Manufactured (Mobile) Homes are unique and need re-leveling at times!

By
Home Inspector with Eyeball Inspections

Mobile manufactured homes should be leveled once every five years or when the home owner suspects the MH-Unit is un-level. Several indications of an un-leveled MH-Unit are floor creaks, squeaks, pops, snaps, and a  floor that feels soft or spongy when walk on. Other signs of unleveling are bulged skirting, warped siding, windows cracked or won’t function properly, uneven floors, especially along the center seam in a double wide and doors that swing closed by themselves. What causes your home to become unlevel! Once it is determined that your home is not level, the next step is to figure-out what caused the MH-Unit to become unlevel. The cause can be one factor, or a combination of several. The two most common problems are: 1) The support blocks under the home have shifted or sunk and 2) The ground beneath the home has shifted.

metal pier jack Stands submerged in water

Guess Why I suspect this mobile home unit is not level, besides the squeaky and soft floors above? I believe several concrete footing pads have sunk into the quagmire and the Tripod pier frames have shifted. Needless to say I got out of there in a hurry. The cause for water intrusion are varied and needs to be investigated, corrected and the subfloor area gound to dryout completely before any re-leveling is attempted.

Comments (3)

John DL Arendsen
CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments - Leucadia, CA
Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer

Hi Ernie, I realize I'm way late to the party on this one but I just wanted to invite you to join our Active Rain group and feel free to post anything about your MH experiences. 

We're a Nationwide company that speciaizes in engineered certifications, affidavits of affixture and foundation retrofitting and installation. In fact we've been in the releveing and understructure reconditioning biz for the past 3 decades. Here's a link to our group: http://activerain.com/groups/manufacturedhomes Feel free to post any thing you wish about your knowledge of the MH Industry.

- See more at: http://activerain.com/blogsview/3335249/new-rules-fha-financing-for-manufactured-homes-for-2012#sthash.LG9Lky6H.dpuf

Feb 02, 2014 12:12 PM
Anonymous
Ernie Martinez
Hi John - Thanks for reading my blog post on the importance of water drainage and leveling of MH. Believe it or not, not too many MH buyers get their MH inspected by a professional HI and fail to get the unit leveled. Most MH are inspected by an onsite handyman recommended by the MH park management. I have stored your contact information and will refer you. Thanks again, Ernie Martinez, GM, Lead Inspector Eyeball Inspections 909 563-0461
Feb 04, 2014 12:06 AM
#2
Anonymous
Cindy Walker

Can I send you some pictures of my mom's place? She is elderly and her mobile home is falling apart. I think its shifting. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. I don't know what to do or where to start. I did notice the ground seemed way too soggy wet. Thank you.

Jul 18, 2017 05:41 AM
#3