This week’s Ask a Mobile Home Expert installment tackles questions about mobile home roofs. We’ll cover some common issues for both flat roofs and pitched roofs such as roof rumble and building an addition. Whether you need to repair a small section of your roof or replace the entire thing, we’ll point you in the right direction.
Are there any structural issues with putting roof trusses and a new roof on a mobile home? Did you have to provide structural calculations or anything? I heard that they are not designed to hold much weight.
Mobile homes are designed completely differently than a site-built home. Their structural integrity is derived from the roof down (instead of the floor up like a site-built home). Because of this, it will be necessary to have a roofing professional come in and use their knowledge and experience to design the best roofing replacement design for your home.
In many cases, roofers install new posts right against the home every few feet to bear the load for the new roof. It allows for a new roof without adding additional stress to the home.
Related: Three Popular Mobile Home Roof Over Materials
I would like a solution for wind making my mobile home noisy. Sounds like it will blow away. Can you help me?
You are experiencing what is called ‘roof rumble.’ Unfortunately, it happens quite a bit with flat metal roofs. The wind is getting under your roof and the tunneling is creating the whistling sound you hear. It can be annoying!
There have been many solutions and recommendations for quieting roof rumble on a mobile home. If you’ve ever seen tires sitting on top of a mobile home you’ve seen one remedy. The tires supposedly dampen the sound and keep the wind from getting under the metal. This is your old school problem-solving but hey, if it works, it works.
There are screws you can use but they create holes in your roof. I don’t recommend adding holes in a roof even if you will be sealing and coating over them.
Coating the roof with elastomeric roof coating, a white acrylic liquid, is probably the best solution. Pay particular attention to the edge of the roof. It is recommended that you coat your mobile home’s flat roof every other year.
Learn How to Choose the Best Elastomeric Roof Coating here.
I bought my home in 2009. In 2013 we noticed when it rains we get moisture at the bottom of our living room, dining room, and master bath walls. We called the insurance company and they sent an adjuster to evaluate our home. He said that we had flashing issues along the front of the home. He said it’s a manufacturer issue to call the insurance company. Unfortunately, they said this type of damage is not covered. Does anyone know how I can have this issue fixed? When it rains a heavy down pour we have moisture. Although not every time, we have had the problem a few times.
Please help!
An experienced roofer can probably find the issue in no time. It’s probably going to be a roofing, guttering, or flashing issue that is allowing the water to travel the path of least resistance down to the floor.
It may be a window issue (assuming there is one in that location). New sealant around the window frame could be a quick fix. Learn how to repair common window problems at DIY.com.
If you don’t have gutters on the home you may want to consider installing them after you have this issue repaired as it helps carry water away from the side of the house.
Some of the lower-end manufactured home models do not have exterior sheathing or house wrap. This means the vinyl siding is attached directly to the studs and only insulation is between the interior wall and the vinyl. Water has an easier path into the home’s interior in these cases. Exterior sheathing is a good investment if one can afford it.
Related: 8 Great Mobile Home Roofing Tips – Find and Repair Leaks
I have a question about building an addition to my single wide mobile home in Delaware. I am building a 14′ × 23′ addition onto the front side of the mobile home. The mobile home is sitting on blocks under the two main I beams not on pillars or foundation. I’m planning on not attaching the addition walls to the mobile home because of this. Also, the addition roof will extend above the mobile home roof due to trying to keep the floor level the same as the mobile home. Can the A frame addition roof be attached to the mobile home?
How you handle the roof connection from the addition to the home is usually the trickiest part of any addition build for a manufactured home.
Using the word ‘attached’ is a bit misleading when it comes to mobile home additions because the structures must be completely self-supporting. Technically, the addition’s roof will not actually be ‘attached’ to the home’s roof. It will be sealed together and then a valley will be created where home and addition meet. You will then use flashing and shingles to give the water a path to follow. Roofers use different cuts to create a valley. The valley weave and the California cut are probably most popular.
This image represents a popular roofing technique for a manufactured home addition that is lower than the home. Notice how weatherstripping and insulation are flashing are used to create the seal.
We hope we have been able to answer some of your questions about mobile home roofs.
If you have questions about mobile home roofs please feel free to comment below and we will see if we can find you an answer.
Check out next week’s “Ask A Mobile Home Expert” when we take a look at mobile home sub floors.
And as always, thanks so much for reading Mobile Home Living!
Disclosure: Any answers to questions posed and any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute of an expert or any relevant professional that has inspected the issues in person.
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