fixing up a feebie

[Groo]

I picked up a freebie former deer camp mobile home (12x60, and somewhat old and unused since 04) that I am in the process of fixing up to live in (ASAP, my parrent are driving us mad)

I am a bit concerned that the sill joist (I think thats the term, the boards on the outside under the floor and walls) seam to be a bit rotten and sagging. I'm unsure as to how they will like the added weight of foam board insulation (I think mice ran off with a decent amount of the original insulation) and 3/8th drywall I was planning on adding to try to keep it livable in the winter (I'm north of the 45th and have it parked in a windy spot). I'm hoping the moving the inner walls in the 1 3/8" will put more of the weight on the transverse joists. They look good. It has had its original metal siding replaced with Vinyl siding if that matters at all. The roof seams water-proof.

The windows look like they have all been replaced with poorly sealed storm windows. I think I will be putting up panes of Acrylic (I was thinking Lexan, but it yellows in UV light) inside and out for the winter. with hinges on the outer panes for summer use. Replacing the windows just isn't worth it. 10 sheets of 4x8 will do what I want for about the price of 2 "real" windows.

I am hoping the original Miller furnace won't need too much work. Are there adapters to run it off a grill bottle to see if its working before I get the big tank installed?
I plan on suplimenting with a pellet stove there is already an extra chimney opening in the kitchen (it was a hunting camp after all)

there are a few minor soft spots, and I already cut out the major soft spot under the old toilet. It looks like the pipes froze sometime in its past.

I will be redoing all of the the electrical and plumbing. The drains look good, but I'll probably have to flush the mouse nests out of them.


My main concern is with the sill joists. Is there an easy way to replace them? or should I just try to reinforce them were its needed the most?

[Greg]

There is no easy way to replace the rim joist, but the job really is not that hard. It IS however time consuming. It sounds like you are in for a major rehab job, many here have done it.
The bottom line is it all depends on how far you want to go and how much money you want to spend. Greg

[Groo]

I think I'll be doing just 1 or 2 spots. I may even just take the rim joist out (it already rotted away in the spot I am most concered over), and extend the transverse joists by the door to make a porch, placing the wall on top of a presure treated 2x4 were the joist was. I'd prefer not to mess with much sidimg, and since this is intended to be relatively short term housing, I really dont want to waste time or money that could be spent on a more permanent building that will pay me back better down the road.

ps. were are the mfg tags usually stuck? I haven't found it yet.

[Greg]

Tags may be in the master bedroom closet, near the Elec. panel, near the washer area, in a kitchen cupboard, near the water heater or possibly just plain gone. Greg