The Manufactured Housing Forums

I have a 1978 14 X 72 mobile home. I have had it for about 10 years, and when I first got it, I had new waterlines put in. I insulated all the pipes with pipe insulating tubes, everything has gone well, until this latest cold snap. Now I have broken pipes everywhere. I used CPVC. I am thinking seriously about running new lines but instead of running them underneath the house I'm thinking about running them inside. There was a gentleman that had a mobile home that this is what he did--run the lines inside, along the wall--that way the pipes shouldn't ever freeze up. What do you think of this idea? I've also heard of people running the pipes through the heat ducts.

In many parts of the country insulating tubes are not enough. Plumbing run through a home is not a great idea. The reason they are under most all framed homes is because at some point plumbing fails... if it leaks under the home its a problem... if it leaks inside the home its a disaster.

If you are going to re plumb you need to put a blanket of insulation below the pipes that is sufficient to prevent freezing. Consider also installing insulated skirting. the cost of keeping your home at a comfortable temperature can go down dramatically.

Take look at footage of insulation being blown into the belly of a mobile home. This is one of several measures used by the U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to make homes more energy efficient.