Mobile Home Roofs – Introduction

Manufactured home roofs

Everyone who lives in a mobile home for any length of time has to deal with the roof.

Your roof has a tough life and lives in a harsh environment. The sun with its ultraviolet light beats down, the temperature changes from hot to cold quickly and frequently, wind makes metal flex and fatigue and shingles break loose, rain water runs through the smallest holes, ice dams back water up under shingles. It’s no wonder roof problems are common.

No one likes those ugly stains that appear in your ceiling when the roof leaks!

However, that will probably be your first indication there is something wrong with the roof. When you see the stains you know you can no longer put off roof work.

You will either have to find someone to do the repair or learn to do it yourself. Even if you plan to hire someone you owe it to yourself to learn something about the process so you don’t get sold overpriced snake oil! There is an old joke in the contractor business about what the first three letters of “contractor” spell …

{ 29 comments… read them below }
mark heglund
I own a 1959 single wide spacemaker mobile home that I use a summer lake home. The roof has leaked through to the inside and has caused some ceiling damage. It is a tar roof and has been coated several times with a white sealant but there are several small cracks. Can I easily apply a better sealant or should the roof be re-tarred or other choice?
Paul
Take a look at a product called Peel and Seal. It’s expensive but might work well in your situation. It is a heavy rubberized, aluminum coated self stick material made for repairs like this. I have had good luck with it in some cases. Make sure the surface you place it on is clean and dry. Here is a link to a vendor I know will treat you right.

Brittany
okay I need a new roof but I no longer want anything to do with a rubber roof, is there a possibility of a roofer to make a pitch on my 1972 mobile home and put an architectural roof on instead?and if so would it be expensive?
Paul
I haven’t tried this myself but you might find this article interesting.

Billy Rogers
I have a 1996 16X73 single wide mobile home with a shingled roof. I noticed over the last two years that one or two of my walls in different places have water damage. It appears that water is getting in around the edge of the roof a leaking inside the walls. I have tore out a couple of the walls from the inside and removed the old rotted studs and insulation and re-framed and repaired the walls, but now Ive found another on on the opposite side of the house. I have no outward signs of damage or leaks from out side or inside other than the Sheetrock in the damaged ares being soft and mushy to the touch. Where is the water coming from. All my shingles are in place and not discolored or anything. I have Vinyl sideing and have had problems in the past around my doors and windows because they were not chalked correctly allowing water in so I fixed that. I’m starting to wander if where the roof meets the sideing is leaking allowing water to rune under it. If I put eve metal under the edge of my shingles will that shed the water away from the wall. As it is now there is no eve metal anywhere on the house the singles come flush to the side of the house with no overhang at all allowing the water to run right down the sides.
Paul
That sounds like a good plan to me.

James
I have a 1967 14+70 single. For some reason some idiot thought it was a good idea to lay vinyl over existing metal siding. Got a gap in between the two. Before I spend a grand on plywood and flat insulation. Any product or idea i should use to overlay the top and gap to stop getting water in between and or down the side of the home????
Paul
People do amazing things. I am not sure I understand exactly what kind of gap you are dealing with. Would a Z strip do you any good? Home Depot or Lowes will have a metal strip, shaped like a Z when looked at from the end, that can be slid under the top siding and cover the gap. (Maybe)

Annette
We need to replace our shingled roof on our double-wide. We are considering replacing it with a metal roof. Your thoughts/recommendations on this idea would be appreciated.
Paul
I think they make a lot of sense and look nice too.

Tina
We need to replace our roof which is now shingles on our double-wide. We want to replace with metal but we have been told that if you put metal over the shingles that it would be to much weight and that the the roof could collapse. Is this true?
Paul
The rule I have seen is that you can not put on a second layer of asphalt shingles. I don’t see how a metal roof would add enough weight to make any difference.
If you live in country where heavy snow loads happen it might be worth scraping off the old shingles. That would actually increase the ability of the roof to handle an exceptional snow load.