Bobby,

I'm dealing with a trailer house with about 15 feet of bad floor
along one side. I recently replaced the floor in the water heater
closet in that trailer, and used a wood chisel along the wall.
Just that 30" closet took hours. I'm trying to find a better way.

A reciprocating saw with a 6" blade would easily let you cut right up
to the base of the wall.

You must have the steadiest hands in the world. g I don't think I
could hold a sawzall steady enough to control the depth of cut unless
I used some sort of long guide rod along the wall for the saw to "ride
on." But then again I nearly failed freehand drawing at my tech HS.

I hear ya, I'm horrible at freehand work myself.

Maybe I've practiced more than I care to admit, but it's not as hard as
it sounds. The blade will tend to follow the bottom plate of the wall,
and you can rest the foot of the saw on the floor as you cut. All you
really need to worry about is holding the saw at the right angle to
control the depth of cut. If you can find a blade that is wider (i.e. a
demolition blade), it won't flex as much and will be easier to control.

I've done the same thing with a jig saw when I had no other choice, but
the results weren't pretty. The reciprocating saw is much easier to
control.

Actually, I had to replace a section of the subfloor in our old mobile
home about 12 years ago due to water damage from a leaky washing machine.
I didn't have many power tools back then so I simply used a handsaw to
cut away the floor along the wall. Surprisingly it wasn't as much work as
I thought it would be. The hardest part is starting the cut. I basically
cut the open area between joists, then cleaned up the area over each
joist with a utility knife and/or chisel.

For the second cut 6-12" from the wall, I would switch to a circular saw
and a straight edge. Once you set the depth of cut, it's a no brainer.

I am interested in whether the OP's multi-function tool works out for
this job.

Unfortunately, I do not own a multi-function tool, but when I've seen
them used on TV shows they seem like they cut rather slow. That would be
great for precision work, but I would think it would take forever to cut
15 feet with one. Hopefully the original poster can let us know how it
works out.

Anthony Watson
www.watsondiy.com
www.mountainsoftware.com