New to the forum...and the MH scene...and a bit concerned!

[tanmar]

Good day everyone! I live here in Lake Echo, Nova Scotia, Canada. Just bought a 2000 Kencraft minihome. 14x64 (feet), 3 bedroom, 1 bath.

Now...i realize MH's will shift and settle, but mine seems to be doing it quite a bit over the last 2-3 weeks or so, and it's been down right freezing out most of the time it has been doing this! Anywhere from 2 to -20 celcius! We have had 1 or two snaps of warmth, but never got above 3 degrees celcius.

Noticing the walls have separated in numerous spots from the ceiling (actually the molding has) in pretty much every room but one.

Have a crack in one wall, but seems very strange to me. It is in the middle of the wall running verticle, but stops about a foot and a half from the floor and the same from the ceiling (located towards the front of the MH). It is right in the middle of the sheet.

The skirting in the front right portion of the home has buckled inwards under the MH a bit. It was really bad a few weeks back, but one day when we had a warm snap of about 2 or 3 degrees Celcius, i was able to dig away some of the gravel in the driveway from in front of the skirting...that has since seemed to help a bit. Went under the MH to check out what was going on on the otherside, and one of the wooden cross brasses that holds the skirt framing popped out (held in with a nail).

Not sure if its the entire MH is shifting, or if its shifting and i'm getting ground heave as well or if its already shifted, and it's just settling into it's new postion...as the ground is frozen solid. We just moved into this MH about 4 months ago. All we have done to it is install laminate flooring in the main portion of the home. So i'm a bit taken back by all this...and worried!

Any advice or reassurance would be great! lol

[Yanita]

Hi

Welcome to the site!

Everything that you have described is very common in colder areas. All the trim that you mentioned is very thin and pretty flexible, you should be able to tack it back into place.

The crack in the wall, if you push against that crack is there a stud underneath? In a previous home of mine we had that happen and it turned out a stud cracked and twisted and caused the wallboard to pop out.

The shifting of your home is very common, mine does to a lesser degree and I live in N. Carolina. Keeping your skirting secure is a must!

You said you have been in the home for 4 months...did you set the home up then as well or was it already in location?

Since you are new to MH living I recommend that you read all the weatherization post you can find and adhere to the advice given. Freeze ups in this homes can be quite costly to repair, and water damage can get extensive quickly.

We have many Canadian friends here, I am certain one or several will chime in and give you some more advice about your home and winterizing it.

Congrats on your home,

Happy Holidays,

Yanita

[tanmar]

Thanks for the reply!

As for the trim...the trim is still in it's original place...it's as if the wall has sunk and moved or the ceiling has raised. I think more so the wall has moved down. This is happening in the middle of the mh along the walls that separate the rooms mainly.

For The crack in the wall...i can push the wall in a little on one side of the crack. If i try on the other side, it's firm (so it appears as if the crack occurred along the edge of a stud).

When we purchased the home, it was already on the site (park). I'm assuming it has been there for the entire 7 years, but don't know for sure.

Now, might be important to note that when we first moved in, any time it rained, we were getting a collection of water under the front portion of the MH (partly due to not having gutters and poor drainage). This was partly due to the slope of the ground. It's not on a hill, but the front seemed to be lower than the back (underneath the home). The water would pool in the front under the trailer a bit...which was noticeable. Ripped out the crappy little garden that was in the front and placed a newer, nicer one. Took crusher dust that was abundant from the back-middle section and pushed it towards the front to take up space so water wouldn't be so abundant. Dug a channel on the left side, and around the front of the garden down to the ditch in front that is about 20 feet away to drain any excess rain water from the side of the lot away from underneath. (still have pictures taken of the water that was underneath the first time it was noticed). Seems to have worked from what i could notice the last few rains before winter set in...but now all of a sudden getting all this shifting and movement.

Have uploaded 3 pictures of what i saw before doing the work to the landscaping to try and divert the water away. I'm assuming this has been going on here for the past 7 years. The side where the skirting is buckling is the same spot that that large pool of water lays on the right hand side.

[albumimg]861[/albumimg]
[albumimg]862[/albumimg]
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As for this channel and skirting...i was told by a friend that there should be a fair amount of give between the top of the skirting and where it slides into a channel, so that it can flex and move with the trailer. How would one go about checking this channel to see how much room is left...if any? Seems to me that if it's buckling, i have no room left in the channel.

Thanks for the help and info!

[Yanita]

Hi,

What's the chances of you posting some pics of the interior walls that you believe are separating/pulling away from the ceiling?

Yanita

[tanmar]

can do that when i get home from work later on...no problem!

[Manitoba Bill]

From what I can see by the pictures, which are always so useful, is it seems the supports are leaning outwards from the center. This suggests to me that the base is crowned and not level. It looks like there are enough supports and not too far apart. Not much you can do this winter. Also someone has used softwood for the top shims and they have compressed down. I always use hardwood for the final shims.
Are your doors and windows jamming. Out here I have slow varying of the doors closing but they return to normal in the spring.

And after crawling around under my mobile for 20 years I must say yours is the cleanest I have ever seen. And no steel to be seen. Also it looks like the skirting is almost new.

A good gift to yourself that will always come in handy are Mark's manuals. Here is the link.
http://www.mobilehomemedia.com/

By the way, Yanita; When did the downloads become available?

[Yanita]

Hi Guys,

Thanks Tanmar for the pics and will be awaiting the ones from the interior.

As said before, very neat and clean under your home, do yourself a favor and keep it that way. It is paramount for our homes to keep that belly in as good a condition as possible.

I see you have perimeter blocking, but shouldn't there be blocking under the steel beams as well???? Every home I have seen under has the blocking under the steel as well....Jim, can you clarify that?

As for the downloads and being available...LOL, as new to me as they are you, went and checked after reading your post. Our fearless leader sometimes fails to let the Admins/Mods know of changes, that is one of them! I am guessing it has been done within the last week.


Happy Holidays,

Yanita

[JD]

Mark had made comments about the videos several times and had given the url once I believe. He had also directed a couple of forum members to the videos when answering posts.

But I guess we need a formal unveiling. We will need to order some virtual champagne and ice sculptures and make a press party out of it.

JD

[tanmar]

Thanks for the reply's!

Here are the new pics of a few spots of the inside of where i was referring to the top trim separating from the ceiling.

[albumimg]864[/albumimg]
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[albumimg]866[/albumimg]

As for the crowning issue...i had noticed that in the pics as well when i first placed them on the computer, but after going back under again, they looked level to me...so not sure if its the camera, the angle, etc...will know more this weekend when i go under with a good level and check them out. If it is that, guess i will be looking at a releveling job this summer?

As for the underneith being so clean...thanks! It wasnt in too bad of shape when we first moved in. Had cleaned it up a bit since. Was alot of leaves, some cardboard, etc...now all gone. The cleaner the better when i need to get under! Makes the job alot easier!

As for the steel...where would those be exactly? I remember looking at several other MH's before purchasing this one, and all those had blocking in the middle as well...unlike ours. Those were older than this one we are in now...but maybe the new ones dont require it? I don't know! lol

[Jim from Canada]

Looks like a re level job coming up this spring is needed. Using hardwood this time. I can't see any steel beams, is the home resting on wood beams, softwoood? Hmmm

Jim

[tanmar]

The only beams that are under the home are the ones you see in the pics. There is one on the left and right running the full length of the home. Thats it!

Have been looking into the relevlling...and agree. Spoke to a few people about it and it seems as if it needs to be leveled.

[Manitoba Bill]

Tanmar; make sure they use a water level. Taking another look at the great pics I notice that the 2 beams are not sitting in the center of the blocks causing them to tilt to the outside. They are prob. too close to the skirt for some reason as most steel beams are inboard around 3'.

http://mobilehomerepair.com/phpbb/album ... ser_id=108

I had the same problem when I re-levelled my mobile. I had to add 3 extra blocking and redid the bases under the original to tilt them to the inside so they will compress and become level in our Manitoba gumbo.

See if you can reset the ground plates to the center of the beams instead of the outside edge.

[tanmar]

now...is that something i should point out to the people who come and do it? Would rather pay someone professional who has experience in doing this than even attempt to do it myself! Or is that something they should pick up on?

[Greg]

I have to wonder if you have a Modular and not a Mobile. Greg

[Yanita]

Hi,

After doing a search on your brand name of home, it kept leading me to motor homes, travel trailers, so I searched "mini homes". It appears that sense your home does not have the 2 steel I beams running the length of your home you have a modular.

I found this site by typing in mini homes, not your brand name but maybe you can research further than I did...

www.marphiselecthomes.com/MiniHomes.htm

Happy Holidays,

Yanita