Mobile Homes & Water Leaks

Water is the kiss of death in a mobile home

That is especially true if you are “blessed” with particle board floors. A small leak can quickly destroy a section of floor big enough to fall through. It happens quickly. A window is left open and it rains while you are at work. The washer overflows, but not enough for you to notice. The kids splash water out of the tub. Someone doesn’t notice the shower curtain isn’t inside the tub like it is supposed to be. Simple things that cause substantial damage.

Extreme care should be taken to be sure leaks are quickly discovered and fixed.

Fixing these problems shouldn’t be hard, even for people with little DIY experience. Unfortunately, the variety of materials, the terminology and the sizing issues all combine to make water line repairs much more difficult than they should be.

The home improvement store is a hostile environment, especially for women & inexperienced men. Staff is hard to find and they may or may not know what they are talking about. Customers don’t put things back in the right box, so you have to check every item you select carefully to be sure it’s the right one. The terminology is strange. Why is the bathtub water spout a diverter? A part labeled FIP means Female Iron Pipe, but what does that mean?

Even experienced people may have to make multiple trips to the hardware store before they get it right. It’s an old joke that every project, no matter how small, requires three trips to the hardware store.

If you can find an old style hardware store in your vicinity, it will be worth your time to check them out. Getting the right parts the first time will more than make up for possibly higher prices.

Inexperienced people resort to cobbling together some amazing fixes that may hold for a while, but pity the person who has to work on it next.

{ 124 comments… read them below}
Steve Avila
I couldn’t find my specific problem searching your site, so I’m sending this email to hopefully get an answer (by the way, I can’t express to you how happy I am to have found your site! Finally, a place with good, solid advice! Thank you!). My problem: I have water leaking or seeping into my mobile home from the exterior, not from pipes or plumbing. We think we have found the area on the exterior where water has been leaking in. There are signs of water damage and mold in my master bathroom (this is where it comes in at from the outside). The carpet near the door to the bathroom in the bedroom was wet, . Some of the ‘peel and stick’ tiles by the door in the bathroom are warping and coming loose. The corner of the floor cabinet farthest from the door, and under the sink, are also showing water signs.
So, what do I do? I want repair/replace the damage caused by the leak, but am not sure of the extent (sub floor must have some damage also, but at what point would I need to replace the subfloor?
Because of where the leak is (we think), I am pretty sure the insulation at the underbelly in that area has most likely gotten wet. Even if dried out, shouldn’t I replace that? How would I do that?
As you can imagine, what a mess!! Can you please help?
Paul
You will know you have solved the leak problem when everything dries out and doesn’t get wet again. I wouldn’t do any repairs until you are certain you have solved the leak problem.
I appreciate your desire to “make things right” by doing the repairs but would suggest you go slowly. You won’t know the extent of damage until everything is dry. At that point you can decide if the damage is enough of a problem that repairs are required. If you trip over a hump in the floor that should probably be fixed. If the floor feels soft or springy in small places, maybe that’s OK.
Opening up the floor and replacing the subflooring is a big deal, especially if your skills and/or tools are minimal. Unless you have the tools and skills already I would avoid it as long as possible.
The insulation “problem” is another place to go slowly. I would suggest getting under the home and taking a look at the wet area. Sometimes the weight of wet insulation will tear open the belly material. In fact, insulation hanging down is a sure sign there have been plumbing problems in the past.
If the belly is torn open you will need to repair it. If it is wet but not torn open I would let it dry out and not worry about it. I say this because I don’t think the cost of heat loss/gain via the damaged insulation is anywhere near the cost of a repair.
Paul

Nathan L. Thomas
Paul–I’m at my “Wits end”, in regard to my mobile home’s water pipes. To make a long story short, this trailer was given to me about 10-15 years ago, and at the time I had it moved and set up, I had a friend of mine replace all the water lines in it, with CPVC. My parents and I built a little concrete footing all around the bottom of the trailer then built a 2 X 4 wall, for screwing up the skirting. We insulated the pipes with the foam pipe insulation, then insulated the little 2 X 4 wall, with styrofoam insulation, plus belly cloth, then skirted the home with Hardy-Board panel, which I was told was the best type of skirting material to use. Well, this setup has worked well, those pipes have lasted I’d say for at least 10 years, with no problem, but we have just recently had a cold snap with several days down below zero–and–guess what? Now I’ve got busted pipes! I have fixed one place but now there’s another busted place, and I’m sure if I fix it there’ll be another place, so I’m just thinking of re-doing the lines–and this time–instead of running them underneath the house I’m thinking of running them inside the house. There was a gentleman I talked to that was selling his mobile home, and that is precisely what he did with his water pipes–ran them down the wall inside his house. I don’t think that’s too bad of an idea–I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars hiring a plumber to re-do the plumbing in that trailer. The trailer is a 1978 14X72, it’s a nice home, but I guess you might say I’m finding out that trailers aren’t all glorious.
Please help–your advice will be much appreciated. What about using copper lines? I have heard of Pex and may go that route but Pex is pretty expensive.
Nathan
Paul
I think that if you check with you state manufactured housing (Division, Bureau) or whatever it is called you will find that your plumbing solution will violate code. People do lots of “Creative” work on mobile homes. It isn’t a problem until you go to sell or refinance and then it can be a big mess.
As far as the water lines go I would suggest you do a couple more repairs before you give up on the existing system. I have talked with some guys who buy HUD repo homes that may have frozen and they have to bid “as-is, where-is” with no utilities connected. They tell me there is usually a low spot in the water line(s) that freezes first and lets the rest drain.
As far as PEX vs Copper, I would go with PEX because of it’s ease of installation and freeze resistance. I think that will more than make up for the cost.
Paul

DON
my reply to nathan l. thomas concerning replacing the water lines in your mobile home. i have been repairing mobile homes for many years now and i have found that pex pipe is the very best way to repair your broken pipes. pex pipe will not freeze and break but, the brass elbows and tee fittings etc. will freeze and break. my advice to you is not to replace all of the pipes (because of the expense) but replace and repair only the pipes that need to be fixed. make sure that you use foam pipe insulation on any pipes that are close to the outside walls as they are the most vulnerable to the cold . then when you have insulated the pipes, you must use r13 rated fiberglass insulation to go up between the floor joist making sure the insulation is on the bottom side of the pipes–don’t be sparing with the insulation. the final thing you will need to do is buy some 3ml. thick black plastic and some 3m spray adhesive . you cut the black plastic large enough to cover the hole in the moisture barrier (that was made to repair the pipes) . spay the moisture barrier and spray the piece of plastic and let it set for about 30 seconds then lift it up to the hole in the moisture barrier and press it against the surface and smooth it out. next you need to make sure that your heat tape is working properly on your main water line that comes up out of the ground to your mobile home, also you need to insulate this main line with form pipe insulation and with this you should not have any more problems. this method wil be more labor than expense. have fun.

Shelli
I am so glad I found this site as I am not sure what to do. My front door has been leaking water and I didn’t notice until the floor in front of the door got soft. I believe the threshold was not sealed properly and now there is water rot around the front door and the wood below the threshold along with the soft spot just inside the front door about the size of a basketball. I will need to hire someone to fix this but don’t know who to call. I’ve tried several handymen but they don’t work on manufactured homes. Please help!
Paul
I frequently get questions like this. Here is my best suggestion for finding good repair help.

melissa
So happy to find this site. I have a 2005 mobile home and I want to move the washer and dryer behind the wall where it currently is How hard would it be to move the water line and dryer plug in?
Paul
“How hard…” is a really hard question to answer, especially when I haven’t seen the house. For the dryer plug in I think all you would have to do is cut a hole on the other side and turn it. Cutting the hole in exactly the right spot isn’t exactly hard, but making sure you drill at the right place is.
The water lines should also not be difficult but some of that depends on what quality of fits & finish you require.
Mostly you will want to measure everything very carefully. You will also want to be extremely careful with where and how deep you drill/cut. You wouldn’t want to run a drill bit into a 220v dryer line

Tara
There is standing water in my heating ducts and I don’t know where it could be coming from. We got close to 30 gallons out and it doesn’t seem like any more water is getting in there, but we haven’t turned on any of the faucets in the house for fear of making it worse. What would be the best way to diagnose the problem?
Paul
Do you have a central air conditioning system you turned on recently? The condensate from the AC is supposed to drain to the outside, but if the drain is clogged/blocked the water can back up and drain into the ducts.

Charlene
Hello. I don’t know how old this thread is but I had the same problem in my home as well. Turned out the water lines were leaking. When they build the home they installed the water lines inside and along the edge of the heat ducts. Pin hole leaks caused water to get inside them. Took forever to figure it out.

kristi
I have an older mobile home and was trying to fix my kitchen sink that had a dribble for hot water and somehow messed something up and now I have no water in the kitchen plus there is no hot water in bathroom sinks. However the shower and washer are fine. I am debating replacing the pipes throughout with pex but if there is something else I should try first I would greatly appreciate the insite cuz eight months like this has been long enough!
Paul
Does the home have galvanized iron water pipe? If so, it sounds like planning to replace with PEX would be a good idea.

Stewart
I recently purchased a 25 year old manufactued home. I has had frozen pipe problems in the past ie. the underbelly material has been pulled down in some places as well as insulation. What material is recommended to hold the new insulation up. I’m planning on stapling one side up to the floor, tack? new insulation to the floor, than staple the other side to the floor. What can I use to close the end up. The existing material looks kind of like a nylon cloth.
Bless you for helping us.
Paul
Here is a link to some of the belly repair supplies you may need to use.

Monica Caldwell
I noticed recently that a small area near the wall in bedroom was wet. I thought someone spilled water and used a towel to dry the spill up. The next day the area was wet again. This bedroom is on the other side of the bathroom. How do I go about finding a leak and do I really have to replace the entire floor for such a small area?
Paul
Do you have wood or dry wall paneling? If it is wood those sheets of panel are not to hard to carefully pry loose so you can see inside the wall. If it is drywall you will need to cut an opening so you can get a look at the plumbing.
In any case you need to do that quickly before there is more damage.
Floor replacement will depend on how much damage there is, and if anyone walks on that part of the floor. It might be that covering the damage with a piece of 1/4″ plywood would be enough.

Walt
I have to build a shingle roof over a existing mobile home tin roof.
Can you give me direction as far as placing the 1x4s on the roof and the facial boards on the outside wall plate
Paul
The best roof repair suggestion I have seen is here. I realize that is not what you were asking for, but take a look and see what you think.

Crystal
I am looking at a mobile home that has a small amount of water damage on one wall. This is the wall that has the window air unit in it. How hard to fix, would you just remove paneling and insulation and replace after I have figured out the leak.
Paul
I think this would be a simple repair if you have any experience at all. I would guess condensate from the A/C unit is the cause of the problem.

Gary Herrick
The water heater leaked and flooded the master bath and bedroom. I believe it was only for a day or two. We were gone for 5 days… neighbor feeding cat found wet carpet and turned off water. We removed the carpet and pads the next day, shop vacuumed and are running AC and dehumidifier.
We are concerned about mold (humid climate). The belly poly lining is sagging and insulation soaked. We cut 12 ” long slits in a cross pattern where it was sagging to drain the water. Should we remove the insulation too? Anything else we should do to prevent mold?
Paul
The problem is removing the insulation is a huge & expensive job. So if you can avoid it that would be good. Is there any way to start blowing some warmed air through the wet area; run the shop vac exhaust into it, set up some fans, etc.?

Fred Bremer
I appreciate your site, and am very glad to have found the information I’ve been needing. I currently have a ’67 camper trailer that I’m trying to restore, and a ’96 28′x70′ double wide that I live in. Although mobile homes are alot different than site built homes, I have always preferred them.

Sharon
i have noticed a very bad smell emanating from the bathroom of our modular home and it seems to be coming up through the vent . The smell was there last spring/summer when we opened the underskirting to let air underneath for summer months. It is there again – husband says no water leak and insulation looks okay. Where do you think smell might be coming from? Ground is damp under trailer because lots of rain last 2 years. Bought Modular Home new 3 years ago.

Sharon
This is 2nd part to my first comment seeking remedy for smell coming from through floor vent in master bathroom and it seems to permeate the whole master bedroom and master bathroom. The same smell also seems to be coming up through the floor under the kitchen sink and where water purifier is located and up through drains. A plastic was laid on the ground underneath the modular home – I am wondering if it is molding or rotting under that plastic. Smell has decaying smell to it – very unpleasant. Also husband put mouse poison pellets underneath modular home, pellets called warfarin i believe and supposed to desicate mice carcass so husband said it could not be that. What and where should we check under modular home to find source of smell and is there a product we can use to kill the smell if we cannot locate source.
Paul
I would be looking for a dead animal(s) up inside the belly of the home. Sometimes a vent cap on a drain line will fail and let sewer gasses into the house, but you seem to be getting the smell in multiple locations which pretty well rules that out.
Warfarin is a chemical that reduces the ability of blood to clot. It is frequently prescribed for people who have an artificial heart valve or who have had stents placed in their heart arteries. It works as a poison in mice & rats because they are unable to vomit. They eventually bleed to death as the Warfarin levels build up from eating the bait.
I find it hard to imagine a chemical which could be included in the poison, that would prevent the carcass from decomposing and smelling in a wet environment.
The only product I know of that will take away the smell is “Essence of Time”. (That’s my little joke, not an actual product.)
Paul

gerrie
I had water dripping from the top of my window so cut out the paneling over the window and the 2×6′s at the top of the window are soaked with water insulation was also wet how do I find out where the lek is and fix it ? Also how do I replace the 2×6′s? Thanks in advance for all suggestions
Paul
Hard to answer specifically without knowing more about what kind of siding you have. I guess I would start with a close inspection above the window on the outside looking for obviously failed caulk or cracks. Depending on what you find you may have to open things up more to make the needed repairs.
gerrie
Thanks Paul
I have vinyl siding and there isn’t any caulk around any of the windows but as far as I know this is the only one leaking. I dont see any cracks or holes in the vinyl over the window. The only thing I see is where the vinyl overlaps is above this window and not the others. When you say open things up more do mean the vinyl ? Because inside is all open now. Also any suggestions for getting the wet rotting 2×6′s out and replacing them ?
Paul
If you look under the vinyl, at the top of the window, is the window pulled tight against the wall sheathing and does it seem to be tightly caulked? Somehow water has to be getting under the vinyl and then leaking through the sheathing.
Are the2 x 6′s actually rotted, or just soft from being water soaked. If you let them dry out does it seem like they retain most of their strength?

Connie
Hi,
I noticed outside about half way between my bedroom and the laundry room, the outside skirting and floor (I don’t know how else to describe it ) :/ is coming apart. I can slide my pinkie finger in between the skirting and the base of the home? I hope this makes sense.
Thanks and very worried
Paul
Have you had a lot of rain lately? Is the area where you see the problem a low spot where water could settle? Is it possible the base of the skirting is rotting/settling?
Connie
Well, honestly I’m not sure? I can say it’s located in proximity to my central air unit? It could be rotting settling, I could not say
This home is about…10 yrs old maybe? A few months ago, yes we had A LOT of rain (Michigan). I’m a single mom, and finding help is not so easy. And making it even harder is no one seems to know anything about mobile homes, or wants to do any work on them :/
Thanks Paul – I appreciate any feedback/help

Mr. Jones
I have a soft spot in my floor near my fridge/furnace/water heater/washer/ (across the wall) shower stall. I thought it was originally the leaky kitchen sink running behind the cabinets to cause the wet spot, but I fixed that and the spot continues to get worse. Should I cut out the insulation from the bottom to get a better look? hopefully someone has had a similar problem, and can help me out.
Paul
Could the pan under your refrigerator that catches condensate have cracked, overflowed, etc.? Does the washer drain ever overflow while the washer is draining? Water heaters will often start dripping just before they fail. If you look hard can you find any soft spots near the shower?
I would check everything else first because cutting open the bottom is a lot of work, it’s hard to see anything unless you make a big hole, and repairing the damage is a pain.

Edward Tracy
Our home was moved onto our new lot,and where the water line is going into the home it will not let the water go into the home.They had to run the line from where it was to go into the hokme down on the cement to the other end of the home and tap into the cold water line so we could have water in the home.Now I have to run about 60ft of heat tape to keep it from freezing in the winter.Would you know what part I’m missing so I can hook the water up to where it should go in?It tell’s you on the side of the trailer where the water goe’s in.Thank you for your time.
Paul
That sounds a little strange. I’m not sure you got the whole story. There should be a connection under the home that you connect to and then a short run to where the cold water supply to the water heater takes off. It makes me wonder if the connector was damaged and they didn’t feel like replacing it. Have a mobile home setup guy take a look at it.

Judith
I need to replace the whole bathroom, the tub has cracked and water has leaked, I want to replace everything, the floor,tub toilet, and vanity, my question is can I use real tile or hardwood on floors, and do I have to use mobil home parts or can I use parts from like home depot?
Paul
Real tile or hardwood is fine. Since you are replacing the vanity a house type sink will work. Mobile home tubs are not the same as house type tubs. They don’t have an overflow.

christi
i have lived in my mobile home for abt 3 yrs and 2 of them have included winters…i live in an area where we get a lot of snow! every winter along the outside walls of the trailer (not the walls that lead into my garage), when weather warms up enough to make a lil bit of the snow melt i get quite a bit of water in my kitchen and laundry room…i have not yet noticed it in the bed rooms or living room! i am trying to discover what could be the cause of this since winter is quickly approaching! and i really wanted to fix the problem before i start doing the remodeling i had planned to do in the kitchen….any ideas on what could be happening??
Paul
I need a more information before I can say anything appropriate. For example, what kind of roof are you dealing with? Is the water showing up on the ceiling, the walls, the floor?
As a total “shot in the dark” the seal between the roof and walls of metal roofed homes often fails when the screws holding things in place come loose. Some caulk and new, larger, screws might help that.
christi
i believe i have shingles on my roof…but i will get up there soon and check…the water is coming in where the walls meet the floor…i have never noticed any water on the walls or coming from the ceiling….only the baseboards…
i was thinking maybe putting up a gutter and hopefully that would help but i just noticed that the floor is getting soft in the spot where it is the worst…..
Lydia
I have a 1970 mobile home. I want to put down plywood over the already existing floor in our bathroom. Will I have to take the toilet up to put the new flooring down? Would like to put peel and stick tiles down over the new plywood. Thanks for your help.
Paul
Pulling a toilet really isn’t that hard although you may have to fight with getting the old bolts loose. You will need a new wax ring when you go to re-seat it. For sure you want to pull the toilet so you get new wood under it. That takes care of one of the biggest problem areas in mobile homes.

Victoria
I’m extremely happy I found your site. My husband and I recently purchased a repo mobile home. It’s a 2003 Cappeart. In the bedroom by the kids bathroom the wall is crying. What I mean is water comes down the wall. Could it be the plumbing from that bathroom that’s causing the problem. I don’t know if there are any pipes in the wall/ceiling or not. Any help would be appreciated.
Paul
Is the tub/shower on the other side of the wall? That would be the only place there are water lines inside the wall. You need to open it up & fix the problem ASAP because water leaks do major damage in no time at all.

Bos
I am not sure how old this posting is, so maybe you have this figured out by now, but just in case… I live in NE Washington State and had a similar problem. First, I noticed icecicles on the outside on the siding. Eventually, (a few years later) it ended with water on the floors but not wet walls. I think what you are looking at is ice dams on the roof. When the snow above the dam melts, it seeps in under the shingles and runs down the inside of the siding to the floor where it come in. I put a metal roof on mine and for the last two winters I lived there, no ice on the siding and no longer live there. Besides the roof, it was a multi-thousand dollar fix. Find out how to deal with ice dams on the edges of your roof before it ruins all of you walls, siding, carpet, etc. It does not get better on its own. The chances of mold on the inside of the siding is quite high as well.

Ross
it is the middle of Aug ,I was checking under my Moduline home I noticed the belly Poly was sweating A lot what could be causing this. there does not appear to be any water inside the belly poly
Paul
I did all my work in New Mexico where the humidity seldom gets over 20% so I have no actual experience with this kind of problem.
Is it possible, especially if it has rained a lot for drainage water to have gotten under the home? Then if you are running the A/C, especially if there are gaps in the insulation, could the belly poly get cold enough to cause condensation? Pure guess work on my part.

Wayne
I am working on repairing water pipes in a 1971 Winsor Mobile home. I got cold and hot water to bathroom sinks and kitchen sink and tub/shower. Well at the other end of trailer is a half bath (sink and stool) found a broken elbows under the main bathroom floor. These elbows are between a floor joist and duct. no room at all to remove the broken elbows. Not sure of any leaks after that. What would be the best way to fix this? I’ve had couple ideas ran by me. 1 was replace whole line (approx. 40ft run) with pvc. just not sure the best way to attack this. 2 was to drop line under trailer do the run then back up, heat tape/insulate line thats underneath trailer. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Paul
Is the line squeezed between the joist and the duct for it’s entire length? If you cut off the above floor parts could you push the pipe down far enough to expose the elbow? I don’t like the idea of an exposed heat taped line because the tape is bound to fail at some point and then you have a frozen line. I would suggest PEX rather than PVC.
Wayne
Yes line is between joist and duct the whole lenght. Yeah probably could cut the joist but then i worry about support of floor. like i said not for sure if the rest of the 40 foot run is ok or not. How easy is pex to run? Yeah i’m not real crazy about the idea running under trailer either thats why i posted on here to get some better ideas.
Paul
I wasn’t clear about something in my reply. I would never suggest cutting a joist. Isn’t there some way to loosen a pipe support(s) so you can pull the pipe down to where you can work on it. Just realized you never said what kind of pipe you are working with. I was assuming pvc or cpvc but is it galvanized?
Wayne
Sorry about that my bad yes it is galvazined.

mike matatall
This is M i bought a used trailer in mi and spoke with them about going to the house on 8/20/11 and finding i have no running water.i bought the house on 8/18/2011. They tell me that you shut it off because it was leaking. no big deal them i juss spent all that money for that home knowing i need molding and trim done as what i was told that was it..i look under the house there is like 4 inchs of water and you guys say call a plumer cause i now own the home as is. the guy next door did in form me that, that house had problems all the time with leaking pipes under the house for along time i believe SELLER was aware and for that i would like a invoce of the inpection done on the home that hadthey am sure had to do before selling it.. The way i was treated was rude and its like oh well you bought it.. theys knew there was a problem and has been an ongoing problem with the pipes..so i feel you they should be the one whom fixs it..I did research and i know that if there were problems with the pipes they were suppose to inform us and didnt also when they shut the water off they didnt even call us to tell us of what was going on..i plan on going to the highest mangement there is about this..Me and my wife are low income and just paid all that money to move in..I thank its very shameful how that was done.. When buying the house on my closing date was told the samething floors need trim you might want to paint..never did anyone say hey theres a leak under it..does this sound legal?? To do this to people
Paul
You are way past the point where there is any value in talking directly to the dealer. I did a quick Google search and see that Michigan has a “Mobile Home Commission Act” Here is the short description of the act.
“AN ACT to create a mobile home commission; to prescribe its powers and duties and those of local governments; to provide for a mobile home code and the licensure, regulation, construction, operation, and management of mobile home parks, the licensure and regulation of retail sales dealers, warranties of mobile homes, and service practices of dealers; to provide for the titling of mobile homes; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain agencies and departments; to provide remedies and penalties; to declare the act to be remedial; to repeal this act on a specific date; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts.”
I bolded the part that applies to your situation. I also edited parts of it. I have not studied the Michigan act in detail but in my experience in other states, the dealers have been very concerned when someone from the state office shows up. Get in touch with the state office at once. Start keeping notes of every phone call and every contact you have as you deal with this problem.

Sharon
I have a 2002 Horton double wide . I purchased it back in 2004 . In 2008 we had our 1st roof problem . Water gushed out of the 3rd bedrooms door frame . We followed the wet crack on the ceiling all the to the double pained windows . It is seeping from the shingle roof that has never had a drip edge on it . The shingles hang over 1 inch all the way around and lay on top of the facia board that turns orange stained after a Florida winter .Now 3 years later the 2nd bedroom directly next to the 3rd near the window on the same wall ,the ceiling started bowing after a heavy rain and soon popped open to spill the water out on the carpet ripping 1/2 of the 4×14 ceiling panel down and leaving the blown instulation everywhere . We replaced each time with 2 sheets of plywood and new shingles to the roof’s damaged area’s . We now find the roof has several weak and soft spots all steaming from the same problem rot working it’s way from the unprotected edge all the way up . Should I just keep waiting for the next place to give or run a claim thru my insurance that will have someone come & put a new roof on with the edge protector in place ? It seems such a young age for the shingles to give in so early . What is the life span …and by the way I make certain the leaves do not stay on top of the mobile home so I know that’s not the cause . Any advice would be greatly appreciated .
Paul
It sounds more like an installation problem than a life of the shingles problem I think getting your insurance company involved sooner rather than later would be a good idea. Hopefully you can prevent future damage to the interior by getting the roof replaced sooner. If they refuse to pay it gives you time to save up before the next failure.

michelle
Hello, I am considering buying a mudular home that has been forclosed on. I am not sure how long it has been vacent. I went inside and it appears the pipes have frozen and busted at one point. The floors are worped in the laundry room and kitchen and it looks like someone has cut a hole in the wall in the bathroom to stop a leak in there as well. I was wondering what the approximate cost would be to repair the house and if its even worth it. The house is 5o,ooo on 6.31 acrers of land 1500 square feet. Thank you
Paul
Unfortunately, there are so many variables it’s impossible to answer your questions with any degree of authority. I know a couple of guys who have been buying homes like this for many years and have done very well financially. However, they use their own money, know the market really well, buy REALLY cheap, and know how to manage really cheap helpers. I asked them about the frozen line problem and they suggested the line usually freezes and breaks in one place, which drains the system.
From what I have seen of bank/dealer pricing and their experience I would guess they would offer about $20,000 for this place, plan to spend $5,000 getting it fixed up and sell it with owner financing for $50,000. Hard to believe I know, but it is really easy to overpay. I got lots of practice back in the day
michelle
When u say drains the system does that mean it negatively affects the entire plumbing in the home or it only breaks in one spot?
Paul
He said that generally it only freezes and breaks the line in one or two places. So they turn the water back on, listen for leaks, fix those places and are good to go. I don’t know that they have ever done a complete re-plumbing job. Your mileage may vary

Ed
Hi,hopeing you can help.I have a doublewide,13 years old. It is a 2000 modular. Untill about a year ago I never had this problem. Im getting water/moisture under the house between the plastic and insulation. And there is no water leak anywhere. I cut a hole in the plastic took out insulation,and looked. Insulation closest to floor is dry,only what is touching plastic,or is in water is wet. I have a crawl space about four feet high,have the gound covered, I have found water in three differant spots,all on the same side of the house. Im stumped,and so is the manufacture. You have any ideas ?
Paul
Sometimes the drain from the A/C condensation pan gets clogged, water builds up and runs down through the ducts. If that were happening and water was leaking from the ducts in a few places I can imagine the water might quickly drain through the insulation to the bottom plastic and then spread out from there.

Josie
I have a 1979 Mobile Home and pipes are busting everywhere, there were no shut off valves in the kitchen or bathrooms(2) I installed them. But now each room is having butsted pipes. I want to repair these area’s before winter hits. I now have another leak by the washing machine. The piping is very old, we put PVC piping and PVC pipe glue around the tubing and clamped it. It got cold last night, woke up to running water everywhere. I need help! If you tell me what to do and what to get, I can fix this without calling a plumber. Thank you in advance
Paul
If you have the old galvanized pipe and it is having these kinds of problems, there is no point in trying to fix it. It will break faster then you can repair it.
I think you are looking at totally replumbing and I would suggest using PEX.

Terry
We have a modular in the Colorado mountains and would like to drain the water from the pipes for winter. Is there an easy way to install a drain and where would we install it under the unit?
Paul
It would depend on what kind of water lines you have. PEX or copper would be the easiest. I think I would splice into the main water line before it goes into the hot water heater, and run the new line to a hose bib on the side of the home. You are going to want to blow the water lines with compressed air to get all the water out.

Mimi
Hello,
I just moved into a Mobile home and have been here for 6 months. I started noticing wet walls not actually damp but soft and now some hallway walls are literally paper thin. Where this Hallways is, leads to my 3 back bedrooms which are my kids rooms!I dont see anything wet I only smell something… i swear smells like horrible wet cardboard & the only thing i have found is green mold around the door frames of all 3 kids rooms on the actual doors! I had an insurance guy come out and tell me there is no leaks under the house or on the roof and they think maybe since its a doublewide that they didnt put it together good and insurance doesnt cover that! I dont know what to do, our ac is brand new $5,000 all the rooms have air we live in Florida, and i dont want to move and have to deal with transferring my kids to a different elementary school…that really effects kids..i can tell mine are sad! Please help
Paul
I think you have a serious problem that needs professional attention soon. For starters here is a link to the Florida state office that I think handles this. That should answer some questions. They may also be able to help you find a professional Manufactured home inspector to check out your problem.
You need to start keeping a written log with the date, time, name, number, etc. of all the people you talk to along with a summary of what was said/promised. Do not delay, don’t let people put you off. If you start to get the feeling you are being stalled or not taken seriously get a lawyer working for you.
I don’t know enough about the age of the home, how long since it was installed, etc. to be able to be more specific. I just know that some of the people in the business are experts as delaying things until warranties expire, etc. However, it will require an inspection by a pro whose credentials will stand up in court to get the ball rolling. So get to it

Annette
I moved into my mobile home last October and have never had inside of my front door get condensation now it is and we did have a new awning and new central ac put in could this have anything to do with this? There is no leaks anywhere in my home except for this moisture. O also inbetween my sliding glass double pained door as well but this was always an issue since we bought it. I do see on top of the plastic moisture barrier water dripping from the ac unit under our home.
Paul
I have trouble answering moisture and condensation questions because I live and did all my work in Mew Mexico. My kids had no idea of what mildew is. When two of them moved to Dallas it was quite a shock.
I’m thinking that condensate from your A/C shouldn’t be dripping under the home; that might be worth looking at.

Shannon
Water in guest bath of mobile home runs down shower wall where shower head is onto floor. It runs down the wall onto the floor instead of back in the tub.

ML
Our mobile home roof material is thick but has no substance to attach a gutter to. Rain runs down the side of the home and pools in a low place between the siding and the cement walkway which got there when the utility people put in their gauges. The roof overhangs the siding by about 6 inches. We aren’t on a slope. What can we do about the pooling and consequent sinking and bowing of the siding?
Paul
Could you build up that 6″ overhang by fastening one or two strips of exterior grade plywood or OSB to it? Then you would have something to hang gutter from.
As far as drainage, could you build up the low areas with some clay rich soil? That might help keep water from soaking in under the home.

Tracy
I just bought my mobile home in July of this year , we have been having a cold wet winter, under my master bath apparently a pipe broke so the maintenance man came banging on my door that he has to turn off my water yesterday about 10 am he came back today about 9:30 am I gave him 25$ for the insulation tape couple connectors he said I needed its 2:45 still no water, I’m just hoping that with this freezing weather leaving the skirt open everything out n open that any further damage will occur.
Paul
Chances are any areas that would freeze have already drained dry when the first break happened.

Tracy
I need help with my mobile home repair in Honey Brook Pa.
If you could refer me to any good honest mobile home repair service it would be much appreciated, just bought this home in July first time living in a mobile home . Also what does it mean if I start seeing very thin cracks on certain parts of my walls.
Paul
I have thought about ways to create a mobile home repair referral service, but never been able to come up with a system I thought would work. I wish I could, because I know it is a constant problem for people.
The cracks make me wonder if you have water getting under the home and causing some settling issues.

Bos
I am living in a 1971 Fleetwood double wide that I bought with a lot of problems. I have been fixing the leaks here and think I finally got them all fixed (fingers crossed). I would like to add a whole house filter to the main water line and also move my laundry area. The water lines here are the original plumbing (galvanized?) steel pipes. At what point do I need to totally replumb the fresh water lines? I know that near a couple (at least) valves there is build up in the pipe. Of the pipe that we took off and replaced with cpvc, the buildup was near the shut off only. Do I need to worry about build up in the main parts of the plumbing and can I come off of the galvanized with pex, up through the floor, through a filter, back down through the floor to feed the whole house? As for the laundry, I can plan to put the washer directly behind the existing location (other side of the wall) and use the same hookups, but the dryer will have to be moved farther from where it is now, so can I use a junction box to extend the outlet? and can I put two 90* bends in the dryer vent to get it to the other side of the wall? This is interior wall, and would change the dryer vent run from approx 4 ft to approx 8 ft.

Susan
I have lived in a 1980 mobile home for the last 6 years. We have made some necessary repairs that have been minor. However, a new problem just surfaced. I live in Tucson, AZ where rain almost never happens until the monsoons in July, But this is April and other than a slight sprinkle we have not had rain. The problem doesn’t seem to have water anywhere near it and the pipes underneath our home are not directly at the flooring level. The problem started 2 nights ago when I walked from the living room to the kitchen, The LR is carpeted and my bare feet sloshed as I got to the kitchen floor slipping on the linoleum floor. It was out 6′ from the outside wall (which has an enclosed porch across the whole front of the mobile past the kitchen and LR). This morning I put a towel over the area before I had to leave. Tonight it was soaked and the area of wetness had spread. I put another towel down to try to mop it up and within an hour it was soaked (both towels were folded over 3x). The refrigerator is not near the area and no sinks or water sources are there. Any suggestions?
Paul
I would take a look under the water heater.

carl
i have a hot water heater that is app. 5-6 yrs old that is leaking iam not sure where to look for the leaks please help.
Paul
When a water heater starts to leak it usually means the tank has rusted through and the whole thing needs to be replaced.

leanna
I have a 1994 Fleetwood we have never had any issues and we noticed that the water pressure in the bathroom sink has slowed a lot but nowhere else. My water bill has not changed so I don’t think it is a leak any thoughts?
Paul
Most faucets have one or two metal screens inside them to filter out particulates. See if you can unscrew the aerator and look for mesh that is filed with lime or other stuff.

Please help
I have a 1995 mobile home that I’m getting ready to burn to the ground so many repairs need fixed. My top frustration is the heavy rain water seeping inside through the outside exterior wall in laundry room. It leaks nearly from one end of the house to the other end width wise. And there’s two wall it leaks through (wall closing off laundry room and hallway wall )before it reaches the other end of house. Only bottom of walls are wet, leaving behind puddles on floor. I’m concerned of mold growing in walls. How do I stop this leak? There was an exterior door in laundry room that has been replaced.
Paul
Does it have a metal roof? If so I would check to see how tight the screws holding the J-rail at the top of the walls are. They loosen over time and the seal can fail. That lets water into the walls. If they are loose/rusted I would get replacements a couple of sizes larger and replace all of them.
The other problem area is around the windows. Caulk, screws, etc. there too.
I hope that helps.
Paul
Reply

laurel
I’m in town visiting my parents and their toilet is broken. When it is full of water and just sitting there it is perfectly fine, when you flush it it’s perfectly fine as well. However, when it’s full of water and you sit down to go to the restroom, it’s as if the seals break and it begins to then leak water and urine (EWWW!) My dad has tried several things and it just continues to leak and with it being summer you can imagine the smell when you open the bathroom door….please…HELP!!
Paul
There is a wax ring under the base of the toilet that seals the gap between the toilet itself and the sewer line. It sounds like that has failed. A replacement should cost about $3 a any hardware store.
You will need to shut off the water to the toilet, drain it as best you can, un-bolt the toilet from the floor and lift is away so you can replace the existing wax ring.
Messy, filthy, smelly, but a cheap repair that requires no special skills
Good luck with it.
Paul

cathy hayd
My mobile home has soggy outside walls and a leaking window don’t know what to do.
Paul
Are the walls wet just below the windows or in other places too? By leaking windows do you mean around the window frames or the windows themselves?
The screws which hold panels in place tend to work loose over time. Caulk dries out and cracks. Dust and dirt builds up in places where it blocks proper drainage.
In your case I would start by buying some good caulk, a wire brush and screws that are a bit larger than the originals. I would brush above the windows, at the roof line and anyplace else where water might get in. Then tighten or replace screws and caulk everything.
Leaks can be really hard to find so you might have to repeat the process/
Paul

Candy
I have a water problem! We are having heavy rains (8-12 inches) I did a load of laundry now my carpeting in the hall by the washer is wet. Could the draining water have caused this? What should I do?
Paul
Hi Candy,
Where I live we don’t get that much rain in a year!
Without knowing anything about how and what you are connected to, about all I can suggest is that you do whatever you can to dry the floor thoroughly & wait until things dry oout and storm drains, etc. have a chance to catch up before running another load.
When you do run your next load, baby site the wash machine and watch carefully to see if it drains properly.
Paul

Susan
We have a 2001 single wide with a shingle roof. The shingles are in good shape. But we are getting water coming in along the floor in three places in the last couple months. I think it must be coming in around the Windows. I recaulked one and the water did not come in like it did before. But under one of the other Windows that I didn’t caulk yet the carpet got wetter and wetter even after the rain stopped today. I went out and looked under and the black plastic holding up the insulation was bulging so I put some holes in it and water started draining out. Could this water be coming from the water leaking around the window also? Or do I have a seperate problem that happens to be in the same area? Thank you for any help.
Paul
Water can find its way in through tiny, invisible, openings. I would buy more caulk Did you caulk well along the top of the window too?
Paul

Susan
Thank you for the response. I did go all the way around the window with the caulk and have gone back up and looked it all over but not finding even the smallest hole. But when I went up the last time it had been over a week with no rain but when I pushed on the vinyl siding just to the right of the window water came out the bottom of it at the seem but only on that one section of siding I checked and the drain hole on that piece of siding seemed plugged so I cleaned the hole out a put in another along that section. If water was not draining from there would it back up and over flow to the inside and then follow the wall down?
Paul
Is there any way you can take a look at the bottom side of the roof? (I am assuming that with a shingle roof at least some of it has a crawl space above the ceiling tiles.)
This starts to sound like water is leaking through the roof somewhere, running down along the rafters/trusses and gradually draining down through the walls. Finding water leaks like this is hard because the water can travel surprising distances before finding an opening it can drain through.
Susan
No way to see the rafters, no crawl space or ceiling tiles. Ceiling is a solid/textured ceiling with no crawl space.

Laura
Hi Paul,
We have a 1992 Belmont trailer. We have replace the front door about a year ago due to it leaking. We got the door/stormdoor combo. We also replace the subfloor where it had rotted out. We have just discovered that it is still leaking. My husband has pulled out the insulation in between the frame and the door. And we can see light coming through the outside frame of the door. But it is wet all the way to the top right hand corner. Is this as simple as sealing the outside with cocking? Or could condensation have a part to play as well?
Paul
On a 1992 I would bet on caulking.
Paul

Sheena
We have been having a problem with our 2012 mobile home ever since we got it. when it rains for a day or two hard. Water from the outside of our home will come through the main top of our wall all the way down the way and across the wall to the floor. When we still had our warranty on our home I had called about this problem they would always tell me that the worker who comes out to look at these issues was somewhere else, and by the time he would be able to make it the problem was already gone and dried up! So it has happen again and again. It happen yesterday and the day before because we had like three days of rain. I was just wondering if you could tell me what is causing the water from outside to come in aat the main top of the wall and run all the way down and across the way to the floor we have shingle roof, and siding on our trailer. Thank You So Much !
Paul
I’m sorry it happened to you, but other readers should note this kind of delay is a common way for dealers to avoid warranty costs. If you have warranty issues, get on them immediately and document EVERY phone call or other contact.
Roof leaks can be really hard to find. You didn’t say, but I am guessing you have a pitched roof. If that is the case I would be looking for leaks around roof vents and other penetrations that would let water in where it could run down the rafters and get into the walls.
Paul

Daniel Burris
I have a 2008 fleet wood double wide. I’m having cold water pressure issues. I have pressure all the way to the house. Good hot water pressure by for some Reson the only thing that has cold water pressure is one of the sinks in the bathroom of the master bed rooms rest room. Everything else just trials. How can I have hot water pressure but no cold water after it hits the house.
Paul
Sediment that came in while no hot water was running would do it. Is that working cold water faucet the least used one in the house? Lime or other deposits can also break loose and do this.

Daniel Burris
Yes it’s the Least used. Practically never used. Both tubs showers in both bed rooms sinks dishwasher washer everything no cold water.

Daniel Burris
What is you recommend I do.
Paul
Lots of faucets, shower heads, etc. have filters and/or screens in them. They sometimes even have more than one! I would start taking off aerators, and looking for blocked places.

Daniel Burris
Did that already.
Paul
Cut a line and see what you can back flush out?
In the homes I worked on the water lines were always a string of pipe with T’s where pipe went to individual faucets, shower heads, etc.
If the working cold faucet is at the far end of the house then each individual line must be blocked at some place. If the working faucet is closest to the cold water in end, I guess there could be a blockage after it and before the others. That seems less likely though.

Alan
Paul,
I thought I’d see what your thoughts are regarding our current situation.
My wife and I moved into an older (1982) mobile home in August 2015. We were forced out of our previous home because the owner decided they didn’t want to be landlords anymore (didn’t like footing the bills for deferred maintenance and repairs). Some friends of ours gave us the mobile home we moved into–which was a real blessing because we’ve had some serious financial misfortune over the past year (income loss, medical bills, etc.).
Unfortunately, there are developing issues with this mobile home. Today (12/12/15) my wife informed me that we have a leak under the kitchen sink. Turns out that the small diameter hot water line that feeds up into the kitchen has a crack and is spraying water. I’m not sure what type of material the line is made of, but it is black in color. Damage has already been done to the insulation and the subfloor. There are a couple of spots in the kitchen where the floor is sagging a little. I’ve done what I can to try and divert the spraying water downward to the ground and away from the subflooring, but any repairs will have to wait until tomorrow. I’m going to call a handyman that did work on the place we previously lived, and see what it will cost to have the water line replaced. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
I don’t have any skills or tools for plumbing, so I’m thinking we should just bite the bullet and pay the $400-$600 it will cost to fix. Of course, then we have to deal with potential mold issues and floor replacement. Man, when it rains it pours….
Sorry to hear this. Its hard when circumstances combine like that.
Lack of tools and skills are a problem. If there is any way to clamp the tubing so it doesn’t leak that would be good. The quicker you can get the area dried out the better.
Below is a link to a kind of fitting available on Amazon that doesn’t require much in the way of skills or tools to use. Depending on what the handyman tells you, it might make it possible for you to do more repairs than you think are possible.
Good luck,
Paul
http://www.amazon.com/SharkBite-U120LFA-2-Inch-Straight-Connector/dp/B002STLKP0/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1449974683&sr=8-10&keywords=sharkbite+fittings

Diana Pratt
We need to find an affordable way to raise the sagging drain pipe. It has been snaked successfully years ago but is again plugging up. We are in our 70s and cannot afford a lot. Home was built in 1989 and we were built in the 1930s! Help!
Paul
Hi Diana,
I need a little more information before I can answer that.
Is the problem pipe under the home but not inside the belly itself? Is it out sight inside the belly?
Paul
Diana Pratt
Hi. It is still sealed and in the belly..

Paul
I would say it is time to pull new PEX then. PEX is to flexible to push through unfortunately. Maybe you could make a 40′ stick of oversize PVC that would be stiff enough to thread through the belly to the other end and then push the PEX through that. If it hangs up and won’t go maybe run an electrical wire puller through the PVC and then pull the PEX with that. I wouldn’t worry about removing the galvanized.

Wayne
ok what would be the best way to put the pvc in place. I’m guessing from underneath. i just hate to tear the insulation up underneath. it looks excellent no tears at all anywhere. very shocking for a trailer thats 40 years old.

Paul
I don’t know of any way to do what has to be done without cutting slits every few feet. Pull both hot and cold at the same time

Wayne
Yeah most definitely will be pulling both at same time. I just wanted to thank you for your input. It is greatly appreciated. thanks again

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