ceiling crack

[hartlanders]

Hello my home is a fleetwood we bought new in mi.in 2001.
We have a ceiling crack that goes the length of one half from
wall to the center where the two halfs are joined.The crack is always there but in winter it opens to 1/8 inch,and summer time
it is not as visable.I also have small water spots at the center.I had someone put a ridge vent in after the crack problem,was reccommended by a repair man.When i called a company about the problem he said it will cost 900.00 to relevel the house.He hasn't looked at it,shouldn't he first check it before leveling?I just don't know if this can be the problem,and spend 900.00 only to find that
the problem is not corrected.Thanks for any suggestions.
hartlanders

[Greg]

Hi & welcome. There are a few things that can cause a crack, unlevel home is one. Are you in an area that has heavy snow fall? That is another possible cause, We have to keep the roof cleared after every snowfall over 6" here to pervent problems. was someone heavy up on the roof?
There are other POSSIBLE causes such as truss problems but I would have to doubt that is a cause unless you have had outside damage to your home such as tree falling on it. Greg

[JD]

Hi hartlanders and welcome to the forum,

I understand this crack as going from the eave wall to the marriage beam, which is probably under one of the trusses. This crack could be caused by the home settling, possibly needing a relevel, or it could be caused from a weak or damaged truss or even poor installation of the sheetrock. Mistakes and short comings happen to everyone. It could also happen as Greg says, due to excess weight from snow, if you are in a heavy snow area. More than likely, it is not a serious problem. Mobile homes with finished sheetrock do tend to get cracks.

Repairing the crack itself could be expensive if you hire a contractor to fix it, and the crack could come back if the underlying problem is not found and addressed. Doing a thorough job DIY would not be real expensive though. It is a lot of work and experience and the right tools helps a lot.

As for a contractor giving a price on a relevel over the phone, that is not uncommon, but may not be a good marketing choice. All mobile home repair people I know of have set prices for a standard relevel. There are added prices for replacement of parts if needed and also for degree of difficulty. For instance, a home set low to the ground, with true brick skirting and only one recessed access hole in the ground ( I hate those!) will add quite a bit of time to the job compared to a home set 34" off of the ground (exterior wall) with vinyl skirting. Vinyl skirting gives us easy access, a lot of light and sometimes a little breeze. When a contractor does relevels, some do take longer than others and sometimes it can be quite a bit longer or easier. But there is no way to really know that until you are in the job. So set prices is the norm. There has been a couple of occasions that I told the customer that I did not feel that the home was in serious need for a relevel, so I set up the job at half price for the check, and the second 1/2 of the price charged if adjustments were needed. I was right once and not too far off the second time. The price is higher than I charge, but the homes in my area are set on adjustable steel piers. Working with shims on concrete blocks could increase the price. Also, the prices in your area could be higher due to cost of living or lack of qualified repair people.

Just my opinion,
JD

[hartlanders]

Thanks for your help!When he goes under the house
or actually before doing a relevel should he check for level?And is there a +_-
asfar as what is tolerable.
hartlanders

[Greg]

1/4" +/- is the target. If you don't have Marks book you may want to consider it. There is a chapter that deals with releveling. Greg

[hartlanders]

I talked to the park manager he said it sounds like a bad truss where the sheetrock is screwed to.He said if the level was the problem,windows and doors would be hard to open.The windows and doors are easy to open.He also said something about the lag
bolts are lacking the amount of where the two halves are put together.Could this be something to do remove ceilng section and check the truss first.What do you think about going this way?
Thanks,hartlanders

[hartlanders]

Hi trying to get someone here is hard,no shows
and no phone calls.If it is a truss problem can just a section be cut out to check it and not the whole ceiling?Thanks for any replies!
Edward

[hartlanders]

The home has a TJI ridge beam,the
manager of park said he looked up the home and
checked the home with serial# that they had on file.
He said on the instructions that came with
home said home has a TJI ridge beam.He said he never heard of it
before.When he looked at the crack i was really surprised
when he pushed on one side of crack it moved but not
on the other side of crack all the way to marriage beam.
What could the problem be,or what possible problem might
it be?
Thanks for any suggestions,Edward