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Previously Answered Questions

Even though you’ve had your electric furnace for quite a long time, you should not need to purchase a new furnace anytime soon. Unlike gas furnaces which can develop cracked heat exchangers, obsolete burners and discontinued gas valves, electric furnaces can run forever requiring a only very small amount of maintenance. In an electric furnace, repairs can be done to specific parts to get your furnace running as good as new. For example: in any furnace, heating elements can be restrung, motors can be replaced and switches can be updated. All maintenance repairs should be performed by an HVAC professional to ensure everything is changed safely and accurately.

If you feel that your furnace is running poorly, please contact an HVAC professional to diagnose the problem(s). A competent HVAC professional should rarely have to recommend budgeting for a replacement unless you require a larger furnace for your household or you discover that you need more options to choose from.

Finding a reliable, knowledgable person(s) to do repairs on my mobile home, can you refer anyone in my area? Also what is the proper way to place the home on piers for the Midwest? The concrete pads have sunk. Do they have to be to the frostline? or can they just be a few feet deep and larger for stability? Also my home needs to be raised up because it’s too low, you can’t work under there anymore to do repairs.
Unfortunately I’m not familiar with anyone in your area who works on mobile homes. As for your footings questions, the ideal solution is to set the blocks on poured piers that go down to the frostline. But to do that would involve moving your home, and that’s an expensive hassle. Another option is to add more stability by using railroad ties. Lay down the ties and set the blocks on top of them. Sometimes the railroad ties can span both I-beams. Finally, no sinking would happen if it was kept constantly dry underneath your home. A dry ground would also mean no frost heave during the cold months.
Good luck!
We have a 2006 manufactured home we bought 3 1/2 years ago. Our electric bills are sky high. I have been trying to find out how to make your mobile home energy efficient. Can you give me some help. we just replaced the underpinning last month to metal. We are going to have insulation blow on it. Can you put more in the ceiling?
If you do NOT have vaulted ceilings, you can blow more insulation in the ceiling. Always be sure to leave some sort of gap for air so your not trapping moisture. Does your home heat and cool evenly? Some variance from front to back is normal, but if the other half of your doublewide varies greatly, then perhaps your losing quite a bit of heat/air underneath the home due to bad or damaged ductwork. Is your home getting any shade? Shade trees are a definitely plus in the summer. During the winter, be sure your south-facing windows are open and letting in the sun. And as you are already doing, insulated skirting is huge for saving energy. Just be sure your not trapping moisture so use vents which could be closed during the winter.
I had a hose bib crack and begin to leak. A lot of water leaked into the underbelly of my double wide before I became aware of the leak. I have cut the underbelly and fixed the leak. I opened the underbelly in the areas where I found water and put a box fan down there to help dry it out. Do I need to replace or add insulation? Is the tape you sell what I need to repair the underbelly? I could use any advice you have in repairing this problem. I’m sure glad it’s not winter and I have time to let this dry out.
Drying out the underbelly is the first thing you want to do. To access the insulation, cut a big X in the underbelly. This makes it simple to enclose it back up. If the insulation appears flattened or ‘wierd’, then add some more. The very best way to seal the underbelly back up is to buy the Xtreme Underbelly Repair Kit. Flexmend belly repair tape will also work.
How do you replace a side mount operator window on a mobile home? I open the window all the way and I can not line up the groves to release the rod.
With many styles of windows, you have to remove the screws holding in the operator. This loosens things up enough to get the parts removed.
I am looking to build a cost-effective yet reliable bike rack to store my childrens bikes when they are not in use. Can you help?
For just over $10, you are able to make a bike rack as strong and study as any you can find in a store. The materials required for this project are angle iron and cut up pieces of rebar.

CUTTING THE REBAR
Step 1: Use a chop saw or a rebar cutting tool to cut yourself 24″ pieces of rebar.
Step 2: Smooth off the ends.
Step 3: Bend your piece of rebar completely in half using a conduit bender.
Step 4: Once the bend is started, finishing bending the rebar by hand to match the width of the rack. Proceed by cutting off 4″ from one end.
Step 5: Weld 12″ rebar across each end of your rack. Please note that the loop will be offset, as you previously chopped off 4″ from one leg.
Step 6: Clean off any rust, debris or paint from the rebar and the metal.
PAINTING YOUR BIKE RACK
Step 7: Spray paint your rack with a type of spray paint that is formulated for metal.
Congratulations on building your brand new bike rack!
I just received your manual in the mail. It has a lot of info I could use on my mobile home repairs. One of my disappointments was that the photos were in black and white and I did not see a blueprint layout plan for piping or wiring on your standard mobile home.
You’ll find general information on layouts of waterlines and wiring. Blueprints alone would take volumes of manuals as each home is different. Generally, waterlines are run through the underbelly. The main waterlines run along the center heat duct. Branches connect to each main to run to the faucets. Within a bathroom, waterlines may run in series from fixture to fixture. Electrical wires either run through the underbelly or through the ceiling, or both. The number of electrical fixtures on each circuit various from home to home.
We bought an older mobile home in elderly park. The home is 1979. We are needing to do a new roof. Is it possible to put a trussed roof on a mobile home?
We do not advise adding a pitched roof to a mobile home without first consulting an engineer. Weight issues can create all kinds of havoc with a mobile home. Your best method for a pitched roof is to install a roof-over. Basically it’s an unattached pitched roof that’s supported by poles sticking up from the ground alongside the mobile home. Homeowners in some areas of the country have used this concept quite creatively and even included covered porches and decks in this concept.
I have a Nordyne chimney pipe that is in need of replacement. At the ceiling, the mobile home manufacturer used a ton of some very messy grey glue to seal around the pipe. How can i cut this mess out? It doesn’t seem possible to reach around behind the pipe?
The grey gunk is something that the original contractor must have added. Normally it’s not used. Perhaps when the new roof jack arrives, you can cut it off just above the furnace. Then you can hopefully reach around the back and work out the glue and the rest of the roof jack. Sounds like a mess.
I have had my electric furnace for quite a few years and I am worried that it’s getting old. It seems that something new is breaking on my furnace everyday and it is becoming more and more unreliable. Should I be budgeting for a replacement and looking into purchasing a new furnace in the near future?