Leveled my first manufactured home, but the end is high
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 7:20 pm
Hi,
Newly joined, but have read posts here for several years.
Last year, we started working on a manufactured home on some family owned property, which was built in 1994. We had to do a lot of repairs due to water damage, and I did a lot of plumbing and electrical fixes & updates.
We are working on drywall and repainting, and I noticed that one side of the house was fairly unlevel since we had it professionally leveled about 18 months ago.
Rather than pay someone, I decided to try it myself, and built a water level.
I found quite a bit of shifting - I suppose due to the clay soil, and we don't have the skirting set up yet - or have done the work to ensure water doesn't drain under the home (going to do that in the next month).
When I was done, especially on one side of the house where it's been notorious for sinking due to water settling, I found something odd. After leveling the rest, it was sitting high. I figured it would have sat low if the I-Beams had been low over the years (it hadn't been leveled since 1994 - and we leveled it professionally in May 2017).
As you can see, all but the leftmost six piers/ibeam level is within 1/4" of my reference point (A9). Yet, those six pillars progressively reach into the sky (up to 1.5"). The green highlighted areas are ones which I have good contact with the bottom of the ibeam.
So, my question is - should I let these sit off the pillars, and hope that they will settle down into place after I get furniture back in? I'm afraid that might cause a lot of breakage if it drops 1.5". Otherwise, I guess I'd just need to live with the final 10-15 foot being at an angle.
I think it's clear that at some point in it's history, it was bent. It may have happened between the factory and it's current location (it hasn't been moved since the original install). I don't feel this is likely due to settling, as otherwise it would have been lower in this area rather than higher.
Thanks!
Mark
Newly joined, but have read posts here for several years.
Last year, we started working on a manufactured home on some family owned property, which was built in 1994. We had to do a lot of repairs due to water damage, and I did a lot of plumbing and electrical fixes & updates.
We are working on drywall and repainting, and I noticed that one side of the house was fairly unlevel since we had it professionally leveled about 18 months ago.
Rather than pay someone, I decided to try it myself, and built a water level.
I found quite a bit of shifting - I suppose due to the clay soil, and we don't have the skirting set up yet - or have done the work to ensure water doesn't drain under the home (going to do that in the next month).
When I was done, especially on one side of the house where it's been notorious for sinking due to water settling, I found something odd. After leveling the rest, it was sitting high. I figured it would have sat low if the I-Beams had been low over the years (it hadn't been leveled since 1994 - and we leveled it professionally in May 2017).
As you can see, all but the leftmost six piers/ibeam level is within 1/4" of my reference point (A9). Yet, those six pillars progressively reach into the sky (up to 1.5"). The green highlighted areas are ones which I have good contact with the bottom of the ibeam.
So, my question is - should I let these sit off the pillars, and hope that they will settle down into place after I get furniture back in? I'm afraid that might cause a lot of breakage if it drops 1.5". Otherwise, I guess I'd just need to live with the final 10-15 foot being at an angle.
I think it's clear that at some point in it's history, it was bent. It may have happened between the factory and it's current location (it hasn't been moved since the original install). I don't feel this is likely due to settling, as otherwise it would have been lower in this area rather than higher.
Thanks!
Mark