inspectors ceiling repair

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hartlanders
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:50 am

inspectors ceiling repair

Post by hartlanders » Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:17 am

Hello this is my first post.I live in a 2001 fleetwood manufactured home
We bought it new and was setup in a community in Hartland,Mi.We have a problem
with a ceiling crack that starts at the outer wall and goes to the marriage beam.
When you push on side of crack it moves up.It is always visable,in the winter time it opens up 1/8 of an inch.We have tried to get someone out here and no one responds.The question i have is can i hire an inspector and if so how do i find one?We are trying but it is beyond me why i get no calls when i leave a message
from manufactured homes repair men.There has to be a problem that caused the crack
and opens up as i said in winter time.We have talked to park manager all he says is he never seen this before.I would like to and need to get to the bottom of this.Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Help,Edward Dunaj

admin
Posts: 327
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 6:36 pm

Re: inspectors ceiling repair

Post by admin » Sat Sep 12, 2009 9:45 am

The walls and ceilings of the modern manufactured homes are in most cases conventional dry wall with conventional dry wall finishes. When the home is moved and installed it is not unusual for the frame to rack out of square a bit. When the home is installed it is racked back to square and level.

Structures of all types experience settlement. The amount and time it tales to settle depends on the soil type and compaction below your home.

It is not unusual for cracks to appear in the drywall (including the ceiling) during transport, installation, or as the home settles. If your ceiling has a popcorn finish the fix may be a easy as caulking the crack and touching up the popcorn finish.

I would call a licensed manufactured home installer to check the level of your home. If it has settled out of level then get him to relevel the home. While all structures continue to settle forever, the vast majority of settlement occurs in the early months after installation. Here in central Florida where we live mostly on beach type sandy soil a high percentage of doublewides need releveling within the first year.

Once you are satisfied that the home is level then any drywall finisher can take care of the cosmetic repair and make the cracks disappear.

If you are a do-it-yourself type you can check the level of your home yourself. If the home is extremely out of level you will be able to tell by placing a four foot level at different points on the lower flange of the main I beam under the home. If the home is only slightly our of level you may need a water level see the Releveling Kit from Aberdeen Repair at https://ssl.xpr.com/mfdhousing/mfdcart/ ... de=&sesid= the price is about $25. You can use the instructions and the enclosed waterline level to determine whether or not your home is out of level and give yourself the upper hand when it comes to hiring a contractor to do the job.

Jacking and lifting a home can be very dangerous we recommend that unless you are experience in MH installation you do NOT attempt to relevel the home yourself

You might also want to read the free article Manufactured Home Ceilings - Repairing or Rebuilding at http://mfdhousing.com/portal/stories.php3?nid=4077
David Oxhandler
mailto:[email protected]

hartlanders
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:50 am

Re: inspectors ceiling repair

Post by hartlanders » Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:16 pm

Thanks for the explanation,it was a BIG help!
hartlanders

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