How to Replace Floor Holes in a House Trailer

Repairing holes in the floor of a house trailer is a simple job. The biggest part of the job is cutting out the section of subfloor between two joists and replacing it with a new piece of plywood. Fix holes in the floor with a few common tools. Replace the entire floor in a room if needed. Redo the floor in the bathroom, the kitchen or any other room in the house that has bad spots in the floor.

Things You'll Need

• Protective eyewear
• Pliers
• Small pry bar
• Tape measure
• Flashlight
• Circular saw
• Reciprocating saw or small hand saw
• Plywood
• Sandpaper
• Sander (optional)
• Straight edge
• Pencil
• Wood screws, box of 3-inch screws
• Cordless drill
• #2 screwdriver bit
• Underlayment material, 1/4-inch (optional)
• Wood screws, box of 1-inch screws; or staple gun and staples
• Tack strip (optional)
• Baseboard trim (optional)
• Hammer
• Finishing nail, small package
• Chisel (optional)

Instructions

1. 

   Remove baseboard and leave tack strip.

   Remove any baseboard trim and peel back the carpet or vinyl flooring. Use the pliers and small pry bar if needed. Try not to break the carpet tack strip under the carpet, if there is one present. If the tack strip breaks, don't worry about it. We'll replace it in another step. If there is any underlayment present, remove it now. Use the pry bar to pry up the underlayment, and use the pliers to pull out any staples, brads or nails sticking out of the subfloor.

2. Determine the distance between floor joists in your trailer, if you don't already know it. One way to do that is to crawl under the mobile home and measure the distance from the center of one floor joist to the center of the one beside it. To measure from inside the house, extend the tape measure about 2 feet, fold that section and put it into one of the holes in the floor. If the hole is large enough, reach into the hole with your hands, straighten out the tape measure, and extend it until it's touching both joists. Hold your thumb and forefinger on the tape measure at the point where it touches the second joist, then remove the tape measure from the hole in the floor and see what the measurement is. Alternately, you can reach into the hole and feel for the joist, then begin cutting out the bad subfloor around the hole until you get to the joist.

3. 

   Circular saw will cut through subfloor.

   Remove the section of floor between the two joists. Cut carefully with your circular saw. If it has adjustable cutting depth, set it to the thickness of your subfloor, which is usually 3/4-inch plywood or particle board. If the plywood has been water-damaged, it will be thicker in some places. You'll need to cut away the subfloor until you have exposed about half of each of the two joists on either side of the hole. The joists should be 2-by-6-inch boards, so you'll need to expose 3/4 inch of each one. The new plywood subfloor will go into place and rest on each of those joists.

4. 

   Use plywood for subfloor replacement.

   Measure the size of the hole in the floor now, and mark the measurements on the new plywood you're using for the floor repair.

5. Mark and cut the plywood to fit in the hole in the floor. Remove any large splinters. There's usually no need to sand the plywood piece, but you can sand it if you'd like it to be smooth.

6. 

   Cordless drill and wood screws equal quick work.

   Nestle the plywood piece you just cut into the hole in the floor and rest it on the floor joists. The piece should fit snugly into the hole, but it doesn't need to be perfect, especially if you're covering the new section of subfloor with underlayment. Sand as needed to get it to fit. Secure the new floor piece with the 3-inch wood screws, down through the plywood and into the floor joists. Placing one screw every 6 to 12 inches will be fine. Be sure to hit the floor joists.

7. Replace the underlayment material, if there was any. Place staples or 1-inch screws every 6 inches in the underlayment, or on the preprinted staple placement marks, if the underlayment is preprinted. Make sure there are no splinters and the floor is smooth before proceeding. If necessary, sand any rough spots.

8. 

   Replace carpet or vinyl floor covering.

   Roll the carpet or vinyl floor covering back into place. If the carpet tack strip is broken, replace it now. If the floor covering is damaged, it will need to be replaced at this point. Depending on your skills and time availability, you may decide to do that yourself or have a professional install it for you.

9. Replace the baseboard trim and you're finished. You may be able to nail the existing trim back into place with a hammer and finishing nails. If it has been damaged, you'll need to install new trim.

Tips & Warnings

• If your circular saw's cutting depth is less than the thickness of the subfloor in your house trailer, you have two options -- use a hand saw, or just make the cut and pry out the piece of old floor. If you pry out the section of the old floor, you may need a hammer and chisel to help you remove the wood neatly in that section.

• Keep an eye out for wiring and plumbing. If there is any present, it would be wise to stop and have a professional complete this project. Damaging pipes or wiring can be costly and creates a need for a more extensive repair.

• Take care not to cut into the floor joists. Cutting into a floor joist will weaken it, and cutting all the way through it will require a more extensive repair.

References

• "New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual"; Reader's Digest; 1991
• "101 Saturday Morning Projects"; The Family Handyman; 2007