I have a modular home the floors are shaky. what can i do to stop this?
Modular Home Questions July 24th, 2010Two years old on a crawl space and when i walk on floors it not solid feeling. the crown is starting to pull away from ceiling and some doors are not closing properly.
July 24th, 2010 at 3:33 am
You have a couple of different problems here.
First.. your home has settled.. (that happens with all homes over time, not just modulars – though, manufactured/modular homes are easier to fix this problem with, hehehe)
The remedy is to have the home releveled. You need someone to come in with a water level, establish where it needs to be adjusted, and make the adjustments. Someone who does this quite often could do this for you in about half a day most likely. (And if the home has shifted off of any supports, this may be part of the floor problem…so fix this first)
After you have the home releveled, then have the trim nailed back in place.
Now as to the floor…. There could be a couple of problems here… first a clarification – a "modular" home is designed to have the steel transport frame removed at the site…a "manufactured" home, MUST have the steel left in place. If you have a modular home, there should be no steel frame. For those folks who DO have a steel frame, these homes will typically have some loose lag bolts over time. These lag bolts secure the frame and the floor joists together. All you need to fix this, is a wrench, or socket wrench, and the will to crawl around under the home, hehehe.
The other source of "loose" floor syndrome, would be the sub floor has come loose from the floor joists. One way to repair this, is to peel back the floor cover and shoot some screws thru the decking into the floor joists. (This is easy if the floor cover is carpet). Another method to repair this, is to use a "Squeak Ender". This is a brace that installs from under the home. It secures the joist and decking material together. "Squeak Ender" floor joist braces can be bought at most Lowe’s stores, for around $7. All you need to install them is a wrench and screwgun. It will be necessary to cut into the underbelly….and then you would have to repair that cut, after installation. I recommend using Gorilla brand duct tape to "stitch" the underbelly back together (Use Plenty), and a good spray adhesive, and plastic, to cover the seam. When using a spray adhesive, it is important to spray both surfaces…allow it to dry until you can touch the glue, and it feels tacky, but does not come off on your finger. If it is still so wet that it sticks to your finger, you will only get a temporary hold.
I will also add here, that a bowed floor joist is more common than most people realize…but since you didnt mention it, I wont go into how to repair it, as this can be a bit of work, depending on how badly the joist is bowed.
Now… finding someone who can do this work for you…. any warranty service crew should be able to do it. (Some are self employed contractors, and some are factory employees). You can ask for references at a local manufactured home dealership, or they may have service techs themselves who could do the work. You may be able to find a local handyman up to the task, but it will go faster if you get someone who has done this type of work before. (Ive seen some who were unfamiliar with water levels take all day just to figure out how to set up and use one, lol)
Feel free to email if you have any questions – Ive done a LOT of this type of work in the past. While I’m no longer at it, I can help with any questions.
Good Luck
July 24th, 2010 at 3:33 am
good words from mr. obvious; I would also add that it sounds like whatever foundation your trailer is on isn’t very stable. address the stability issue first, then add supports between your present floor joists, single or preferably doubled (’sistered’) 2×4s, laid on-edge, attached using joist hangers nailed into your existing floor joists. "Liquid-Nails for Subfloors" is a good choice in any place where you see a gap between the floor joists and your plywood subfloor. I would also install screws from inside your living space, down thru the floor into the floor joists (AFTER using the Liquid Nails) to anchor the floor, subfloor, etc., to the joists. be careful if you have wall-to-wall carpet when drilling or adding screws: if you ‘catch a thread’ you’ll unravel your carpeting.
July 24th, 2010 at 3:33 am
Shaky floors, Crown falling off, doors not closing/
your foundation or supporting structure is not level any longer. if this is a manufactured home with a crawlspace then I bet your foundation has shifted. have a foundation repair of general contractor come out and take a look. Call the folks that that set the home come take a look. If it is real hot where you are you can water around the foundation daily and that should help the soil move it back to where it should be..
July 24th, 2010 at 3:33 am
It sounds like you have allot of humidity in the house swelling everything up. as for the floor, you might go under the house and tap some shims between the floor and the joists. and put some construction adhesive along the joists where the floor meets. and don’t walk on it for a few hours. go have a picnic or something until the adhesive cures. make sure you have supports between the joists every 3 feet to keep the joists from swaying, this will spread the weight out over the whole floor and not just a small area.. If not then this will happen again and again.
July 24th, 2010 at 3:33 am
sounds like your home was set up on dirt, after a home has been set up and leveled on a soil pad, at one year you have to relevel and reshim your piers, this is due to settling, if you get water under the home this can really twist up the home, the outer piers are the ones tha sink the worst, they sink the most over the first year, because they are load bearing, plus they tend to get wet more being closest to the outside of the home, if your a dyi start at the center piers and determine the highest pier, then jack and relevel from there, work towards the closest end, then level that end, then proceed leveling each row of piers till you get to the other end. if your not a do it yourselfer, get estimates from home levelers to have your home releveled, keep in mind that this will be regular type maintaince throughout the homes life, you should expect to relevel again in 3 to 5 years after this one is performed, after that about every 7 years or so. keep under the home as dry as possiable. this applys to all homes sitting on piers, ones with outer foundations included, on these the center sinks.