preventing basement damage

[kmarier]

I'm not a mason, but in times like this I wish I was! To start we live in a snowbelt. We have our basement already in, with the floor, and it's backfilled. The problem is we were just informed our modular will not be here until the end of January 2004. It was supposed to be here already, and we were told we needed to have the basement done and backfilled before delivery. Our mason informed us beforehand that we didn't need to have it winterized as the house would be here in November, and it would be fine until then. Had the delivery been on time, it probably would be o.k., but 2 more months will ruin our basement. Is there anything we can do to keep this from happening. We are very strapped for cash now, as we had to pay some of the contractors out of pocket due to the construction disbursements not being done right. We won't get our cash back until 2 dispursements after the house is on. The mason is trying to figure out something we could do, but in the meantime we are worried as the snow has begun and the temperatures are dropping. Any help would be appreciated.

[Rich]

:shock:
I would think your modular will have steel beams going across from wall to wall that the modular will sit on? Most of them are like that anyway. If you put some scrap 2x4's on edge (like a grid) and then lay plastic over that. Wrap the ends of the plastic around a 2x4 a couple times and nail the plastic to it - it will keep it from blowing away.
This may not work in your situation but I have done a similar thing on an open air crawlspace and it worked for a time.

[Shanley]

You may want to cover the floor with insulated blankets...they are about $30.00 for a 6' X 20' blanket...I'm in New England and these blankets are used to cover masonry walls after construction, as well as, concrete slabs that are placed in cold weather conditions. Usually these blankets are kept on the slab until the structure is completed over them.

[kmarier]

Thank you for your help, at this point in time- I will try just about anything. The snows been falling for 2 days now, and the temperature is now 20degrees. Can't wait much longer to do something to prevent damage. Again, Thank You.