Warranties and Other Protections for the Home Buyer What warranties come with the manufactured home? You may get warranties from the home manufacturer, the retailer, the transporter, the installer, and the appliance manufacturers. What exactly does each of these warranties cover? What don't they cover? Do the manufacturer's or retailer's written warranties on the home cover transportation and installation? If not, are installation and transportation covered by separate, written warranties? How long do the warranties last? How do you get warranty service? Who will provide service under the warranties? Where will the warranty service be performed? electrical facilities: Electricity is usually available in all areas. But if the area where you plan to live does not have ready access to electric power, connection could be quite expensive. Check with the local power company to find out whether electricity is readily accessible. water facilities: In many locations, there may not be local government-supplied water lines.

If there is no water, you may have to drill a well. Do not assume that all drilling will provide water. Check with a local well-drilling company about costs and whether success is guaranteed. window ac unit energy usageAlso, check with local health authorities to make certain there are no problems with the quality of the water in the area.how to make an ac unit fail sewage facilities:  Many areas still rely on septic tank systems instead of a city or county sanitary sewage system. mobile home split air conditioner unitsIf you cannot connect your home to a sewage system, you must check with local authorities about installing a septic tank. Properly installed septic systems can work quite well. But sometimes they cannot be used, for example, where there is soft ground that is not able to absorb the discharged waste.

For more information, contact the local health department or the office responsible for granting building permits. Buying a Manufactured Home in a Planned Community Manufactured homes are available in a variety of floor plans that include spacious living rooms, dining rooms, fully equipped kitchens, one or more bedrooms, family rooms, and utility rooms. Depending upon your needs and the size of your lot, you can choose a single-section home plan or a larger multi-section design. Homes range in size from 400 to 2,500 square feet. They may limit the movement of your home after installation. If there is a chance that you might relocate your home to another state, find out about state laws covering transportation of manufactured homes. Some states, particularly eastern states, have certain regulations, such as weight, size or width limitations, that may prevent you from moving your home. Before you purchase, check with the appropriate authorities in the states through which you may want to transport your home.

If you do move your home, you will be faced with extra expenses. Besides transporting costs, which include licensing fees to take your home through a state, you will have the cost of foundation construction, installation, and utility hookups. The National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards require separate energy-efficiency levels for the three different temperature zones of the United States. However, you may wish to increase your home's energy-efficiency. There are a variety of optional energy packages available, such as increased insulation, double- and triple-glazed windows, sheathing products, self-storing storm windows, and high-efficiency water heaters, furnaces, refrigerators, and air conditioners. Ask your retailer about available energy-saving features and their costs. You should especially note the "Heating Certificate," which specifies the temperature zone for which the home is designed, and the "Comfort Cooling Certificate," which specifies the appropriate central air-conditioning system for the home.

Both certificates are located on the inside of the home. You should not place your home in a climate zone for which it was not designed. Nearly all manufacturers offer a written warranty on the home itself. There are, however, important differences among warranties. For example, manufacturers' warranties may exclude coverage of installation and transportation, although reliable retailers or contractors usually offer written warranties on these services. Although you may never need such warranty services, it is a good idea to check the coverage of any warranties that are offered before you buy. The site must be accessible by the truck transporting your home. The site must be as level as possible. The precise site area must be cleared of trees, rocks, and any other surface debris. The soil must be graded and sloped for water runoff. The soil must be compacted so that the foundation will not sink or shift on loose earth-fill. Discuss with the contractor the steps involved in installation so that you understand them.

Have the contractor write these steps into the contract. Ask if there is a written warranty covering your home's installation. If not, then ask to have it put in writing. More inspection articles like thisMobile Home Trailer Aluminum Wiring Any Questions? Circuit Breaker Panel Box Ceiling Repairs Combo Switch Duct Work Energy Saving Floor Repair Home Safety Light Switch Wiring Maintenance Schedule 3 Way Switch Wiring Diagram Exterior Siding Muriatic Acid Pigtail Wiring Receptacle Outlet Resource Guide Get the Mobile Home Parts you need NOW! Mobile Home Duct Work Crossover Duct Single Wide Double Wide Heating Air Conditioning System Duct Work Repair Diagrams and Pictures Mobile Home Duct Work and Double Wide Crossover Duct Manufactured homes use an integral HVAC duct work for the heating and cooling system. The problem I see with most mobile homes duct work is where the boot from the trough comes through the floor, especially if any flooring or floor repairs have been done around the duct work.

Quite often there is a gap between the mobile home duct work boot and the floor causing an duct work air leak. This can usually be sealed with a good quality duct tape or silicon caulking, however mastic is the ideal way to do it. Be sure that there is not any damage to the trough that usually runs the entire length of the mobile home, in the case of double wide mobile homes there are two troughs interconnected by a crossover. The double wide mobile homes crossover duct is usually a 14" or 16" flexible insulated duct. Flex duct is rated in "R" values for the insulating properties they possess. You can easily check for trough leaks by going underneath while the air conditioner is on and if you can find a location to stick your hand up through the belly wrap or belly board. If between the insulation and the floor you feel air flowing or cold air you may have a mobile home duct work leak that will require further investigation or the calling of a expert. I completely removed the trough and installed the boots used in standard homes with flexible duct attached to a main trunk line from the heating and A/C unit as it is done in standard homes.

Works great and is much more efficient. Some local codes now will only allow the black flexible and not the silver flex duct to be used on mobile homes, check your local codes. Look at these schematic diagrams and pictures below. Double wide mobile home duct work with crossover layout diagram Register Duct Mastic Seal Flex duct connection on crossover duct work Duct work air leak locations Mobile Home Duct work Insulation I get lots of questions about how to insulate the duct work on a mobile home or manufactured homes. Condensation in duct work on mobile homes is usually caused by poor insulation.  I have yet to see a factory individually insulate the duct work. Think about this, let's say you have a glass of ice tea you will notice that water condensation builds up on the outside of the glass and drips onto your table. However if you place the glass in a cup koozie it stops sweating. The same idea applies to your duct work. Below I have included a picture of the ideal way to insulate the main duct work trough.

The picture shows an ideal situation where you have access completely around the duct work. This is not always the case. You can however wrap all of the duct work that you can and then staple the insulation to the floor or joists in a cradling fashion. Then insulate underneath the mobile home as suggested on the mobile home insulation page. Mobile Home Duct Work Insulation Diagram Keeping your homes duct work clean can mean a huge improvement on your health. Most of the mobile homes I have worked on have had some serious issues with this problem. If you have an older home or have purchased a used manufactured home you may have a problem with contaminants in the duct system. There are many services that provide duct work cleaning. If you have a lot of moisture in the duct or notice any debris in there you might want to consider getting it professionally cleaned. I have installed a ultraviolet light in the return duct on my heating ac system that kills many airborne pollutants as they are drawn through the heating an air conditioning system and it seems to have helped.

Look at the Mobile Home Indoor Air Quality page for more info about pollutants in homes. Be sure to keep the filters changed. Check the condensing tower to be sure that it is not clogged. Check for air leaks in the a/c heating compartment around the corners and metal framing/access doors. Incoming air should only be allowed into the compartment through the filter via the return grill. If air is squeezing in around any cracks repair them with caulking. Make sure that the blades on the squirrel cage fan have no buildup on them. This will cut down on the efficiency of the fan. Proper A/C-Heating Maintenance will keep your homes air conditioning unit running longer and help keep your power bill low. Take a look at the Electric Furnace page for more about heating systems. Frequently Asked Duct Work Questions Q. How do I find a water leak in the duct work or why is there so much water in my A/C ducts? A. If you have water in your duct work there are 4 possible reasons. Since water lines are not run through any duct work there could be either 1.