What to do when your mobile home has settled, and is making it uneven?
Manufactured Homes June 18th, 2009Thinking about buying a home. It was once a mobile home, but the previous owners added on to it, and then bricked the whole thing up. Even where the skirting goes. We need to know how this is going to work. Cause it is going to have to be jacked up and rebricked from where it had settled. Is this going to mess up the part that was built on. Someone who knows about this, please help, Any information from someone who is in this line of work or knows anything about this will be very helpful.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
It will probably leak where the tye on is. It probably leaks already where it has settled and needs to be fixed.
I wouldn't buy it till it is releveled and reroofed!
June 18th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I have never jacked up a mobile home before, but I have found myself in a few crawlspaces jacking up sagging floors in old houses. Somehow you are going to have to get under the trailer. You say it is going to be re-bricked, so maybe find a inconspicious spot and take out enough brick so you can get underneath. If theres an access hole like for a crawl space-use that. Then you need to have a couple bottlejacks, some 4×4s, a metal plate (to put between the bottlejack and the 4×4), a saw (to cut the 4×4 to to a close length), and some 2×4s (to set the jacks on to keep them from sinking in the dirt). When you have all your "tools", go under the trailer and find a support beam or something that runs the length prefabley under the joists. Maybe if one corner is sinking just jack it up along the edge (this will save you from having to crawl totally under the trailer). Then you need to get a measurement to cut the 4×4 to fit (doesn't have to be tight) between the jack and where the 4×4 will come in contact with the trailer. Then it is just a matter of jacking it to the point where everything is level both ways. BE CAREFUL DURING THE LIFTING PROCEDURE. THE 4X4 CAN SHOOT OUT AND CAUSE INJURY. BE SURE THAT YOU LIFT STRAIGHT AND DO NOT HAVE THE JACK OR 4X4 COCKED IN ANYWAY. After you have everything where you want it you have to see what the soil underneath looks like. You can try digging a hole to the frost line (you may have to research to what that is in your area, around my area in Illinois it is 3 ft.) and pour concrete. Let it set up and depending on what you are going to have done and where you poured your pad you may run a 4×4 up from the pad to the support beam, or you could see what kind of brick the bricklayers are going to be using. If it will take a load let them make some sort of beam. OR if you poured your pad along the edge of the trailer make sure that the brick being used will support a load (like a cinder brick). This can be a dangerous job, so be careful of the trailer falling on you and the 4×4 shooting out and causing injury. I can't stress that enough.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
anything can be fixed it just depends if it is worth fixing it. Jacking a mobile home should not be expensive and it should not have to be jacked up much to repair the brick. Do you know if there is a foundation under the brick, there should be, you could check with the local building department to see if there was a permit for original the work that was done and if so what kind of foundation is in place if any. The cost of the repairs and the cost of the house should be less than the value of the home in good shape to be worth your while.If your not too familiar with this kind of stuff it might be worth having a house inspector check it out for you.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
This is the time to call in those that know, the people that do it for a living. They have the know how and the equipment to do the job right. Working under a house or mobile home is no easy job and I would not recommend it. The price would have to be right before I would buy any home that is not level. Have the owner get the house leveled first and then talk price. This may be why the house is for sale.
It may have settled because the ground is not stable. If you are going to take out a loan the bank will want an appraisal and that is where you might also run into trouble and the FHA is very strict on their specifications on mobile homes.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I agree with John P. As a retired Master Mobile Home Technician, leave it to a professional. It is dangerous to say the least, and if you don't know exactly what you are doing, you could end up costing yourself thousands and thousands.
No ONE can tell you how to fix the problem over the Internet or phone. The jacking must be done in exactly the right place, and the right amount, and for someone to advise you, they better see the whole problem firsthand.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Yes it will definitely cause damage to the add on portion of the home. You need to think about what you are getting yourself into before you buy. Have them do the repairs first or take the cost off the purchase price and then some for your time…
June 18th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
OK…. here it is .
It is not necessary to JACK up the mobile.
If you look under it, it is probably sitting on cinder blocks that sit on pressure treated 2' long pieces of 2" x 12" (cribbing blocks).I f it's not it should be.
Buy a few bundles of 12" cedar door shims….
Find a small space in between the blocks and drive in a shim….put another one on top of it and drive it in….and continue to do that around the block to keep it level.
If necessary drive some in between the those.
If you add so many that you get a big gap….put in a piece of
1 x 4 or 2 x 4 in to fill the gap and keep on shimming.
If it begins to look a lil shaky build a new pier next to it.
While it may seem hard to believe, you can actually lift a 100 ton house with those little shims.
If the house continues to settle you can add more shims later. Once you have the necessary materials on hand this project can be done in an afternoon.
NOTE… It is important to work all the blocks in one area at a time to distribute the load while lifting.