When buying or selling a mobile home in California, you will want to get a title 25 , health and safety inspection first! Upon getting your inspection report, there will most likely be a few small mobile home repairs that need to be completed before you move in.
As a Title 25, health and safety inspector, I have seen small mobile home repairs that are common on almost all mobile home, new or old. One of the most common mobile home repairs costs about $250 to fix, its a Trap leak under the mobile home or water supply line leak. Most homeowners dont even know they have a leak, because they rarely, if ever, crawl under their home. See a few pics below of common trap leaks.
Leak at mobile home water connection
leak at bathroom trap under mobile home
leak under mobile home laundry area
leak at cast iron drain under mobile home
Another common, small repair I see on mobile homes is water heater needs earthquake strapping. This is required in Title 25 of the California code of regulations and generally costs around $90 with labor and materials. I would say 90% of homes that I see dont have the water strapped properly or strapped at all for that matter. This is a preventative repair that will protect your home in case of an earthquake. See photos of mobile home water heater strapping below.
mobile home water heater is properly strapped
missing earthquake straps at mobile home water heater
mobile home water heater not properly strapped
no water heater straps on mobile home
The third most common small repair that I see on mobile homes is roof vents that are rusted and need to be painted. Also see alot of missing shingles on the roof. These repairs are generally easy fixes and can cost between $100 and $250 to fix. See a few photos below of small roofing repairs on mobile homes that are required to fix as part of health and safety repairs.
mobile home with rusted furnace vent
damaged roof vent on mobile home
missing shingles on mobile home roof
vent needs to be resealed at mobile home roof
Hi
We need to have some work done to our mobile home. Need some steps to be re- built, estimate for a awning over the steps and deck possibly re-built and carpeted. We would also like to have the roof inspected. Please contact me at you earliest convenience so we can set up a time for someone to come out and take a look.
Living in a mobile home, I, like you said, rarely go underneath it. Now I’m going to start doing it more often so I can see if there are leaks or repairs that are needed. A mobile home is still like a house, you need to take good care of it and can’t just assume everything is fine. Good luck with the inspections and thanks for the information!
My name is Terry i live in a 1989 park ready 40 foot nomad with two slid out’s. Do to some negligence by the park my trailer was semi- -seriously damaged and my insurance company has excepted the claim.We are in a rather big hurry to get the estimate turned in to the insurance because for some reason, i keep calling handymen that have no business being on a professionals list on the web. So far I’v had one show up promised me an estimate and two phone calls later where he promised to show up and i still don’t have one the other two never showed. If you can come out and do an estimate this weekend you stand to make a pretty good chunk of B.B.Q funds all up and up. I have clear title to the trailer and all the insurance paper work in hand. My Phone is (916) 533-5470
Sincerely Terry w McGeehee
07/23/2016
Very good read, thank you for posting this. I know the laws and requirements in Florida, where I live, are a little different but the repairs and maintenance you mention are very much the same. I’ve lived in a mobile home most of my life and the little amount of time and energy it takes to maintain it far outweigh the costs. It’s unfortunate that some people just wait until the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change!
Great article. Keep up the good work!
I would like a quote to do an easy adjustment on our mobile home. When we remodeled we installed new tile flooring with the corresponding cement boards underneath. Without thinking we had the house leveled and now have a lot of the tile grout cracking apart. I just need to have one side of the house lifted about a quarter of an inch to fix this problem. Pls contact me with a price if interested.
Thanks.
A resident dealer agent brought a buying telling me she would b it as is; no physical inspection contingency and no request for repairs. Its an estate sale beneficiaries are owners children. They accepted the offer based on the “a is” b/c its a 1963 Fleetwood. It has been well maintained but none of the children have every lived in it. Inspector said was in such god condition “he would buy it” He said all he found was 2 slow draining drain, & a water leak under the mobile that appears to be coming from the tub. The only 2 things he told me we would need to as the seller is install smoke detector & carbon monoxide detector. Now the agent has sent me a request for repairs (gfi outlets & fix leak) as falling under “health & safety”. Again, we agreed to the purchase priced based o it being sold as is specifically telling the agent we had no desire to bring things up to code b/c of the age of the home & that we’d never lived in it. We also verified w/agent whether the physical inspection was a contingency on the purchase so we’d know how to update the stays of tge listing (i.e., contingent of pending”. The buyer H told me she would take care of it. But i dont want any legal ramifications down the road. What’s tge best way to handle it? I don’t trust this agent.
Leaky roof repair must be the top most priority as it will result in adverse consequences if you delay it as it will cause damage to your RV’s interior. RV Roof Magic is a liquid elastomeric rubber roof sealant that has over 25 year history with its incomparable features. It contains mildewcide and fungicides, also prevents rusting. It can be applied to almost all kinds of RV roofing materials and gives long term tranquility of mind as it has 15 to 20 years of life expectancy.
Great blog! Small mobile home repairs can significantly enhance the comfort and longevity of these unique living spaces. Your practical tips and step-by-step guides are perfect for homeowners looking to tackle minor fixes with confidence. Keep up the excellent work!