We have been releveling mobile homes in Washington State for many years. The things we find, from what I hear, are typically found under mobile homes all around the country. Moreover, it does surprise us when a home looks as if it was set up just yesterday, but this is not the norm. Mobile home re-leveling in Washington state is typical.
Many times, we open the crawl hatch and find dead animals, stashed needles, rodent droppings, and sometimes live animals. Cats either climb out or we find their carcasses.
One time we were re-leveling the mobile home and repairing the insulation when an opossum jumped on one of the guy’s chests and started hissing. From that day on it was called the Dracula house.
Aside from animals though, we often find leaky pipes, torn insulation, missing vapor barrier, and inadequate blocking. Occasionally there are missing or broken mobile home tie-downs too. The biggest cause we find for a mobile home becoming un-level is poor soil preparation.
Inadequate Soil Preparation Causes
Quite often we slink under a mobile home and find poorly prepared soils. Buried tree stumps are a huge culprit creating voids where support blocking falls away. Although, contractors who determined not to use a compactor or adequately remove organic debris are causes too.
Best Soil Preparation Practices
The right way to prepare the soil for holding the weight of a home is to remove the top layer of dirt. This layer has tree roots, plant mulch, and sometimes buried stumps. Removing the organics or materials that break down will assure a good foundation.
After removal of the topsoil layer, it is necessary to compact the stirred-up dirt. Subsequently, adding a gravel layer to the needed depth of no less than four inches. Now it’s time to compact everything once again.
Compacting the soils has another benefit as well. It seals the earth from absorbing moisture preventing a muddy work site.
Mobile Home Re-leveling in Washington – Prevention
To summarize what we’ve learned about mobile home re-leveling in Washington state is that we find many of the same causes. Soil preparation is key to preventing settling. Homes needing re-leveling probably were not properly prepared. For more tips and mobile home, upgrades stay tuned to DURASKIRT.com/blog/.
For more information about mobile home skirting visit the DURASKIRT™ home page.
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