Skyline Home - NOT Recommended

[Bill1553]

We purchased our current Skyline Home (1800+ sq ft) in 2001. I was a repro and we were very naive about modular homes. It look very nice inside and appeared to be of good quality. Just a few weeks after the purchase and the "new" wore off, we started noticing a problem or two. The Floor in the kitchen area dropped over 3" in 9 feet. We learned this while attempting to put down new tiles. We leveled the floor and went back to vinyl flooring. The second week in we noticed the smell of natural gas. I pulled the range and discovered that the gas line was loose and there was no compound on it. A few weeks later the rainy season returned and we notice leaks coming down into the top of the new microwave over the range. We contacted a roofer who showed me the vents all over the house were put on incorrectly. He replaced several of them and sealed others. About a year later, rain started leaking inside the windows. I removed the window trim to discover that is was caulked only half way around. The bottom half, of course. I removed and re-caulked the entire window. That didn't fix the problem. I called my roofer, who by now was getting to know me on a first name basis and, found rotting wood around three spots on the roof. Last week We gave up and had the entire roof replaced. When the shingles were removed there were over twenty rotted 4X8 sheets of board. The roof had been pieced together with one and three foot scrap to "save" on construction costs. Over $7000 later we have a quality roof. There are too many other issues to mention have given us problems with our home that have required structural repair.

I DO NOT RECOMEND SKYLINE "top of the line" homes.

[David Oxhandler]

Bill -

Over 90% of the problems reported with manufactured homes can be traced directly back to poor installation practices and standards. Both regulated by your local building department.

Blaming the builder for defects in a repo is like blaming GM for problems discovered after buying a used Buick. Was it really owned by a littel old lady or by a teen ager that raced and abused it?

It sounds like the problems you found can be traced back to mutilpel moves and/or poor installation practices. The modern manufactured home is NOT mobile. Taking them apart. relocating, and re installing them can take a toll unless the contracts are extremely cautious and meticulous. These are rare enough traits to find in a new home contractor.

I was in the repo business in the 90's. One of the biggest problems was taking the homes apart without doing any damage. Many contractors doing this type work take the easiest, fasted methods and it is not unusual for homes to be damaged. I did a lot of free repairs for my bank customers because of sloppy take downs and rough transport conditions.

That repo was installed once when new. When it was repossessed it was probably taken apart with out a lot of care. While there are inspections and codes for installation, there are no inspections or builders directions for uninstalling a home and getting it mobile again.

Manufactured home floors are on a steel frame that is engineered to level out as the home is set. If the home is not taken off the foundation in the opposite order it was installed it would not be unusual for the frame to be bent. It is more likely that the floor is out of level due to settlement. You need to get the installer who did the job to re-level the home.

When your home was re-installed the company that hooked up the gas should have gone over every connection to be sure that the moves did not break the seals. Most states require licensed individuals to make these inspections prior to permitting gas to be hooked up.

Likewise with the windows. When a wood framed home is moved it racks and each window and door should have been resealed after re-installation

You purchased a repo. Do you have any idea how the former owners treated the home. It is doubtful, they had the funds for routine maintenance. if they could not make the loan payments. It is understood that repos are priced considerable lower than new homes and sold "as is" because no one can guarantee what has.... or has not... been done to that home in the past.

Skyline has been the leader in customer satisfaction for over thirty years, and builds a quality product.