CBS gets it.
Another unbiased report from a well known media giant makes the case for mobile homes. The mobile home stereotype is slowly fading!
The Mobile Home Stereotype
The mobile home stereotype is unfair and unjust. You know it and I know it – now it’s time for the rest of the world to catch on. Judging people based on the type of home they live in is childish and those that hang on to stereotypes are ignorant of the facts. As the report proves even millionaires live in factory built homes and in mobile home parks – proving that we aren’t all poor, uneducated hillbillies.
A big thanks to CBS for representing our homes in a positive manner. I’m thankful the reporter saw through the mobile home stereotype and was able to see the structures for what they truly are – home to millions of people. Just home.
PS The only ‘error’ that I found in this report is the use of the term mobile home (and trailer) instead of manufactured home but that’s really a ‘made up’ or rather a make believe error. Technically, mobile home is used to describe a factory built home manufactured before July 1, 1976 and manufactured home is a structure built after that date. The industry decided it would use the new laws mandated by Congress to help reinvent itself. Personally, I think it was a big mistake and they have been focusing on a losing war. Our homes will always be referred to as mobile homes – it’s a term ingrained into society and it’s not going to go away. If the industry would stop trying to reinvent itself every decade and embrace its history (mistakes and all) the fight against the stereotype and biased media would be much easier. You can’t expect people to stop using a well-established word just because you want to shed your own poor image. Instead of refusing to associate with the term ‘mobile home’ how about we embrace it, be proud of it and stand up for it?
As always, thank you for reading Mobile and Manufactured Home Living!
Thank you Crystal, and everyone for the informative and cost-effective information found here… We are currently experiencing many wildfires here in N.California, asking for your prayers, Thanks very much, and God Bless us all.
Hi Elizabeth!
I’m so glad you enjoy MMHL! I’m not well educated in site prep and installation (you have to be licensed and there’s a lot to know) but I’ll try to help with a few suggestions:
Having to re-level your home twice in 4 years is not common though I suppose it could just be settling. These days, with all the new technology, products, and regulations, I’ve read that a home should rarely need to be re-leveled.
There were new HUD installation guidelines initiated in 2009 that provides minimal regulations for the setup and installation of the home. State and local laws trump the national laws though. In addition, there is a difference in the codes between new and used homes. New homes have more stringent codes.
First, you may want to check your soil bearing capacity. A special tool called a penetrometer is used to measure this density. Soil bearing is simply how much weight can be applied to a foundation pad or footer without warping or depressing the foundation. HUD mandates that new homes be sited on soil with a bearing of 1500 psf. For used manufactured homes the number is lower I think.
Second, water could be causing the soil to weaken and shift. Make sure your land is graded properly so that all water runs away from the home, it should never pool under the home.
Third, make sure you have support piers in all the correct places- the frame or I-beam, the center-line, and the outside edges.
Lastly, having footers installed at or below the frost line or having a slab or pad poured (with rebar and cuts to allow shifting) could remedy the issue – if you already have that then I’d go back to the soil and the grading cause something is causing the home to shift.
Manufactured homes that are not level is the #1 cause of most every issue or complaint that dealers and builders get. It weakens the entire structure and allows leaks in addition to many other issues. I hate to tell someone to spend money (I’m as frugal and tight as it gets…lol) but in my humble opinion the setup and installation of a manufactured home is the one place that no one should try to cut corners. The home has to be setup properly to ensure a long, healthy life span.
Good luck to you! If you need anything or have any other questions just email or comment again. Thanks!!
Hello Crystal,
I have really enjoyed your website. My husband and I are renovating a 1987 single wide mobile home. We bought the property 2010 and are still in the process. Our dilemma is we’ve had to level the home twice since we’ve moved in. Do you have any articles on a situation like this? We would like to do something more permanent, or is this part of mobile living? Thanks for all your help. Elizabeth Phillips