Chapter 4 of 17
Foundations, piers, and levelling
Why a manufactured home goes out of level, what that causes, and how often to check.
1 min read
Most manufactured homes rest on piers, stacks of block or adjustable steel columns, spaced along the steel frame, sitting on footings. The soil beneath those footings moves: it settles, it swells and shrinks with moisture, and it erodes if water is directed at it. When it moves unevenly, the home goes out of level.
An out-of-level home does not announce itself. It produces a cluster of symptoms that look like unrelated problems: doors and windows that stick or will not latch, cracks in drywall at the corners of openings, gaps opening at the marriage line on multi-section homes, floors that feel sloped, and plumbing that drains slowly.
Re-levelling is routine work and comparatively inexpensive. Living with an out-of-level home for years is not, it stresses the frame, opens the building envelope to water, and eventually damages finishes throughout.
Have the home checked for level every few years, and after any event that moves soil: a very wet season, a drought, nearby excavation, or a plumbing leak under the home. If you notice several of the symptoms above appearing together, get it checked sooner.
While someone is under there, have the footings and piers looked at. Cracked blocks, piers leaning out of plumb, footings that have sunk, and washed-out soil are all fixable early and expensive late.
Key points
- Piers sit on soil, and soil moves, going out of level is normal, not a defect.
- Sticking doors, corner cracks, and sloping floors are one problem, not three.
- Re-levelling is cheap; the damage from years of being unlevel is not.
- Check every few years and after anything that moves soil.
Watch out
If a marriage line is opening on a multi-section home, treat it as urgent. It admits water directly into the structure at the point hardest to dry out.