Skirting

I celebrated Labor Day by laboring hard this weekend. On the agenda was skirting the base of the trailer and insulating underneath the trailer. I did not realize how bad the insulation was under the floor until I finally took the time sat. morning and crawled around under there. Insulation? There is pretty much none left. Over the years of this house sitting wherever it sat the animals have pretty much carted off every single piece of the stuff for their nests and so I am left with open joists. That should make the insulation easier than if I was cutting and piecing.

First though it was a trip to Menard's to pick up the material I would need to make this project a reality. Prior to leaving I worked up a build list. I purchased mobile home skirting which is actually vinyl sofit material. I got treated 2x4's for the perimeter and stakes to attach those to. I also got corner pieces of the vinyl and the insulation along with some other items for work around the house that still needs to be done.

Before any skirting could begin I had to finish the perimeter blocking. This trailer is very old and when it was derelict the snow had been allowed to do a number to the walls from weight sitting on them pushing them down on the floor joists. The outer parts of the joists needed some help in bringing them more level and so I spent the time in digging up the cement blocks I needed and proceeded to block up the perimeter. The floor joists are only 2x4, so you can imagine how cheaply they were working beyond the I-beam frame with that snow weight. In the pictures you will notice I have placed the perimeter blocking on its side which is not the best way to use cement blocks. This was done because the block I had available was used with chunks of mortar still on its surface and I do not have a chipping hammer readily available and so I was not able to set them the way they should be. Since this is only perimeter blocking, I opted for this expedient block pattern, figuring that they are not fully load bearing like the rest of the blocks that hold up the rest of the trailer. Once this tedious step was done, it was time to proceed onto the next steps-skirting and insulation.

Before insulating the floor though, I have decided to enclose three sides of the trailer with skirting. My thought for this is that it will help reduce exposure to the new insulation to elements and also reduce the amount of time that it is open to animal infestation. I plan to insulate on a coming weekend and then enclose the base with that forth side on the same day (Having previously prepped all the material to do so) so that it is all snug and good to go.

Prior to starting the skirting I spent some time web searching for cost effective (remember, this is a temporary home) and effective ways put the skirting on in frost prone area of the world. Based on the information I was able to glean, I started by using a plum line from the base of the trailer to the ground about every two feet. I marked this area so I would know where the front of the 2x4 should set compared to the flat surface of the trailer above where the top of the skirting sits. Once this was done, I laid the 2x4's on their side along these markings and proceeded to pound stakes in behind them. Once these were down a few feet I attached the 2x4's to them and then proceeded to dig a trench in front of them several inches deep. Once the perimeter was done in this fashion, I proceeded to measure and cut the vinyl sofit material and used screws to attach it to the frontage board on the trailer and the other end to the 2x4's. In this way I worked my way around, creating a nice finished perimeter of skirting to the trailer (for the three sides, leaving that forth one open for insulating in the very near future). The base of the skirting extends below grade into that trench I dug out a few inches. This is on purpose. Into this trench will be poured pee rock to ground level which supposedly will not damage the skirting with frost heaving, but instead move up and down around it offering less resistance than if it was dirt up against the skirt bottom. We will find out if this is the case or not.