NEWSLETTER
MANUFACTURED HOME REPAIR
Winter 2002



Happy Holidays Everyone!

We know December is a busy month for everyone, so we've devoted this newsletter to mostly 'tips and tricks.' No heavy reading, just quick advice.

In this issue, we will discuss:

* Proper roof snow removal.
* A tip for increasing air flow to your floor registers.
* Hang pictures on thin walls - new product review.
* Picture of the month.

PROPER ROOF SNOW REMOVAL

The first rule in removing snow from your roof is to stay off the roof. Walking on a cold roof invites damage. Use a small extension ladder such as the one pictured to the left. Remove the snow as soon as you can. If you let the snow harden, you may have no choice but to be on the roof with a shovel.

To remove the snow, use a roof rake like the one pictured to the left. It comes with several extension handles to make reaching across any roof easy. Just reach and pull the snow back.

When choosing a snow rake, use one that doesn't scrape directly on the roof. The rake pictured to the left has plastic bumpers that keep it slightly above the roof.

A TIP FOR INCREASING AIR FLOW TO YOUR FLOOR REGISTERS.

If you have a doublwide home, heat is blown to various parts of the home via cross-over ducts. Some homes have one big cross-over duct, some have several small ducts, and others have both. If your not getting enough air from your floor registers, crawl underneath and look at the cross-over ducts. If they look kinked and are sagging like the picture to the right, then air flow is being restricted. Also look for torn or loose ducts.

One crude but effective solution is to simply prop-up the smaller cross-over ducts with plastic buckets. Then seal or replace any torn cross-over ducts. Inside the home, 'zone' your floor registers by partly closing those closest to the furnace. Also partly close some of the floor registers on the half of the home that the furnace sits. This should help evenly distribute heat to the entire home.

HANGING PICTURES ON THIN WALLS

How many of you have hammered a nail in your walls to hang a picture, only to find the picture on the floor the next morning? If you live in a manufactured home, it's a common occurance. It's no secret that the paneling or drywall used to construct the walls of a mobile home are thin -- so thin they can't even hold a nail. Since nails don't hold, you try regular wall anchors -- they hold for awhile, but soon fail. We've found a solution -- thin wall anchors.

These new anchors are designed to hold in thin walls -- even thin doors. Simply drill a 5/16 hole, squeeze the clips together and push into the hole. Then with the enclosed red key, pop the anchor open inside the wall and insert a screw. The wide backs give superb holding power that don't pull out. The thin wall anchors cost more than regular anchors, but will end your frustrations of hanging pictures.
Order here

A STORY FROM THE "LIFE OF A MOBILE HOME REPAIR MAN"
Sometimes customers call me out of pure frustration. Some spend hours or days attempting to solve their problems before calling me. A call several weeks ago indicated 'pure frustration.'

The customer's waterlines kept freezing. So like anyone else would do, he went and bought heat tapes. In fact, he bought a lot of heat tapes as the underbelly wasn't in too good of shape. He bought enough heat tapes to cover all the exposed waterlines. But his pipes still froze!

I came to his house and looked over his handywork. To me it looked like someone had done some work on the waterlines. I asked him if he had new waterlines installed? He said, why yes, about 6 months ago.

I told him I had solved his problem. "What's my problem?" he asked. I said you heat-taped the old waterlines that were no longer in service. So we moved the heat tape to the new waterlines and all worked great!
(note: we recommend repairing the belly rather than heat-taping the exposed waterlines).

PICTURE OF THE MONTH

It's only just a drip!

If you have a picture or 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.