe just a piece of plywood for gauging just how far up, or down, the studs have been placed, you can cut your piece of plywood to cover the hole and it will fit flush with the rest of the floor.

In the past I have done this repair the old fashioned way. Cutting each two by four and then toe nailing it into place and trying to juggle leveling and depth all at the same time. It takes ages to get done this way. Plus, it seems the very act of nailing it into place will always disrupt your level and the thing tends to sit in there at an angle. Makes for a rather sloppy fit when you try to nail the plywood cover into place.

Using the stud hangers is fast and reliable. The hangers are relatively cheap at under a dollar each and you can't beat the savings in time and money when you consider the rates a professional would have charged to come in and do the very same thing.

A soft spot in your floor is dangerous to the health and safety of your family and should be repaired as soon as possible. Soft spots can occur in areas of your home where you may have a tile or linoleum floor covering material, so it is important that you repair this area as the damage will only get larger as time goes by. Tile especially can be costly to replace and occasionally, the pattern you have on your floor, will no longer be available. With a soft spot in the floor underneath the tile or linoleum, foot traffic over that spot will crack or shatter tile and will cause linoleum to split. So if you have a few spare pieces of that tile still in the house waiting to be used, you may want to jump on this repair before it costs you an entire new tile floor. Just as a suggested repair option, once you have fastened down the plywood cover, use wood putty to fill in any slight cracks between the cover and the rest of the floor, let it dry and then sand it off even. This presents an even surface for the new tile or linoleum and prevents warping or cracking of the new material as it is getting placed over a good smooth surface.