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Materials and directions

The following directions were written for a mobile home bathroom floor replacement project. Bathroom floors are the most common floor problem in mobile homes. However, the same process works just as well for floors in any room of the mobile home; it's just lots easier because you have more room to work and don't have to deal with the plumbing cutouts.

Materials

Buy enough A-C 3/4" exterior grade plywood to completely cover the bathroom floor. You will also need screws long enough to go through the plywood and the existing flooring and the new vinyl or carpet you will be putting down (I really prefer vinyl). Since mobile home bathrooms are often small, you can usually find inexpensive remnants that will be as large as you need. You will need a new wax ring and possibly new flange bolts to re-install the toilet.

Vinyl, especially cheap vinyl, will quickly conform to any holes or bumps in the material it is laid on. If you don't cover every screw head you will soon be able to see each one and tell whether it was a Phillips or straight drive. To make sure the new floor is absolutely smooth you are going to want to countersink the screws and make sure any seams in the floor wood are filled. I know two ways to do this. Floor Leveler is a concrete based product sold at home improvement centers. It is mixed with water and the mortar is troweled into the holes and voids to smooth them. It has to dry at least overnight but is cheap. I prefer to use Bondo which is plastic filler used by automotive body shops. You mix as much as you need with a catalyst and it will be hard enough to sand in 30-45 minutes. You need good ventilation and if you are only doing one job will have a lot left over.

Directions

Shut off the water to the toilet. Many homes lack a stop on the toilet supply line. This leaves you a choice: (1) turn the water to the home off and hope you finish before someone needs functional plumbing, or (2) figure out a way to cap off the line. I prefer to cap the line. It will come in handy later, and it gives you more options if you run into surprises while working. Next remove the toilet and get it out of your way. Remove old carpet if present and hammer down or pull nails etc.

Cut the plywood to fit the floor as exactly as you possibly can. You are not likely to be able to cut one piece and get it into the room. There just isn't enough room to slide it around as much as you will need to. Make sure that the cuts you are forced to make place any seams as far away from the toilet as possible. The toilet is the place most likely to leak and it also gets the most use.

With plywood in place and the holes cut for the toilet and water supply line, use two pieces of scrap wood to make a collar for the toilet drain line. Get them against the drain line below the flange and drive screws to hold them in place. This will make sure that when you go to mount the toilet you don't have to try and figure out how to hold the drain line up while you set the toilet on it. :)

Fasten the plywood in place with lots of screws. I liked to make sure I hit the floor joists if at all possible and had a screw about every 16". Fill the seams, edges and screw holes with Bondo or floor leveler, let set and then sand flat.

Hopefully you have had the new vinyl unrolled in a warm place and it is now willing to lie flat. Cut it to fit the bathroom, spread the adhesive and smooth the vinyl into place. You may want to use a roller to get all the bubbles out from under it or may find that for such a small space any bubbles can be worked out by hand or with the help of some scrap lumber. If you salvaged the baseboard trim strips and did a really good job of fitting the plywood you may find they are enough to cover the edge of the new vinyl. More likely you will either decide it looks OK as-is or will want to put down some quarter round to cover the gap at the walls. It will also help make sure the vinyl doesn't curl up at the edges.

Remount the toilet, reconnect the water supply line, and check for leaks. You will probably need to put down some sort of trim strip at the door(s) to make sure no one catches their foot on the edge. These come in a multitude of shapes and you should be able to find one that does what you need without making an unacceptable ridge.