Marriage Line Seal

[Stacie]

I have a Fleetwood doublewide that is almost four years old. I bought it as a foreclosure in June of 2002. Since it has been cold I have noticed reddish colored water stains coming down the walls where the halves of the house meet. The front door and the master bedroom door both have to be propped open or they will swing shut. I contacted the local Fleetwood home center and asked for a contractor referral for their setup crew. The manager of the set up crew came out today and said that the cause of my water stains is the fact that the seal that should have been installed between the walls of the marriage line was not installed. He pulled some of the vinyl siding off of one end of the house, and also took some of the trim down in the living and there is nothing there. He also showed me in the homeowners book where it explains how the seal is supposed to be installed.
My home is financed thru a loan thru FHA and THDA (Tennessee Housing Development Association). The contractor I met with today seems to believe that I have some recourse with FHA because the home passed FHA inspection, with this problem. He also indicated that set up crews in the state of TN must be bonded, and that the bond amount is to cover situations such as this.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of situation? Everything that I have read about FHA/THDA is that any repairs after the closing of the loan are my responsibility. Is the dealer in any way responsible?
This contractor's solution is to raise the house, separate it, install the seal, put it back together and set it back down. The best estimate he could give me is $2,900.00.
Any advice or referral information would be greatly appreciated.
Stacie

[Tracy]

Stacie,

All my years and many homes later in Manufactured Housing, I have never seen a home to have a seal installed. I have to admit that I have also never worked on a Fleetwood , but to my thinking---I have to wonder why Fleetwood would need this seal and all other Manufactured Home builders that I know can be spared. Unless the seal your speaking of is Insulation, I have to admit Im totally in the dark on this one.

My thinking is that if you correctly seal the marriage line from elements, (across the roof-down the ends of the home, and between the two halves of the floor) you should not have "reddish colored water stains "


Q: What would cause a stain to become reddish? Unless the water was running down a rusted screw, or something like that..

In most homes I have have set up, I would install a metal ridge cap under the shingles to help stop water if the shingles were ever damaged, Roof felt paper on the marriage wall ends of the home (insulation installed between the 1/2's if sent/and paid from the factory for installation) and insulation between the floor of the marriage line through out the house.

Ill be watching your post to see what others say on this topic..

Good Luck!

Tracy Mason

[rmurray]

A couple of points..

If the house was used..the home is set up to the manuals specs..IF..the manual for that home is there...IF NOT..(most cases)..the home must be set to a generic set up code which is part of state law...The generic code probably does not address a specific weather seal..Check with your building inspector about the generic code..they should have a copy..If the crew did not set the home to that code..they may well be liable..

The housing authority obviously has different rules than the FHA...FHA does not do used homes that require a move...only those already set in place (like a purchase from an original owner)..or was this repo a repo of the land and home????...Makes a difference..If you bought an FHA repo..they are sold as is..

You have a condensation problem..If you feel the need to seal the halfs..you can do this much easier than taking the whole home apart...From the outside you would have to remove the siding and use spray foam in the crack...This can also be done with the floor..and roof after the removal of the roof cap..
This would be far less than the amount you mentioned..

Often condensation is caused by excessive moisture inside the home...Always use vent fans in baths when showering..Be sure to use stove vent when cooking..Both put lots of moisture in the home..Check for other sources of moisture...

Sounds to me like you might want to get another professional oppinion..since the fellow you talked to could only recommend the most expensive solution..

[Tracy]

After taking a break, and thinking a bit--- I know about this "Seal".. Champion Home Builders used it for a bit.. It was nothing more that insulation wrapped in light plastic.. I remember on a trim out job once I found rolls of it in a closet and I guarantee it never made it between the two 1/2's "

I agree---You have a moisture problem and by unzipping (not removing) the vinyl siding on the ends of the home, you have enough access to spray expanding foam into the crack, and under the home between the sill plates on the marriage line.

The only thing left up in the air is your ridge cap... May be able to save the shingles, but its probably easier to just remove, add insulation and replace. Color only needs to be close here.

Does this bid also include leveling the home to repair the swinging interior doors? If not, at least ask him to bend the hinge pins for ya!! (Just kidding)

As a set up manager he knows what can be done to quickly fix your problem, and if he has nothing or little in his way to correct the problem like rmurray is saying, you need more estimates.. Although, the topic is about the seal, its important to find out what will be done to correct the problem, how long the job will take, warranty on the work,cost of material and you can do the math from there..

The good old days of handshakes are gone.. (99.9%) ***If its not in writing, your wrong!!!


Tracy

[Stacie]

Thank you both for your responses. After thinking about it overnight, it seems like the fastest and least expensive solution to my problem would be to spray that expanding foam insulation in between the two halves of the home. Would this just be a temporary solution, or would this work long term? Is it necessary to this from the outside, or could I pull the trim off inside and do it from inside the home?

The estimate that I was given does include releveling of the home. As far as warranty, I'm not sure how long of a warranty he offers. I did tell him that while I appreciated the verbal estimate and our discussion of what work would be included, I would require a written contract covering every aspect of the job, if I hired him to do the work.
rmurray - you had asked if this was a repo of home and land, yes it was.I referred to it as a foreclosure because you can't repo land. This house was purchased from one of the local fleetwood dealers and all of the set up, land prep, etc was handled by contractors hired by this dealer. The couple who purchased the home never made the first payment and it was foreclosed on 6 months after they bought it. When I was shown the house I found the set up manual and various other paperwork in a drawer in the kitchen, so I would assume that the manual should have been used to set the home up. It has only been in recent months that I have been told that the fleetwood dealer that this home was purchased from has a reputation for hiring contractors who will do the job for the cheapest price.
As far as the moisture problem goes, will filling the gaps between the home with foam resolve that problem? I have also purchased plastic to put under the home to serve as a moisture barrier, which it currently does not have. I just have not been brave enough to crawl under the house.
As many manufactured homes as there are in this area, I cannot believe there are not contractors listed in the yellow pages. Since purchasing this home 18 months ago I have discovered that getting the name of reputable contractors is like pulling teeth.
I have an appointment to have a new front door hung next Saturday. I am assuming that I should put that off until I get the rest of the issues taken care of. If foam will take care of the moisture, and all that needs to be done is releveling of the home, how urgent of an issue is this? Do I need to ask for this contractors next available appointment or can this wait until this summer?
Thanks again and sorry for such a long post.
Stacie

[Tracy]

Stacie,

Removing the siding will insure the foam to be flush with the exterior of the outside wall.. Removing the trim, you risk damage/breaking of materials that are hard to match..
If you really want to insure the job done correctly, remove all the siding from ground to peak, insulate and cover with felt roof paper..

If you think about it, most homes are covered with vinyl siding, right over the sheathing.. So, by unzipping the vinyl, filling the crack with foam and zipping the home back up, you have no more threat of water damage that you do with water getting behind the vinyl anywhere else around the home..

Vapor Barrier is very important,to help keep moisture down.. Picture placing a piece of plastic on the green lawn in summer.. Within hours, you have moisture and by adding the plastic under the home, your saving problems long term down the road.. Signs of moisture under a home are *Rusted I beams *Growing mushrooms! and the most recognized is "smells of must".. I have also seen black mold on the base of interior walls as well from lack of ventalation..

Do all this, and like Like rmurray says. "Run the bath fans, stove fan,etc." and you will enjoy your home for many years without the fear of "reddish colored water stains" ever again!

** Make sure your dryer vent is vented to the exterior of the home as well.. People have mixed feelings about should I / Should I not...

Make sure your home has plenty of cross ventilation, another VERY VERY important step in maintaining a home long term.

Moisture under a manufactured home is never a good thing..

Thats about all I know to offer.. Hopefully, others will add to your posting and you will have a wealth of options.

Tracy

[chase]

tracy, read a setup manual . all homes must have a seal

[Stacie]

Chase:
Thanks for the profound advice, but I already looked at the setup manual, which I referred to in my original post. That still doesn't resolve the issue of who, if anyone, is responsible for fixing it since it was not done when the home was delivered. Nor does it address the issue of how it should be done, now that the home is put together.
Stacie

[Kathy Franklin]

I have had this problem as well ,The Company who installed your home should pay to have the seal put in .I live in Texas .I had to file a complaint with The State of Tx ,Department of maufacturing Housing. They put the seal in and replaced walls ,Which were covered in Mold .It has caused my family help problems ,Such as asthma .The State of Texas does not recomend the foam .Also try to blech the walls ,untill it can be fixed .