Leveling Questions

Repair help for the do-it-yourselfer.
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Teresa73
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:49 am
Location: St. Johns, MI

We got the bibile, I mean manual for Mobile Home repair.. so this summer we want to try and re-level our 16x80 MH ourselves. I had a few questions before we try this.

Our siding ( nice looking vinyl siding ) is very 'wavy' when you look down the side of our home, would leveling help this in appearence, and if so by how much roughly? Should it make a noticeable difference, or can vinyl warbling (waves) be caused by something else other than an unlevel home ?

The roof warbles and waves the same way. Which could possibly be a main cause (and bad shingles) for a window leak problem we're having now also I bet.

I'm just curious if jacking a home up straight and tight can fix this or if it usually only makes it look like 10 - 20% better, or what else we could do to fix our waves and warbles.

Just trying to make sure I'm on the right track of fixing the old homestead up the right way.

Also when we bought the trailer, we found these funny huge jacks under the trailer. A neighbor said the moving company probably left them when they moved the house here to the park (we don't know who moved it here company wise). Can we use these to help level the home ? Any reason to keep them ?

I don't know who to return them to as it was years ago and a different owner long gone now.
Please Spay & Neuter Your Pets =^.^=
DigitalDreams

If the original mover left them they are probably house jacks yes use them they are probably the kind you can crank up a little at a time which anytime you lift a structure a little at a time is better
than all in one shot puts less stress on it weather it be steel or wood a little lets the stress lines realign
slowly cause to quick can cause more stress than the original bending did ,as the original bending occurred over time also.
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Yanita
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Posts: 3369
Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:16 pm
Location: Eastern N. Carolina

Hi,

Re leveling your home can never be a mistake. BUT, if you are going to do this yourself you need to completely educate yourself on the process and the use of all equipment BEFORE you start the job. Also have someone there just watching in case of an emergency.

Yes, many here have re leveled their own homes with success, but I prefer to hire a knowledgeable contractor to do mine.

Anyways, your vinyl siding may look worse or better. What is under your vinyl, does your home have sheathing?

Having your home re leveled will not cure your window leak, and IMO, if the home is out of level re leveling can cause more leaks. A wavy shingled roof... I am thinking you would have to be waaay out of level for a real notice on that. Might want to check out your roof trusses.

Funny old jacks under the home...make sure to check these for proper operational use before you try lifting your home with these and find that they fail to hold the weight of your home...with you and others under it!

Yanita
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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Greg S
Posts: 541
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:13 am
Location: Kingston Ontario Canada

Leveling your home may have little to no effect on your siding or your roof line if the cause is a wavy sill plate/floor joists along the edge (directly beneath the walls) of your home. The I beams that support the home are back in from the walls not directly under them.
If possible try to stretch a string line parallel to one beam (front to back of home) and determine if the beam follows the same wavy pattern as the siding/roof. Do this before re-leveling to see if there is a direct correlation between the two that would justify re-leveling to correct the problem.
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