hurricane repair

[laine]

My mobile home was damaged in Hurricane Charley on 8/13 (Orlando, FL). I don't know what to look for in a repair person. My home is a 1987 and in the past I have hardly been able to find someone to do minor repairs, now my whole master bath needs to be redone, as well as reroofing and repair to my screen porch (which will probably be the easiest).

Can anyone give me any good tips? Also, any experience with Orlando FL repair contractors?

Please email: [email protected].

Thanks.

[Tom]

Hi, sorry about your damage, but glad you all came thru okay without any injuries.

My advice for finding MH repairmen are as follows.

The absolute best advice is from fellow MH owners. Sooner or later the same name(s) will keep being mentioned.

Park Managers are also an excellent source.

Look in your phone book yellow pages under manufactured home/service. These you will have to check out yourself. Get a face to face meeting before hiring.

Of course as you probably know, you will likely get unsolicited knocks at your door for repair help. This is common for disaster areas. Stay away from them unless they have a physical presense in your local area, IE, a store front. I wish you good luck and hope things get better for you soon. Tom

[trmimo]

Make sure any contractor is both licensed and insured in the state of Florida. Ask for references. Try to use someone your park manager is familiar with and trusts.

[Frank Simons]

Being in Bonita Springs, FL, I was lucky to escape "Charley" with only wind damage .. about 6-8 feet of front extended roof overhang blew off. It is easy to understand that repair outfits are very busy and there is undoubtedly a shortage of repair materials which adds to the problem.

What is hard to understand is the total refusal of businesses to return phone calls. I even approached a local outfit working on a neighbor's house and was assured of a visit that afternoon .. WRONG. Earlier, this same outfit took my name and number but never called back. I can understand being busy but not the arrogant disregard of people just trying to get on a contact list. I can wait for repairs but am losing my desire to even deal with people who are poor business men in terms of customer relations and contact.

I would have thought that an enterprising outfit would run an ad offering to respond to inquiries.

[Sandy Colvin]

My 1992 single wide mobile home in Polk County was damaged during hurricane Charley on 08/13/04. I assumed the mobile home was totaled as the unit was blown about 3' off of the foundation, the roof and flooring looks warped, some of the exterior and interior walls are warped and protruding in or out, a living room window has since exploded, mildew is growing on the walls, along with other numerous problems. My insurance company called me on 9/13/04 and told me to get estimates for the repairs. I don't know where to start! Are there contractors that do it all or do I need to contact a contractor for each area that needs repairing? Also I have been told by other people it could take a month or longer to get someone out to even do an estimate.

[Tom]

The best advice I can give you is to follow the instructions I gave in my previous post. If they dont do the work, ask them for a referrel to someone who does. Eventually you should get hooked up with someone who can help. Tom