Hey Guys!
We’re back again for another discussion on what are soft spots in a mobile home floor.
Today we will discuss how to avoid getting those pesky soft spots in the very first place, but first, let’s review what soft spots are in mobile home floors just so that we’re all caught up and on the same page before moving forward.
Mobile home soft spots are when a portion of your mobile home floor gets wet and begins to swell eventually causing a hole in the wood floor.
This can happen through an appliance that is running, a pipe under the home that has burst, or a number of liquid spills in the same general area that were not cleaned up quickly. Over time, the liquid will soak through the flooring and get to the wood subfloor, which causes it to begin to cave in on itself. If this is not treated quickly and efficiently, the wood floor will eventually sag so far that it will cause a hole in the middle of your mobile home floor!
Another common way for soft spots to be created is when a pipe under the home bursts and the water sprays on the underside of the floor, causing a soft spot from the bottom up.
Many times this will happen without even the owner knowing it’s going on!
Now that we have gotten everyone up to speed on the basics of what a soft spot is in a mobile home floor, let’s go ahead and discuss how to avoid them in the very first place!
When discussing the most common soft spots, the ones that start from the top and then go down to the subfloor, we need to mention the obvious fix:
If you spill something, clean it up!
Generally speaking, a liquid spill will not create a soft spot, as it will have to soak through the over-flooring which could be carpet, wood, or laminate in order to get the subfloor which is where the soft spot will eventually occur.
Mobile homes
Something very simple that we all grew up learning; if you spill something, clean it up!
Another common soft spot to avoid is the ones that are happening from a running appliance.
This can be done from a refrigerator, a bathtub, or a toilet.
As preventative maintenance, make sure you check that all of these items were correctly installed and sealed, as this is one of the most common issues we see with them all the time. These house fixtures just were not installed properly from the start, which leads to water issues without, again, the owner even knowing.
The last common way to avoid those soft spots is the turning off the main water valve at the back of the house. I have seen that in order for this preventative maintenance to work best, remember to shut off the water if you will be out of the home for more than a few days, for sure a week or more.
Soft spots can also develop due to the lack of regular cleaning, especially those portions under the carpet. So, in order to make sure that soft spots can be totally prevented, we prepared some basic tips on how to clean and maintain your floor.
Tips for eliminating the spots on your mobile home floors
We know that cleaning the house can be exhausting most of the time. Cleaning bathrooms and carpets can be exhausting and, in addition, we know that kitchen floors are usually one of the most demanding because they are used a lot and are the most likely to get dirty or stained.
This time, we will explain how to keep the floors of your kitchen in optimal conditions for longer, we will give you some tips to clean the floors and talk about how to wash, disinfect, and polish these surfaces.
- For the daily cleaning of the floor, we recommend that you do not use any chemicals, since they can easily spoil the floor if we use them a lot. Instead, use a soft bristle brush to apply the mixture with a little soap and warm water, wait a few minutes, and then dry the area with a dry cloth.
- There is a wide variety of chemicals for the disinfection of floors and among them, we have to find the appropriate product for the type of your mobile home floor.
- There is always the possibility that the floors are stained, and these imperfections require more than water and soap, but depending on the source of the stain, it can easily fix it.
- Wet spots, humidity spots or mold often appear due to the presence of water and you can easily clean them with warm water and detergent.
- Food stains, if your floors have organic spots, you can remove them with a little ammonia, just put some ammonia on the stain, let it act all night and in the morning you can clean the surface with soap and warm water.
- For oil spots, immediately clean the oil with a cloth or a napkin and add some talc or flour to the damaged area. Then wash the surface with soap and water.
- Shoes or dirt spots, at this point we recommend mixing water and hydrogen peroxide to clean the dirt. Then, use dishes to remove the final stain and leave the ground impeccable.
- Oxidized spots, to eliminate oxide it is necessary to use special products to do so, look for those that are specific to your floor type. For these products, it is recommended to perform tests in areas with little visibility.
- I hope these basic tips have helped you get a better idea of how to help minimize your exposure to soft spots so that you can have a safe, dry floor in your mobile home for years to come.
This is Mark Kaiser with The Mobile Home Dealer and we help mobile home buyers and sellers get to a better place in life.
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