Winter 2001 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER
MANUFACTURED HOME REPAIR
Winter 2001

Hello everyone!

If you haven't visited our web site lately, come check us out. We're updating, giving you more great information on repairing your manufactured home. If you don't see an article on a topic of your interest, then click over to the Forum and ask your question there.

* Tell-tale signs of a frosty roof.
* Win a cap.
* A story from "The Life of a Mobile Home Repair Man."
* Tip of the month.

TELL-TALE SIGNS OF A FROSTY ROOF
Want to learn a lot about your mobile home? Then take a look at your roof on a frosty or snowy morning. The tell-tale signs may shock you.

Heat Loss
Want to cut your heat bills? Your roof may tell you how. Take a look at your roof on a frosty morning (avoid walking on the roof.) Look for areas that have no frost. Of course, frost will be melted around vents and skylights, but look at the rest of the roof. The frostless areas are points of heat loss.

The photos of this roof show a narrow band of melted frost, as circled in yellow. We noticed that the narrow bands appear in several areas of the roof. Upon closer inspection, the bands of melted frost were located at the point in which the ceilings change from flat to cathedral. Most likely the melted frost is due to a lack of insulation in those areas. How do we repair this? Not an easy task. To add insulation, will have to open up the ceiling or roof in those areas.

Attic Ventilation
Good attic ventilation is a must for a healthy home. Improper ventilation can mean trapped moisture and heat. During the warmer months, trapped heat can mean higher cooling bills. During the winter, it can mean ice dams and excess humidity in the home.

Icicles and ice dams may be your clue that your attic needs more ventilation, and/or your ceiling needs more insulation. As your roof heats up, it melts the snow which runs to the edge of the house and freezes again forming icicles and ice dams, which can damage shingles and cause leaks. Circled in yellow on the first picture is an ice dam.

Humidity
Ever wonder if you have a lot of humidity in your home? Take a look at your skylight. Expecting to see some humidity is normal, but if the entire skylight appears wet on the inside, then perhaps your above normal. If you have other skylights and they also contain a lot of moisture, then it's a sure bet humidity may be a problem.

Vents

While looking on the roof, take a peak at your various vents. Heat from the vents should keep the snow away from them.

In the first picture, the vents pictures from left to right are: water heater exhaust, bathroom exhaust fan and the furnace roof jack. In cases of heavy snow, these need to be kept clear.

The picture on the far right shows a sewer vent full of snow. Although plugged at one time, heat from within the sewer system will normally melt the snow opening up the vent. Short vents are frequently susceptible to being covered with snow should be extended up past the roof line. This may also improve their ability to exhaust dangerous sewer gases.

WIN A CAP -- by sharing your mobile home repair tips.
If we print your tip in our next newsletter, you'll receive our cap. To enter, simple e-mail us your mobile home repair tip in 500 words or less. Pictures are appreciated but not necessary. If you'd like to order a cap, then please click here and page down. Order one for yourself, or as a gift for someone else.

A STORY FROM THE "LIFE OF A MOBILE HOME REPAIR MAN"

To do my job, I often must crawl underneath mobile homes. Sometimes it's cramped, sometimes it's muddy. No matter what, the job gets done. But this summer, I did run into an exception.

I got a call to relevel a doublewide. So I loaded my jacks and timbers and to the site I went. Upon my arrival, what a mess I found. The home had literally sunk into the mud. This was going to be a job, not a normal releveling. Around the outside of the home was tall weeds and dead branches, making access very difficult. Plus, the main sewer pipe underneath was broke, creating wet smelly mud.

I told the owner I can't relevel his home today. First, with the high weeds and branches, I can't even get to the home. Second, my jacks will never be able to lift a home with so much water and mud underneath. Plus, neither I nor my helper have any desire to work in sewer muck.

Two months later I got a call. So again I loaded my jacks and timbers and to the site I went. But to my wondering eyes, the owner did nothing. The sewer was still broke, the weeds were still high and maybe one big branch was moved. I told him your home really needs to be releveled, but I won't work in these conditions. I wished him luck and drove away.

TIP OF THE MONTH
A dryer should never be vented underneath a mobile home. Make sure all that moisture is exhausted outside of the house. If you find that your dryer takes forever to dry or appears to heat-up while drying, then most likely your vent is kinked. Flexible plastic dryer vent is the worst and can pose a fire hazzard, aluminum is much better and safer.

If you have a repair tip to share with us, please e-mail to us. If we print it, we'll send you our 'mobile home repair.com' cap.