How to Keep Your Mobile Home Level Through the Winter

About the end of January or early February of every year it's the same old thing. The front door on the mobile home has jammed to the point that it no longer can close and latch properly. If the situation is ignored serious physical damage will be done to the door and the door frame while you attempt to force the door into position to keep the winter snow outside.

If you wait until temperatures are well below zero to address this issue you may find yourself with a good case of frostbite because no matter what, the mobile home needs to be leveled. It happens every year about the same time and you know approximately how far you will have to raise the mobile home to keep the door functioning throughout the winter. Preparing for the inevitable is a better way to take care of the problem.

Preventing the problem of frost moving the mobile home may be impossible. Making the job of accommodating the frost easier is a simple matter. For a modest cost a 10 or 12 ton hydraulic jack which can be placed under the frame of the mobile home at an appropriate location to allow you to jack up that portion of the mobile home unjamming the front door. The trick is in determining exactly what is a proper location to place the jack.

You can determine which side of the door the jack should be placed by the gap around the door between the door and the jam. Look at the hinge side of the door at the top you'll see a normal gap. Look at the opposite side of the door if the gap at that corner is less than the hinge side of the door the jack needs to be placed a few feet down the frame on the side of the door opposite of the hinge. If the gap is larger than that found at the hinge side of the door the jack needs to be placed a few feet down the frame on the hinge side of the door.

Surprisingly you will not have to jack the house up very much. As the frame of the mobile home is set back from the edge of the house 3 or 4 feet raising the frame 1/4 inch will raise the outside edge of the mobile home about 3/4 inch. As you jack up the frame have someone on the outside watching the door frame. At the point that the gap at the top of the door is equal all the way across you have corrected the problem. Take a handful of wooden shims that can be purchased at any home center and paint the thick end a bright color like orange. Wedge however many shims is required to take up the space between the frame and cinder block pilings that is created by jacking up the mobile home. The purpose of painting the end of the shim orange is to enable you to identify how many shims that need to be removed next spring when the frost dissipates. You may have to install shims between the frame and cinder blocks of two or three pilings near where the jack is located.

In my particular situation I have two hydraulic jacks in place year around allowing me to distribute the jacking pressure over a wider section of the frame. As I must lift a good portion of my mobile home as much as an inch to accommodate the frost that affects the side of the mobile home where the front door is located. By having the two hydraulic jacks permanently stationed combined with any easily removable door through the skirting I can easily correct any issue caused by frost throughout the winter. Remember every action you take through the winter to adjust for the buildup of frost must be undone in the spring when the frost leaves.

As this is an annual event that is unlikely to change, it's best to make preparations that address the frost issue easily, requiring the minimum amount of time and effort outside under the mobile home during the cold winter months.

If you find that you have considerable problems with frost there may be some things you can do to reduce the impact on your mobile home. Rain gutters will divert summer water away from the side of your mobile home lessening the amount of moisture infiltration to the ground. If one side of your mobile home seems more susceptible to frost than the other may be adding a drainage ditch down the length of the affected side installing plastic drain tile and pea rock to facilitate water drainage will help remove moisture from the soil as well. Anything you can do to draw water away from the mobile home will help in preventing excessive frost in the winter. After all the frost that is lifting your mobile home is water that has turned to ice and is expanding. Remove the water and you remove the problem.