Purpose of "i" beams

[Jodie]

We have a double wide on a 4ft concrete foundation. When the house was set on the foundation, there were 2 beams that ran the length of the house in which then ends were left hanging loose.

As a result of this the ends of the house were being pulled down by the weight of the beam, so my husband removed the bolts that were holding these to the house, the roofline then "corrected" itself. As a result of this we are having to replace part of the floor (particle board) that was "ripped" while the roof was being pulled down.

My questions. Were these beams suppose to be removed at the time of setup on the foundation? If yes, any suggestion of how we can get them out now, since they rest on other beams that run accross the width of the house? (this work is over 10 years old and the set up co is long out of business).

If these beams were suppose to be rest on the foundation itself, any suggestion for how to correct this now?

Thank you

[David Oxhandler]

If you remove the I Beams you will remove the support that is holding most of the weight of your home. Your home should have support under those I Beams. If it is set on a perimeter foundation, not on the beams you will continue to have problems, that will continue to get worse.

It is imposable to tell from here but it sounds like the foundation has settled. That is most times the cause of the racking or twisting that your home experienced. It sounds like you found a unique but very unorthodox way to relevel your home.

I strongly suggest you contact a local, licensed MH installer and ask him to visit and get expert advice from someone that can see your situation.

DO NOT REMOVE THE I BEAMS

[Jodie]

The problem has been from setup, so I am not so sure it is the foundation settling, altho that may exaggerate the problem.

There are 5 ibeams that run horizontally to support the house. The ones creating the problem run the length of the house, so there is a total of 9 I beams under the home.

The 4 beams (I thought there were only two but hubby told me today there are four) the ends were not supported in any way, thus pulling the ends of the house down. My husband thinks they should have been removed and were only for transporting the house, could this be the case? or are there suppose to be that many I beams.

Thanks.

[David Oxhandler]

Manufactured home are designed to stay on the frame. The federal code prohibits the removal of the frame. This is because manufactured homes built under the HUD code are engineered to transmit ALL of the weight of the home through the I-Beams which must be supported.

The amount of support will depend on the home and where you locate it. Here in Florida we are required to have a footer as often as every three feet under those I-beam

If you have no foundation supports under those four I-Beams (that run the long way under your home) it is probably not set up correctly and in considerable danger. It is more likely NOT the weight of the beams that is pulling your home down but the lack of support under those beams causing your problems.

Here is a typical builders pier and anchor foundation guide illustration. Notice the squares under the four I-beams. These represent foundation piers at the points where the home needs to be supported



If you remove the I-Beams you could do serious damage to the home. If you don't get support under the I Beams you may see continued racking and possible irreversible damage to your home.

You must get expert advice from someone that can see your situation. I would contact three or four licensed installers and get each to inspect under your home and make recommendations. That will let you know if any are over or underestimating the amount of work and the cost to retrofit your foundation. (Beware of the guy with the lowest price)

Watch the video you will find at http://mobilehomefoundations.com/suresafe_files/ This is an old promotion we took off line but you can see the home they are setting up is supported under those beams you would like to remove. This type of retrofit could avoid the need to move the home to install new foundation components.

There is no single "best" foundation system. When comparing foundations consideration of each should include ventilation factors; methods of attachment; construction challenges; initial cost; installation time; and resistance to wind, floods, gravity, frost and seismic loads.

Be sure that the foundation system you select is one that is acceptable to your local building department. While manufactured homes are built to a standard set by the federal code, foundation plans are subject to permit,review, inspection and certification by local code enforcement authorities.

Before settling on a foundation system it would be prudent to confer with area lenders about locally acceptable foundation systems for financing purposes. If you dont you could find that you may not ever be able to refinance or resell your home.

[Jodie]

Thank you for your explaination...We had an engineer and an independent construction worker come and look (friends of ours) and they both reaffirmed what you have stated.

They also have come up with methods to reinforce the initial poor workmanship that put us into this prediciment. Not what we wanted to hear, but definatley what we needed to hear.

The diagram was especially helpful to my husband who needs to "see" things like this drawn out.

Blessings to you
Jodie