Mate/Marriag line

[Al Camp]

I recently purchased a Cavco Mfg Home 28x70. I noticed that the mate/marriage line is not touching at one end, with about a 1- 1.5"gap. I also notice that the two sections do not line up? One section is about 1" from the other section. Is this normal? The installer says it is. I also checked the home for level. the back section is about 1.25" lower that the front section. They say that is normal also?
Do you know or know where I can locate info that may help me in getting this fixed? Thank you.

[Gary]

You may want to post this in the repair forum. Mark Bower may have some suggestions where you might find help. I can tell you two things though. 1) Normal does not apply to matters of levelness and squareness. It may very well be normal for them to install these homes in this manner. 2) Either its level or its not. Consider this. I dont know at what points you measured at but 1 1/4" is alot for these homes. If you were toextend your measuring points out anther 20' it would be 3 or 4". Having been in the woodworking business a number of years I can tell you That an unlevel plane has an affect on its angles. Probably part of the reason why your home does not line up right at the marriage point. Also where part of the home is level and the rest not has an affect on bearing walls at the point where it goes out of level. Walls may crack or separate. Floors may separate from walls. Doors dont shut properly and wont stay open. Windows may not operate correctly. You may have afeeling of walking up and down hill. Your home may not leak and may be ok inspite of it being out of level but any future remodeling will be hampered because its out of square and not level. another point to consider is whether your blocking has settled. Usually not a problem on a concrete pad though. These homes should be leveled with a waterline level. You can not level them with a tape measure or a level. A level is to small and a tape measure would be to inaccurate due to the inconsistency of the ground. The waterline level is very accurate. The only option to correct it would be to contact a reputable m/h specialist in your area for help and advise. The cost though may outweigh the problem. On the other hand you may have anice home on nice piece of property and may sellit some day and want to get the most you can for it. If the gaps are noticable it will certainly affect your asking price. And for this reason it would be welll worth trying to improve it. Hope this helps.

[rmurray]

Des not sound common to me...Gaps MUST be sealed for moisture control and energy savings...reads your set up manuals for approved tolarances....Call the manufactuer for advice...Next thing you will here when you ask for warranty service is the home is not set right problem is not the plants fault..They would ber correct...