Twisted Frame

[garrett_reukauf]

Hello, it's been awhile since I've visited the site, long enough for my profile to get turned off when Yanita 'cleaned house' awhile back. LOL. So here I am, again. My question, actually delima, is kinda bad and I have a feeling theres nothing that can be done about this. Through a 5 acre lake front land purchase I have acquired a 2000 Clayton 16x76, 3br 2ba, very well keep and in nice condition. I did not purchase the land because of this MH, once the land is paid off I plan to build a house on it, so the MH is not 'must keep' but seeing how nice of a shape it is in i was thinking i could keep it as a 'guest house' or rent out during summer seasons.
My problem however is main I-beam frame is twisted, there is a variance by about 9 inches from the rear corner to the front oppisite corner. It is not a permanent foundation, but is on concrete piers under ground, which makes the trailer sit approx 4ft off the ground. I have ran string lines to every pier and put a laser on all of them. The peirs are all perfectly level with each other so I know its not them. It does appear that they set it up according to mfg spec as far as the number of piers and spacing is concered as well as the anchors, straps, and outriggers. It seems the rear of the MH is ok and looks like the twist is up at the front, on the right side if you are standing at the rear of trlr looking towards the front of trlr. The anchor and straps up at the front (2 sets) are both pulled up slighty outta the ground due to the twist.
The interior is not showing any signs of stress or damage due to this, no cracks or anything. It appears to have been like this for several years. The home is not occupied and there are no plans for such at the time. All utilities have been d/c'd and the MH is currently 'winterized'.
Any ideas on how, if possible, to fix this? I spent 3 hours under there yesterday looking and I cant see why it would be like this. There is no damage like anyone ran in to it or anything. And the frame appears to be in good shape other than this. No cuts, welds, or non factory holes.
Like i said I really didn't buy the land because of the mobile home, but consider the how immaculate shape it is in other than the twist I wouldn't mind keeping it like I said earlier. But if it has to go, it's ok too.
Sorry for such a long winded post, but I wanted to give as much det's as possible. Any advice or help would be great.

[JD]

Pictures of the twisted frame would be very helpful. But to start with, you may want to look at the frame at each floor joist intersection. there should be lag bolts going through the frame and into the joists. Are all of these bolts in and tight? Is any part of the frame lifted up and not touching the piers? Are there additional shims in place to fill this gap?

For a frame to be twisted that badly, it does sound like impact damage to me, like a car or something. A good pro can fix it cosmetically to look factory perfect. If this happened years ago, you may not be able to tell that it had been repaired, except the twisted frame.

Another way for a frame to twist this badly is when it is transported to the site. I have seen mobile homes get bottomed out on humps and bellys of rural roads. Sometimes they might get stuck in mud and get damaged when being pulled out by the hauling truck or tractor.

Probably a good test is to have 3-4 people walk around the home and see if there is any movement in the floor and if the floor appears level by eye and feel.

JD

[garrett_reukauf]

JD, thanks, I will try to get pics in the next few days. This location is actually about 3 1/2 hrs from my current residence. But yes you can definitely tell just by looking at the MH from the outside and can feel it when you walk inside. The area where its twisted is not sitting on the piers and as stated in previous post the piers ARE level and even with each other. We've already did the laser and string line thing. If you are standing at the rear of the MH facing toward the front, the 'twist' is on the right side. I would say its a good 30' long. The twisted area is NOT sitting on the piers, the right side sits on the piers the first 3' off the rear of the MH and gradually rises from 0" to about 9" at the very front pier. There are no shims or addition blocking to fill the voids. And I will have to check the lag bolts you speak of and see what those look like. I think I know where you're going with the lag bolt issue though. In talking with some of the neighboors I found out that the MH was actually from a different spot on the property around last September. She said they used two cranes to sit the MH on the piers. But like I said I will try to get pics in the next few days and look at the lag bolts.

[Greg]

My guess is that when they moved it from the previous location on the lot it was hung up on something like a stump.

As JD said I would check it for structrual problems and if you don't find any, I would not loose too much sleep over it. Greg

[Yanita]

Hi Garrett,

Sorry about deleting you, any profile/member that had not signed in since November 08 was deleted.

Glad to have you back!

Yanita

[garrett_reukauf]

Had a site rep from our local Clayton dealer come out and look at the situation. He is thinking along the same lines as Greg in the fact that it got twisted when it was set atop the piers, as a result of not being lifted evenly. He seems to think that when it got twisted it got hung up on the lag bolts. The lag bolts don't go through the frame itself, there is a piece of metal about 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" the lag goes through the center of that and it just kinda overlaps on the lip of the main frame. He said that in theory if the lags are loosened, it should allow everything to settle properly and then they could be retightened. Does this make sense? There is a crew coming out of Norris TN next week to try and correct this problem. If it can't be fixed without costing an arm and leg I'm just gonna have it hauled off for donation or scrap.

[Greg]

I would think twice about scrapping it, If it would only be used as a rental or guest house it may be fine as long as everything is solid. If nothing else it would make a great storage shed!!! Greg