what is the correct way to relevel a dbl. wide mobile home?

Answer 1

The easiest way is with a water level. With a water level, determine the difference in the bottom of the frame elevation on all four corners and in the middle of the frames. You will want to raise the lowest part of the home to the highest part. Water levels are easy to make and are dead on accurate. All you need is a gallon milk jug and about 75 feet of clear tubing and some food coloring. Email me at [e-mail] if you need a detailed explanation. You will also need a couple of 12 ton bottle jacks and some good blocking material. Is your home set on metal piers or on concrete blocks? Is it paneled or drywalled? If concrete block you will also need some 1x8x16 and 2x8x16 pieces of wood. Feel free to email me. There is a lot more information than I can include in this format. Short version: Level the frame first. Allow it to settle into the relevel before you go trying to readjust doors, etc. Beware of having the jacks pop out from under the frame. This has killed quite a few men over the years. The jack needs to be on firm blocking and straight up and down. If the jack tilts much, reset it. It's not worth the risk.

Answer 2

Start at one end and work to the other, using jacks, 6x6 posts,levels, and you might want to run a string line down each side to give you reference point.

Answer 3

call a mobile home company to answer you want to do this right the first time don't you?

Answer 4

buy a house trailer trash.

Answer 5

This is something Ive done several times, as a Warranty Service Contractor. Now... leveling a home is not complicated, but it can be dirty, and time consuming.... it also requires some care on your part, so you don't have to start it all over again, heheheh.

First, let me say that this is fairly normal. The best mobile home foundation, is a good solid pad, with footers, like you would build a 'stick-built' home on. Most mobile home owners do not put this much of an investment into their homes tho. The next is a concrete slab, 4 to 6 inches thick... the thicker the better. The next step down, is "runners", where you have two long channels of concrete poured, to below the frost line. This is one common method of providing a foundation for a mobile home... it also allows some flexibility in where to place the stacks. The most common method of providing a foundation for a mobile home, is "piers", these are literally, holes dug to below the frost line, and the blocks get stacked on top of them. IF you are lucky, the piers are all poured to the same level height, but that isnt normal. And the worst possible method of putting a foundation under a home, is to literally, put a concrete or plastic pad, right on top of the ground (This is actually fairly common in the southern states) All homes will settle -- whether they are mobile, modular, or site built. Mobile homes are actually easy to correct, even when they have a poured basement under them.

Since you did not mention having a basement, I will assume you do not have one.

The first thing you need to know, is where exactly, and how much, your home is out of level. This means you need to test the level at the various stacks of blocks supporting the home. So, the first thing you need is a water level. Do NOT attempt to level any mobile home with a 4ft, or even 8ft level.... there is too much room for error. Ive seen a dealership crew level a home with an 8ft level (and they claimed they had it 'dead on'), and it was 2 inches out of level, from one corner to the opposite, lol. By using a water level, with a 100ft tube, you can get your entire home to within a 1/4 inch variance of level, easily (This means you might have as much as up to 1/2" difference, between different sections). Do it as many times as I have, and you can get it to within an eighth of an inch total, at all points.

Ok, first the water level.... you can purchase two types, one that has basically some screw on clear plastic tubes that attach to your garden hose, or an electronic water level, that uses about a 3/8" od clear tube. The electronic version (Zircon, I think is the brand name), will beep at you, whether you are level or not. This water level isnt cheap. Or, you can make one yourself, fairly inexpensively. (Ive made a few of these over the years, as I was out on the road, and had forgotten to switch the water level to the current vehicle, lol, when I was loading it.)
To make a water level, go out and purchase about 110 ft of approximately 3/8" od (outside diameter) clear tubing... it's sold in all the home supply stores, by the foot. Get this in one length of 110 ft.... you dont want to have to splice it, where you could end up with a leak. Next, you want a small valve that you can slip into the end of it... doesnt matter what kind, as long as you can turn it on/off. Ive used a small brass valve myself, like you would install as a car radiator drain. A simple hose clamp, will help seal, and hold it in place. Now, the last piece to the puzzle... you need either a bucket, or gallon jug.... doesnt matter which, tho, a gallon jug seems to be easier to handle.... I like the ones that you buy water in.... they look like a clear milk jug.

Now to prepare the water level..... first you have to fill it up with water.... colored water, preferably.... ive found that blue works well, its easy to see, under the home. Just pour about a half bottle of blue food coloring into the water jug, and add some water to it, mixing it up well. Uncoil your tubing, in a straight line, running downhill, if you can....it will help get the air out of the line...this is important. If you have a valve on the end of the tube, open it up (this is the end, you will carry with you under the home). The end without the valve, you stick into the jug, to the bottom... and duct tape it in place.... but leave an air hole over the mouth of the jug. Do not seal the mouth closed. All the duct tape needs to do, is hold the tube inside the jug. If you dont have a small fall in the yard to help the water run down the tube, then putting the jug up on a ladder, or the roof of a vehicle will work as well. Give a quick pull on the other end, like you would to drink soda from a straw, and the water will start flowing. You want it to completely fill the tube, with no air bubbles left in the tube. If you have any air bubbles, then you need to work them out. If you lift the tubing, near the bubbles, the bubbles will rise to the top of where you are holding it.... then simply walk your way down to the end of your tubing, continuing to lift sections, and letting it fall behind you, keeping the bubbles moving with you. It is important to get all the air out of the line, or it will throw your measurements off, later.

Ok, now you are ready to set your water level up. You want to place it near your home.... Where to put it, really depends on how you're set up.
If you are using the 'garden hose' type, or the electronic type... you need to place one end of the hose, or the electronic box, on/under your frame.... this stays in place. The elctronic version comes wtih a special hook, or even a magnet, to help mount it in place. Then, You bring the water level of this end, to the level of the bottom of the steel frame. That is your reference point.
If you have decided to make one, out of tubing, and a jug, then....Looking at the yard around the house... if you have one side of the yard that is lower than the other, you may want to go there.....what you want to do, is position the jug, so that you can reach all the stacks, without having to move the jug. Ive found it often easier to do this, by placing it on the downhill side of a yard, near the 'center' of the home... about a foot out from the home itself..... this leaves me with the most 'headroom', as I crawl about, under the home, going from stack to stack. Now, you want to put the jug, at about the height of the steel frame under your home... so, if you have some scrap lumber and plywood, or extra blocks, they will come in handy for this. It doesnt have to be exact, at this point, just close. (I built a platform for mine, since I had to do this 3 or 4 times a week, that I could raise and lower, as needed, to get it at the exact height I wanted.
Now to 'calibrate', your water level. Every time you are going to check the level, you need to have the valve you placed in the end of the tubing, open. When you are moving about, before you lower it.... you need to close the valve, so you do not lose any of the colored water. (by the way... do NOT use windshield fluid.... the alcohol in it will throw your measurements off... use just water, and food coloring) At your nearest point to the jug now, take the end with the valve to the steel frame....holding it up above the bottom of the frame, open the valve. Now, what you want to do, is raise or lower the jug, so that the water level is even with the bottom of your frame. So, either add to the stack, or take away from it... and shim it if necessary, to get the jug at the exact height you need to make the water level even with the bottom of your frame. You can, if need be, pour just a little out of the jug, to lower the level in the tubing. When you have the water level even with your frame, close the valve, and mark the level with an ink pen. Now, you can take a tape measure, and using the mark you made.... place some additional marks on either side of the first, at every quarter inch... I would go at least two inches to either side of your original level mark. (putting marks on the tube will make it easier to measure later... you will find that you can get most of the measurements without needing to hold the tubing AND a tape measure up at the same time, lol)

Ok, youve calibrated your water level, and now you are ready to check the rest of the home. At this point, a graph pad on a clipboard comes in handy.... just draw a large rectangle, then a line down the middle of the length of it (this is your "marriage wall", where your two halves come together.) Your concrete block stacks, should be placed, at no more than one foot from the ends of the home, and then every 8 to 10 feet, at the most, between the rest..... If you do have a span greater than 10 feet.... your dealer didnt set the home up according to the guidelines. There should also be concrete block stacks along the marriage walls, at least, at every wall opening... such as a door that leads from one half to the other, or (in most homes) the large opening between the great room, and kitchen, for example. You will need to check these blocks after you have leveled the home. These stacks really should be on concrete.... but Ive seen an awful lot of them, that are simply sitting right on top of the dirt.
On the graph pad, after youve drawn your outline of your home.... sketch in the locations of your block stacks.... it doesnt have to be 'to scale'.... but you do want all of them located on your drawing. You need to measure the level of the home at the locations of your stacks. (If, heaven forbid, you actually do have a span greater than 10 feet between two stacks, then you will want to measure the beam about half way, to see how much sag, you have there)

Now, comes the fun part... or hard part, lol... depending on your flexibility, lol.... you have to crawl under the home, to each stack, to check the level. Consistency is the key here....however you hold the water level up, be consistent....I usually measure to the bottom of the steel frame... that is, usually, the easiest to see, and compare levels. Goto each stack... doesnt matter where you start....make sure your tubing does not kink behind you (a second pair of hands is very helpful here). Taking the end with the valve, that you marked off in quarter inches, on either side of your 'calibration' mark...hold it up, so that the water level is at your calibration mark (Dont forget to open the valve, lol) and write down on the tablet, whether you are above that mark, or below, and how much (and dont forget to close the valve before lowering the tube, lol)...... The system I use is real simple... I write down "+ 3/4" if the steel beam is 3/4" above my zero mark (the calibration mark) or " -3/4" if the steel is 3/4" below my zero mark. Note, you are measuring the location of the bottom of the steel frame, as it compares to your original calibration mark.... you are not measuring the level of the water in the tubing. Again, as you hold the tubing up to the frame.... you should hold it so that the water level in the tubing, is at the level where you made your calibration mark.

Now, I have seen some homes that were out of level by as much as 6 inches over all.... so, dont be surprised by what you find, lol....

Once you have all the stacks marked for reference, as to how far above, or below your calibration mark they are.... you need to decide how you want to level the home..... do you want to make them all match your calibration mark? ... or bring them all down to your lowest point... or bring the home up to your highest point? (This is the easiest method, as you will have at least one stack, that you will not have to change) One help in making this decision is look at your anchoring straps.... you should have some steel straps wrapped around the frame, that go to anchors in either cement, or dirt. (what type, usually depends on what kind of 'foundation' you have, runners will usually have anchors in the concrete for instance... piers will have long twisted spikes, anchored into the dirt).... any straps that are loose, are where your home has settled.... you can easily raise the home in these locations without any trouble.

To adjust the actual level of the home.... you need a good heavy cylinder jack, possibly some concrete blocks, and short lengths of 2x6 lumber. The cylinder jack should be at the least, a 6 ton... 12 ton would be better. If you decided to level the home to your calibration point, you will still need the jack at the locations that are too high.....so that you can remove shims, or spread them apart, to lower the frame to the proper level. You can take your graph paper now, and going to each stack.... raise or lower the frame, by the amount you recorded earlier. Place the jack directly under the steel beam, to raise it. Make sure you have something under the jack to help distribute the weight, or you will simply be pushing it into the dirt, if you do not have a solid concrete pad, lol.

If you decide to simply raise the home to be level with your highest point... you need to do just a little math... Let's say your highest point was 1 3/8" above your calibration mark... and your lowest point was -3/4".... you need to convert your 'measurement' to how much you need to raise the home at that point to make it level with the highest point. You do this by simply adding the 1 3/8 to the 3/4 inches... giving you a sum of 2 and 1/8 inches. Write that down next to that stack, on your graph paper... that is how far you would need to raise that section of home, to make it level with your highest point. (That's actually fairly common, by the way) Do that with all of your stack measurements.... By the way.... as long as you get your measurements within a quarter inch... most folks will not notice that much difference.... I always took mine to the 'eighths', just to be more accurate. For the stacks that were above your calibration mark, but not quite to the highest point.... let's say, again, that your highest point is 1 1/2".... another point is 1/4" above your calibration mark.... then you need to raise the stack by 1 1/4" to make it level. So... above the calibration point.... you take your highest measurement, and subtract the other.... if your measurement is BELOW your calibration point, then you ADD the difference to your highest point. Simple, right? lol

After you have leveled all the stack points.... go back and check the level again.... By the way, you should not have moved the jug, during this time...this keeps your reference point the same. You may find you need to make some minor corrections here and there, as the home settled into its new level. Also, after you have the home completely leveled to the point you want it... you need to go back under, and check those marriage wall stacks....if any of them have gaps between the blocks and the joists.... you need to hammer the shims in place.

Here are some tips, for leveling a home.... carry a flashlight with you... and removing the skirting (if possible) at strategic locations will make it easier, not only to access the blocks, but to provide some light to work with. If you happen to have a block perimeter, then you will want to carry a floodlight under there with you.
Always open the valve after you have the tubing up to the frame... and close it before lowering it, to either write the measurement, or before moving to another stack.
Knee pads help! lol
Also, after leveling the home, you want to go back and check your anchor straps... you may need to tighten some of them up. This just takes two wrenches, usually... you loosen the nuts, then crank the strap tight, and tighten the nuts back up. Nothing to it.

Oh, and carry a flyswatter.... you will run into some insects under the home.... there are usually a lot of spiders down there, lol, and the occasional snake.


Some other tips..... If you do not have a full concrete pad.... a roll of plastic can help make the job a little less dirty.... In actuality... if you do not already have a layer of plastic down on the dirt, underneath the entire home.... you should go ahead and put one down, now.... it will provide a much needed moisture barrier, that will in turn, extend the life of the wooden portions of your structure (like floor joists.... they will warp and twist less, if there is less change in the moisture level, under the home)

Like I said.... this is time consuming... and often dirty.... but it IS something that most folks can handle themselves, if they put their mind to it. If youve never done this before, plan on it being an all day project (AFTER you have all the supplies gathered together, hehhehe) As a Warranty Service Contractor, I could check the level, and re-level a home, completely, in two hours or less, with one extra pair of hands.... but I already had the water level all put together, and even a special platform for adjusting the level of the jug.

=D Have Fun =D