House shakes

[Caleb]

When my washing machine is on the spin cycle the whole house seems to shake a little. What can be done to stop this?


Thanks,
Caleb

[Bill Fry]

That would not be uncommon if the floor joists are 24 inchs apart.Less support equals more shake.Many manufactured home builders set their joists at 24 inches instead of 16 to save costs and weight.
The other possibility is that your house is not supported fully on all its piers.Over time the weight may shift if the piers are not supported correctly.

[Mike]

Check the peirs. You shoud have wood between the peirs and the frame. If they are not snug use a hammer and drive the wedges in securly. If this doesn't work check your tie down straps. They should be tight. More peirs may also help the situation.

[Caleb]

I apologize if this sounds silly but when you say I should have wood between the peirs and frame what exactly do you mean? Would this be where the frame meets the blocks that it rests on? This is my first home and I want to make sure I understand you completely. Also, where are the tie down straps located?

Here is a little more info. I have a 1997 Schult that is 28x56. It has a complete slab underneath and is on blocks.

Thanks,
Caleb

[jgn]

The wood pieces are shims and may or may not be necessary on all of the piers. It is impossible to pour the pads and insert the block so the all meet the frame so shims are used to snug the block to the frame so the house is level and secure. If you have a space between the block and the frame than you have room for the frame to move. Hope that makes sense but any house is full of shims for one thing or another, windows, doors and a number of other items.

John

[Lynn]

Caleb,
Is your washer a Whirlpool? They have a tendancy to shake due to the newer machine design if floor is the least bit unstable. Learned this as an authorized Whirlpool appliance technician.
May need extra support under that portion of home.
Lynn

[Caleb]

As a matter of fact it is a whirlpool. I asked this same question in another forum and was told to check the level of it. It was a little off but don't think that will stop the shakeing. Was also told maybe a piece of plywood under it might stop it. Like you said earlier, I probably need extra support under that portion of the house.

Thanks,
Caleb

[Bill]

I'm interested in this too as we are moving into our new MH in a few weeks with a new Whirlpool Duet stackable unit. It shakes the house we are in now & it's a wood frame rancher. In fact last night all the dishes in the cabinets were shaking & I was a bit concerned. Should we perhaps put an extra pier or two under that portion of the house? It's being set up now & it would be easier now than later.... any ideas?

[Tahlborn]

I would suggest extra support under the washer-dryer unit. On my first house the w/d were located in such a manner that the floor shook quite a bit. I ended up doubling the joists under the utility room, and then adding cross blocking between the joists. This cured the shaking, and the washer stayed in balance more.

I have not had this problem in my other homes, but these homes had the utility room located on an outside wall, rather than on an inside wall.
My first house was also a low-end "bargain basement" (minumal amount of lumber), so that might have accounted for the susceptability to shake.

My current home had a "bounce" problem to the kitchen floor. Not loose, not wavy, just a bit too bouncy. The factory doubled up the joists, and added bracing, and and extra pier, and the floor is solid as a rock now.

Tim

[Brenda]

our home shakes too when the washer is in spin. we have tried everything, first a 1/2 in piece of plywood, with a couple pieces of carpet padding, leveling the washer, and now a 3/4 inch piece of plywood,to no avail. it seems like its getting worse! i know the mobile home isnt level itself ,its pretty evident. wondering if we have to have the whole mobile home leveled, and what that entails.