Rotten Subfloor

I live in a modular home that I bought new in 2006. I recently noticed that every floor where I have carpet laid, so there is soft and I'm noticing indentations in the floor as well. Is this a common problem with these types of homes? Is it a chemical in the carpet? I shampoo the carpets on a weekly basis, due to having 3 dogs and trying to keep my home hair free, so I can't imagine it would be chemicals.

Leslie Roshan
Huntsville, AL

Dear Leslie,

If it walks like a ducks, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. You live in a double wide trailer, and establishing this fact, I can tell you the problem and how to prevent it after you replace your sub floor with 99% probability.

I'm going to assume that you have installed skirting long before now, so with 4 words, I can answer it all. STOP SHAMPOOING YOUR CARPET! One reason and one reason only that your floor would rot that quickly is constant heavy moisture.

The floors in these "engineered" homes are made from particle board and it will not tolerate water at all. You should spot clean stains, and DRY clean your carpets.

My advice to you, is this: Replace the rotten sub floor with PLYWOOD, not particle board, and instead of putting carpet in, I would advise pitting in a floating type wood floor with an underlayment pad. This would be much easier to clean and would be durable enough to handle the wear and tear of pets in the home.